•Nuu-Chah Nulth Tribal Council UpawI"3" George Watts called on J-AWU convention delegates to 'fce realities of Indian fishing ngnts.
Watts
urges
fisheries
rights
action
Nuu Chah Nulth Tribal Coun-111 chairman George Watts chal-'enged the UFAWU Feb. 4 to get ^°wn to specific proposals to ^soive tne question of aborigi-nalclaims.
,. But he pledged at the same r'me to fight any attempt to "^Pose settlements at the ex Pen.se of working people.
.I'll fight any Indian leader ^"o says it's all ours and we «on't give a damn about anyone else," Watts told convention delates. "I'll stand up and say gnat's wrong." If claims go that ™ute, he said, "we'll be passing a w°rld of hate on to our children." ■ Nonetheless, "the situation JJ?S got to change for native peo-?Je> although not at the expense 01 non-native people working for a »ving."
. Areas the non-native fishing "dustry must address include Realization of the sale of fish, *!atts said, and the exploitation 01 stocks that now are wasted. ..Black market sales undercut commercial prices, he said, ?nd siphon profits away from ndian communities and into the
jackets of white middlemen.
egal sales, he suggested "could Provide economic benefits with-u* changing allocation." At the same time, he argued, ,?cent court decisions have con-^ed aboriginal rights to a fish-jy- "We have to define those ^hts."
. He challenged the union to sit j*°wn and "deal with facts rather '"an scare talk." If Indian proposals would lead to job loss, the r^on should hold Indian leaders f° the commitments made in .Nanaimo. "That's when we get
nto negotiations and look for a,ternatives."
. A key to success will be seek-fn8 Ways to increase the stock of !lsn, Watts said. "Nothing is p'ng done to increase stocks, "stead, we're arguing about What's there."
An obvious place to start, he ^uggested, is the loss of fish to Pollution and environmental aegradation.
, Watts applauded the union's SjrCision to stay out of Pacific fishermen's Defence Alliance, ^nich he termed a "racist movement." Sport fishing interests in fne alliance are "holding your land," he said, pouring hundreds of thousands into the fight against Indians, while at the Same time "lobbying to knock c°rnrnercial fishermen out of the Industry and get the allocation 0r sport fishermen.
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THE FISHERMAN / FEBRUARY 23,1987 • 13