It's not as simple as you are making it out to be. Food, social, ceremonial (FSC) fisheries are and have been managed separate from commercial for decades. It always leaved Indigenous groups far behind so saying "hey just go buy licenses on the open market" is not a solution. It is what most executives at DFO also see as the solution, but that playing field is not levelled so it's basically an easy way to just keep status quo going (which has historically always allowed those 'with' to continue gaining more while most FNs in BC continue to struggle in poverty).
I know it is not simple, but IMO, any fish that has been caught for resale has to go through the same commercial fishery. Especially salmon. I would argue that the food and ceremonial fishery is not managed in any meaningful way, but that aside, the commercial market has helped indigenous communities and I would like to know why you think it leaves them behind. I didn't say "hey, go buy licenses on the open market". The government has a lot of control over the licensing market and could buy them back and transfer them to indigenous communities for example. Or they could create an indigenous license. There are definitely indigenous success stories in BC fishing, like James Walkus, so I think this is a good model. There are a lot of isolated communities on the coast that don't have access to any other industries and they almost all have fishing skills.
As one example of complexities of FSC vs commercial...often, due to migratory timing, commercial sector fishes a stock BEFORE FSC. Even though FSC has constitutional priority. Think herring and salmon. This means DFO estimates stock size (almost always wrong), commercial sector fishes, then oops, actually the returns are smaller so FSC fishery gets little to nothing. But DFO doesn't want to impose more conservative returns due to industry pressure. Who loses out? I wonder...
The commercial fishery catches fish in the straits before they get to the rivers so there is no easy solution here other than better forecasting, but again, this is why having first nations as a larger part of the commercial fishery just makes sense to me.
And there is a definite need for a 'livelihood' based commercial fishery for Indigenous groups, primarily to support basic community needs (that also includes cultural elements) and alleviate the current poverty model (that also taxes the system). Yes, managing the commercial sector "as one" is easier. Especially from a "white" or colonial lens. Indigenous communities do not view the fisheries in the same way. So if we actually want to support reconciliation, it has to include an alternate view of the world, not just the old colonial ways.
No, it is much more than "easier", it is crucial to managing a single resource. If there are 2 separate groups taking from the same stock of fish and one group has priority you might as well just buy back the licenses from the non-native fishermen now because it won't be worth it for them anymore. It is already a feast or famine industry, but at least they have a shot at whatever DFO decides the allotment is. DFO decisions on the allotment have to be made last minute so by the time a fisherman knows if there will be a catch that year they have already purchased gear, fixed up their boats, paid all the license fees, hired a deckhand, etc. Put yourself in their gumboots. Reconciliation in this form puts the burden on non-native fishermen so that the rest of the country can pretend they gave something up.
Anyway, it's very complex. I've worked in it for almost 20 years and I wish these complexities were communicated to the masses more often. Only way to reconcile is to let go and allow change to permeate the system. We can't continue as we've been doing and expect fish and licenses to just show up. They are very limited. Even with GOC throwing money at FNs, they is always going to be the challenge of limited entry licenses/quotas and of course, fish.
It is complex, and full disclosure I grew up in a fishing town, spent about 7 years fishing in my teens and 20s, and I still have a lot of friends fishing right now that are both indigenous and otherwise. I know a few people that never had their status when we were kids but applied a few years back and have it now almost entirely for the massive benefit that it brings to their profession. Allowing change to permeate the system for non-native fishermen typically means edging even closer to giving up the fishing lifestyle that may be generations deep, so I think that is a very callous way to view it, especially since small fishing communities up and down the coast have had it tough economically for decades.
I have been saying this for a long time here. It is the small-town non-native people that are often viewed as an obstacle to reconciliation, but they are actually where true reconciliation happens. Since I left fishing over 20 years ago, moved to Vancouver, and started working within the construction industry, my exposure to the various indigenous communities and their people basically vanished. When I was a fisherman I worked with indigenous people all the time. I was in their communities regularly and they made up a large contingent of my community. Reconciliation in those communities is much more real, and often hits their bank accounts. Ignoring their needs is the easy way out but it makes it harder to reconcile, not easier.
