A moderate livelihood is defined by the court as fishing for food, clothing, housing and a few amenities but not the accumulation of wealth.

"It is likely that there are few existing commercial fishermen that enjoy any greater standard of living than this," said Cummins. "These fishermen will now have to stand aside while each and every Mi’kmaq who chooses fish, does so and earns enough to achieve this level of income."

To make matters worse, the court found there is currently no valid regulation of the Mi’kmaq right. As a result unrestrained fishing is permitted by the Mi’kmaq until a regulatory regime is in place. "History shows that could take years," said Cummins.

Experience with respect to native fishing times shows that fisheries managers will err on the side of allowing too much fishing rather than too little. Because non-aboriginal fishermen do not have access to constitutional remedies for infringements on their rights, (as aboriginal fishermen do), the practice of erring on the side of aboriginal fishing rights seems to have been adopted as a method of keeping DFO managers on safe ground, free of legal challenges.