Excerpts from a letter by retired fisheries planner David Ellis, Vancouver. Edited for brevity.

May I recommend that the new Trudeau government make it a priority for 2016 to fully restore First Nations’ access to the eulachon and herring egg, foods which are as important to their cultures as salmon…

The commercial roe herring fishery has been one of the most profitable in the world, and for too long has been illegally coveted by the corporate commercial fishing sector, at the expense of the First Nations.

Throughout the coast, most of the First Nations families have now lost access, or are fast losing access, to this key cultural food. This is a major social justice and “reconciliation” issue.