Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy

Under the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy (AFS), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) negotiates time-limited fisheries agreements with eligible Aboriginal groups to set out fishing arrangements for food, social and ceremonial purposes. The agreements may also provide for fisheries-related economic opportunities.

The AFS is applicable where DFO manages the fishery and where land claims settlements have not already put a fisheries management regime in place. Approximately two-thirds of these agreements are reached with Aboriginal groups in DFO's Pacific Region, with the balance in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. DFO provides $35 million a year to support the negotiations of agreements under AFS covering a range of fisheries management activities, including:

• Conservation
   
• Enforcement
   
• Enhanced self-management of Aboriginal fishing
   
• Fish habitat improvement and fishery enhancement
   
• Research
   
• Economic development and training and enhancement

History

The AFS was introduced in 1992, partly in response to the 1990 Supreme Court of Canada Sparrow decision, which found that where an Aboriginal group has a right to fish for food, social, and ceremonial purposes, it takes priority, after conservation, over all other uses of the fishery.

Approximately 125 agreements have been signed annually under the program in the years since its implementation.

In 2002, DFO met with Aboriginal groups to review the strategy in light of changes within Canada’s fisheries over the previous ten years, including the Marshall decision. A number of areas for improvement were identified to address funding, training, use of Aboriginal traditional knowledge, reporting requirements, commercial fishery access and AFS agreement duration.

Among the most significant changes resulting from the review was the development of the Aboriginal Aquatic Resource and Oceans Management (AAROM) program, which was launched in 2004.

Today, the AFS continues to be an integral component of DFO’s aboriginal fisheries policy and the department is committed to continue working with aboriginal communities to facilitate their participation in fisheries and aquaculture and associated economic opportunities, and in the management of aquatic resources.