The Snuneymuxw First Nation is alarmed about the health of Sockeye Salmon after conclusive findings of the European Strain of Infectious Salmon Anemia virus (ISA). This deadly and highly contagious marine influenza virus has for the first time been officially documented in wild salmon in British Columbia. This virus has been linked to fish farming in other jurisdictions. Sockeye are central to the way of life and culture of the Snuneymuxw People and have been for thousands of years. The centrality of salmon to Snuneymuxw was recognized by the Douglas treaty between Snuneymuxw and the Crown in 1854. That Treaty confirmed complete protection for Snuneymuxw to carry on their fisheries as formerly.

"This finding of ISA threatens to inaugurate the latest - and potentially one of the most devastating - episodes in the tragic history of how Indigenous fisheries have been attacked and decimated since the time of contact. This disease carries with it the risk of utter and complete devastation which would cut to the heart of the Snuneymuxw and Aboriginal peoples across this Province", said Chief Douglas White III of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. "For Snuneymuxw" he added "the threat of further fisheries devastation is particularly acute. The Crown has failed to implement our Treaty relationship for 156 years, including undermining the very fisheries that the Treaty set out to protect."

The finding of ISA adds to the increasingly overwhelming evidence of the devastating impacts of the Crown's failed management regime. "The Crown's fisheries management practices have failed the fish, and failed First Nations. We have got to do much better - and do that now. There is no time to wait", added Chief White.