A British Columbia First Nation is suing the federal government for banning one of its commercial fisheries back in 2022. The Heiltsuk Nation claims the federal fisheries minister's decision to close the commercial harvest of herring spawn-on-kelp in the nation's territory was an infringement of its Aboriginal rights. The harvest involves removing herring eggs from kelp after herring have spawned. Heiltsuk Nation Elected Chief Marilyn Slett said in the statement that her community "did not take the decision to commence legal action lightly," but closing the fishery seriously infringed the group's rights. "It was only a few years ago that Heiltsuk resolved a claim against the Government of Canada for past infringements of our rights to fish herring spawn-on-kelp," said Heiltsuk Hereditary Chief Harvey Humchitt in the statement.
