The Fraser Watershed Newsletter Background:

In the first year of operations the FRAFS learned of the need for timely and efficient communications between DFO and its First Nation members. Since the first issue of Watershed Talk on January 6, 1995, the Fraser Watershed newsletter for Aboriginal Fisheries organizations and representatives has gained an expansive readership, with distribution to 95 bands within the Watershed from the Fraser's headwaters in Carrier Sekani traditional territories to the Tsawwassen/Burrard First Nations at the river's mouth. Copies of Watershed Talk are distributed to all DFO and MOELP offices from Prince George to Vancouver, and to all First Nation communities, tribal councils and fisheries commissions throughout the watershed, keeping the flow of communication open on the fisheries issues and activities of the Fraser First Nations.

Watershed Talk tries to capture the interest of all First Nations within the Fraser Watershed with current issues and topics of ongoing concern to the Aboriginal fishery. Communication is encouraged and ongoing on a continuous watershed-wide scale, through community profiles, articles from bands of interest to the First Nations, press releases and updates from the fisheries representatives. The information is then formatted and summarized to meet the "Community Profile", "What's Going On?" and "From the Watershed" weekly columns.

This collaborative weekly series newsletter is coordinated from the office of the FRAFS in Kamloops and it's goal is to distribute technical information in a timely and efficient manner via fax and Internet. The latest development with Watershed Talk is its placement on the Fraser River Aboriginal Fisheries Home page, to improve the communication flow among First Nations, DFO, MOELP and the general public. During the first week of December our home page version of Watershed Talk was a feature website at a national level, highlighted in the Canadian Aboriginal News Digest as a "must see" for all interested in Aboriginal Fisheries issues.

In 1998, concerns were raised over the content of some newsletters specifically dealing with territorial disputes and claims. A request was made for the review of the editorial process and recommendations were made by the Fraser Watershed Steering Committee for the development of a mechanism to ensure the integrity of the newsletter is maintained.

"From the Watershed" provides a weekly update on meetings and events happening in the Fraser Watershed. The column encompassed a variety of issues of timely and pertinent interest to the First Nations on the watershed.

"What's Going On?" is a commentary by fisheries representatives on what's been taking place around the watershed, including information on workshops, meetings, conferences and other fisheries issues of interest to the Fraser Watershed Bands.

"Community Profile" This section of the newsletter provides a bulletin board of fisheries issues and projects current in Fraser Watershed communities in the watershed informed on what other communities plans, accomplishments and goals are within the fisheries and environmental context.

"Upcoming Meetings" This is the smallest but definitely the most read and referred to column by fisheries representatives on the Fraser. This calendar of upcoming meetings and events within the communities around the Fraser Watershed represents a time line of historically significant events in the watershed.