Photo: Contributed - CCRD

Members of a First Nation in B.C. are occupying a federal fisheries office in their latest action against a contentious herring fishery on the province's central coast.

The Heiltsuk Nation says about 50 members began blockading a Fisheries Department building near Bella Bella on Sunday evening.

It says elected leaders and children are inside the building and have set up tents outside, refusing to leave until the government cancels a planned commercial herring gillnet fishery in its territory.

The nation says stocks are too low and must rebuild before the fishery can resume.

The Fisheries Department opened a herring-roe seine fishery in the same area earlier this month, saying the stock can support a modest commercial harvest.

Tribal councillor Reg Moody says the nation is prepared to take to the water to protect the herring if the gillnet fishery is opened.

The Fisheries Department says it respects the right to protest but condemns any threat of violence or reprisal against people participating in a lawful and sustainable fishery.

Other First Nations on B.C.’s coast have also spoken out in a long-standing dispute over the sustainability of herring fisheries.