Geography professor Jennifer Silver, along with University of British Columbia researcher Nathan Bennett, wrote an article published in Policy Options May 8 discussing how Bill C-68 would update the Fisheries Act and address Indigenous rights.

The article discusses how Bill C-68 could spur major improvements to Indigenous and coastal communities by including human dimensions in Canadian fisheries law, which is significant given fish are essential to food and trade as well as social and ceremonial practices in many Indigenous communities.

Since fish stocks are a publicly owned resource, they should be monitored and managed with transparency and provide opportunities for participation and feedback from the public, say Silver and Bennett. The authors detailed how this could unfold.

They conclude that if Bill C-68 passes, amendments to the Fisheries Act should begin to roll out immediately to protect the fishing interests of coastal peoples and communities.

Silver studies aquaculture in North America, particularly contemporary approaches and perspectives in seafood production, consumption and regulation, and relationships among Indigenous peoples, government, NGOs and companies.