Unlike their ancestors for whom fish were plentiful and fishing was a way of life, today few Snuneymuxw people own their own boats and fish for a living. Currently, there is only one commercial fisherman in the community. Despite this, fish is still a preferred food for the Snuneymuxw. A recent survey has shown that Snuneymuxw community members continue to eat fish at least three or four times a week. In the survey, many said that they would eat more fish if they could get them. Unfortunately, this is a difficult task.

The landscape around Nanaimo has been altered significantly by land-use development and pollution. Consequently, as in other places in Canada, fish stocks have been depleted. There is no commercial cod or halibut fishery in the Nanaimo region today. Herring, which were once one of the most abundant fish in the area, are gone. Salmon stocks in the Nanaimo River have declined dramatically. Flounder, fished extensively by the ancestors of the Snuneymuxw, are no longer in the Nanaimo Estuary either. Snuneymuxw fishermen travel to the west coast of Vancouver Island to fish for salmon, cod and halibut. They do not fish locally due to lack of fish and the fear of pollution in the urban area.

In the early days of European settlement, James Douglas was given direction by the Crown to make a treaty with the Snuneymuxw in order to assure peaceful settlement in the area. In 1854, he reported that the Snuneymuxw had agreed to a treaty and today this is known as the Douglas Treaty. In recognition of the importance of fishing for the Snuneymuxw way of life, the treaty protected Snuneymuxw fishing rights. The actual wording of the treaty states that the Snuneymuxw can continue "fishing as formerly."

Traditionally, all the Snuneymuxw villages were located in prime fishing locations: in Nanaimo Harbour, on the Nanaimo River, in Departure Bay and at False Narrows on Gabriola Island. When the Snuneymuxw Indian reserves were delineated in 1876, fishing locations were a main consideration. The reserve on Gabriola Island, for example, was set aside specifically as a fishing station.

Today the Snuneymuxw are negotiating with the federal and provincial governments to determine what "fishing as formerly" means in modern terms. In the meantime, the Snuneymuxw are allocated a certain amount of food fish a year. They acquire these fish from waters in the Northern Johnson Strait, as the fish in their traditional waters cannot sustain them.