to make submissions on the admissibility of these aspects of the author’s claim and the domestic remedies which the author exhausted only dealt with his conviction for fishing out of season, these aspects of the author’s claim were not encompassed in the Committee’s admissibility decision and the Committee will therefore not consider these issues. 11.14 In reply to the State party’s argument that the article 27 does not require that a cultural activity be protected by way of right, the author argues that his situation is distinguishable from the situation of the author in the case referred to by the State party. In that case, the Committee found that the legislation affecting the author’s rights had a reasonable and objective justification and was necessary for the continued viability and welfare of the minority as a whole. The same cannot be said of the fishing regulations applied to the author in the present case. 12.3 Both the author and the State party have made frequent reference to the 1923 Williams treaty which was concluded between the Crown and the Hiawatha First Nation and which according to the Courts of the State party extinguished the author’s Nation’s right to fish outside their reserves or their adjacent waters. This matter, however, is not for the Committee to determine. 11.15 The author rejects the State party’s argument that he has raised new claims by bringing up the issue of fishing methods as it would be artificial to distinguish between his right to fish and the particular manner in which that right is exercised. He emphasizes that this is not a new claim but that it is the same claim that he has brought under article 27 before the admissibility decision of the Committee. 12.4 The Committee notes that it is undisputed that the author is a member of a minority enjoying the protection of article 27 of the Covenant and that he is thus entitled to the right, in community with the other members of his group, to enjoy his own culture. It is not disputed that fishing forms an integral part of the author’s culture. 11.16 The author rejects the State party’s argument that he is requesting an inappropriate remedy. He states that no substantive negotiations have taken place between the First Nations and Ontario, but only preparatory meetings. The author further argues that during these meetings it had been agreed that the fact that discussions were occurring would not be interpreted or put forward as an admission of fact, law or other acknowledgement contrary to the position of the parties in the present communication, and that the State party’s argument thus breaches this agreement. The author reiterates that the only sufficient remedy is the negotiation in good faith on a timely basis of an agreement that would, on a secure and long-term basis, enable the author to enjoy his culture, and that the tools best suited for this task in Canadian domestic law are treaty protected rights. 12.5 The question before the Committee, as determined by its admissibility decision, is thus whether Ontario’s Fishing Regulations as applied to the author by the courts have deprived him, in violation of article 27 of the Covenant, of the ability to exercise, individually and in community with other members of his group, his aboriginal fishing rights which are an integral part of his culture. 12.6 The State party has submitted that the author has the right to fish throughout the year on and adjacent to his Nation’s reserves and that, with a fishing licence, he can also fish in other areas in the region which are open for fishing when the area surrounding the reserves is closed. The author has argued that there is not enough fish on and adjacent to the reserves to render the right meaningful and that the other areas indicated by the State party do not belong to his Nation’s traditional fishing grounds. He has moreover argued that fishing with a licence constitutes a privilege, whereas he claims to fish as of right. Consideration of the merits 12.1 The Human Rights Committee has considered the present communication in the light of all the information made available to it by the parties, as provided in article 5, paragraph 1 of the Optional Protocol. 12.2 In relation to the scope of the decision on admissibility in the present case, the Committee observes that at the time of the admissibility decision, the author had presented no elements in substantiation of his claim concerning the right to hunt, trap and gather or concerning the exhaustion of domestic remedies in this respect. The Committee also notes that the author has raised claims concerning the denial of the use of traditional fishing methods and catch limits only after the communication was declared admissible. In the Committee’s opinion, nothing would have stopped the author from making these claims in due time, when submitting his communication, if he had so wished. Since the State party had not been requested 12.7 Referring to its earlier jurisprudence, the Committee considers that States parties to the Covenant may regulate activities that constitute an essential element in the culture of a minority, provided that the regulation does not amount to a de facto denial of this right.16 The Committee must 16 See inter alia Kitok v. Sweden, communication No. 197/1985, Views adopted on 27 July 1988, and Länsman v. Finland, communication No. 511/1992, Views adopted on 26 October 1994, and communication No. 671/1995, Views adopted on 30 October 1996. 135