Alberta Métis have lost a key legal battle in their fight to exercise their constitutional rights to hunt and fish in the province.

A judge in Medicine Hat has found Garry Hirsekorn guilty of breaking the law when he took part in two hunts in southern Alberta in 2007.

The case centres around where Métis in the province can hunt and fish.

Under provincial law, Métis can hunt and fish year-round near traditional Métis settlements in northern parts of the province.

"We think the verdict is consistent with the historical evidence ... at the trial. It confirms the absence of a historical Métis community in southern Alberta," said Crown prosecutor Tom Rothwell.

But the Métis Nation of Alberta maintains that Métis have the constitutional right to hunt and fish throughout Alberta.

Lawyers say the Hirsekorn case could be a test case because there are more than 25 other Métis facing illegal hunting charges in the province.