This case involved an application by an Aboriginal group fishing in the Thompson river system for an order suspending a D.F.O. variation order and substituting a court order providing for non possession and non retention of coho salmon in the British Columbia sport fishery. The application was attended by a number of intervenors.
The court found that the Applicant had not established an aboriginal right to fish for coho. In the alternative, the court also found that even if there was an aboriginal right to fish, it could only set aside the variation order, it could not substitute the variation order with its own order. It the variation order were set aside, it would not have the desired effect. Furthermore, the court was not satisfied, based upon the evidence presented, that the variation orders in question infringed the aboriginal right claimed.
