Tag Archives: Chief John Smith

The Ugly Side of “Beautiful Fish”

Traditional territory of both the Tlowitsis First Nation (who support fish farming) and Ma’a̱mtagila Nation (who are against it)

By Desiree Mannila, originally published on the Watershed Sentinel

A proposal for five new fish farms off the north coast of Vancouver Island has sparked disappointment for ocean protectors who achieved the phase-out of seventeen fish farms in the Broughton Archipelago in 2019. The farms are being proposed by John Smith from Tlowitsis First Nation, in partnership with Grieg Seafood. Smith is attempting to rezone the Chatham Chanel to allow these farms.

The proposal is in direct opposition to the work that wild fish advocates have done to remove the farms from their territories. Decades of work has resulted in the federal government committing to creating a phase out plan by 2025, as well as a promise from the Government of British Columbia to establish rigorous new rules for renewals of salmon farm tenures in BC waters past 2022. The proposal is a shock to the 102 Indigenous communities that signed a petition in 2019 demanding farms be removed from their territories.

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50 years later: Tlowitsis First Nation in Campbell River

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Displaced from their traditional territories and scattered across Vancouver Island and beyond for more than 50 years, the Tlowitsis First Nation is on the cusp of breaking ground on a home for its people.

Chief John Smith and his brother, Thomas, a councillor, hope to finally begin work on a new village for the Tlowitsis after a decades-long search and the 2018 purchase of land south of Campbell River from a logging company.

Continue reading 50 years later: Tlowitsis First Nation in Campbell River