Symbiosis

In covering the wild salmon campaign on Vancouver Island, Kim Petersen notes that while Norway adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Norwegian corporations farming salmon in British Columbia are destroying the wild runs symbiotic with the First Nations there. Although many tribes have taken the path of litigation, other indigenous bands are cynical about recognizing courts biased against them.

As wild runs decline due in part to the salmon farms, a few tribes have succumbed to farming themselves, while a growing segment of those watching their cultures and livelihoods slip away suggest that removing the fish pens is their inherent right–with or without court approval.