First Nation from 16 November to late April every year. According to the author, the State party’s argument that he can fish in lakes and rivers further away from the Hiawatha reserve fails to take into account the concepts of aboriginal territory as these lakes are not within the traditional territory of the Hiawatha First Nation. The author further argues that the Regulations give priority to fishing by way of angling and that traditional fishing methods (gill netting, spearing, bait-fish traps, seines, dip-nets etc) are restricted. As a result, many of the fish traditionally caught by Mississauga people cannot be fished by traditional netting and trapping methods. The author also mentions that he cannot ice-fish in the traditional grounds of his First Nation. He refers to a judgement of the Supreme Court (R. v. Sparrow, 1990) where the court directed that prohibiting aboriginal peoples from exercising their aboriginal rights by traditional methods constitutes an infringement of those rights, since it is impossible to distinguish clearly between the right to fish and the method of fishing. Finally, the author argues that the catch limits imposed by the Regulations effectively restrict him to fishing for personal consumption only. parallel. After inquiring into the claims, treaties were concluded by which the First Nations gave up their rights over the territories in Ontario in exchange for compensation. The Rice Lake Band was familiar with the treaty process and as examined by the Court of Appeal in the author’s case, the minutes of the meeting of the Band in Council show that the draft treaty was read, interpreted and explained before it was unanimously approved. 11.3 As to the author’s claims with respect to the restrictions on what species he can fish, and by what method, the State party argues that these claims under article 27 should have been raised before. The State party notes in this respect that the author’s original communication focused on the seasonal restrictions of his ability to fish and raised further arguments concerning his ability to transmit his knowledge to his children, participate with his community and fish for subsistence. He raised no claims in respect to being prevented from fishing for traditional fish or with traditional methods and the State party has thus not been requested to make submissions in respect of the admissibility and merits of these claims. The State party further notes that the evidence presented by the author in respect to these claims is very general and not specific to the Hiawatha First Nation, calling into question its reliability. For these reasons, the State party requests the Committee not to address these claims. 10.10 For the above reasons, the author maintains that his rights under article 27 and 2 (2) of the Covenant have been violated and requests the Committee to urge the State party to take effective steps to implement the necessary measures to recognize and ensure the exercise of constitutionally protected hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering rights through a treaty process. 11.4 With regard to the author’s assertion that the State party has an obligation to take positive measures to protect his fishing rights and that it has failed to do so, the State party submits that the author has a constitutionally protected treaty right to fish within his Nations’ reserve and the waters adjacent to it. In the reserve that the author’s First Nation shares with the Mississaugas of Curve Lake and of Scugog Island (Trent Reserve No. 36A) the author’s treaty right to fish is also protected. The State party points out that the shared reserve is made up of over one hundred islands spread throughout twelve lakes and rivers in the Kawarthas and that the waters adjacent to these islands provide significant fishing opportunities to the author and members of the Hiawatha First Nation. In these waters, the author may fish at any time of the year, using his community’s traditional techniques. The State party submits that the above constitutional protection does constitute a positive measure. Further submissions14 11.1 By submission of 15 December 2004, the State party takes issue with the author’s assertion that the scope of the Committee’s admissibility decision includes hunting, trapping and gathering rights. It states that the text of the admissibility decision is clear and that the issue before the Committee only concerns “fishing rights which are integral to” the author’s culture. If the author does not agree to this limitation, he is free to request the Committee to review its decision on admissibility, in which case the State party reserves its right to make further submissions on this issue. 11.2 The State party also submits that the 1923 Williams Treaty was negotiated upon request by the First Nations themselves, who were looking for recognition of their claims to rights in the traditional hunting territories in Ontario lying north of the 45th 11.5 The State party further explains that under the major land cession treaties of Canada, including the Williams treaties, what were once aboriginal rights to hunt and fish were redefined and reshaped through the treaties. The terms of the treaties varied depending on the purpose of the treaty and the circumstances of the parties. According to the State party, treaties in remote areas with sparse population and little urban development protect the pursuit of fish and wildlife 14 A further State party’s submission dated 2 June 2005 was received by the Committee. This submission, however, was considered by the Committee to contain no new elements. 133