Thirty-eight Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs have renewed a ban on recreational salmon fishing in their traditional territory.

“All persons holding recreational fishing permits or fish-guiding licenses are no longer allowed to trespass in Gitxsan territory. People need to know that when they fish here, they are trespassing in controlled territory,” says Brian Williams, Chair of Gigeenix, in a press release.

Like last year, the Hereditary Chiefs say anyone found fishing salmon in their territory will be asked to stop. They claim up to 90 per cent of its members have abstained from harvesting salmon until the numbers return.

Meanwhile an advisory committee, referred to as a Crisis Team by the chiefs, has been meeting with federal and provincial officials to discuss public access to the territory in 2020. They say the ban marks the beginning of an “ambitious journey” to collaborate with the government to create a process where all recreational fishers must have permission from individual chiefs to fish their rivers.

https://www.northernsentinel.com/new...w-fishing-ban/