Tensions rise again over unauthorized lobster fishing in Nova Scotia

Tensions are rising in southwest Nova Scotia over unauthorized lobster fishing this summer in St. Marys Bay near Digby, with commercial fishermen and local MPs likening the situation to 2020 — when violence erupted over Indigenous harvesting outside of the federally regulated season.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) said in social media posts it is monitoring lobster fishing in the area and has seized 321 lobster traps this summer. In response to a request from CBC News, the department later said the number was actually higher — 464 traps in lobster fishing areas 33 and 34 in southern Nova Scotia. 

The commercial season there is closed. DFO did not respond when asked if anyone had been charged. It said it is still investigating. 

Lobsters were released live back in the ocean, but the number of traps seized is a fraction of what is being harvested illegally, says Colin Sproul of Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance, which represents some commercial fishermen.

"As sad as it is to say, we're fast approaching the situation of 2020 in advance of the fishery crisis. There's uncontrolled industrial-scale fishing in St. Marys Bay and in adjacent waters with little to no enforcement effort," Sproul said.

A small-scale food, social and ceremonial (FSC) fishery in St. Marys Bay is permitted, but the most prominent First Nation fishing in the area, the Sipekne'katik, has rejected its 2023 FSC limit of 45,000 pounds allowed by DFO.

In a May letter to DFO, the band said the FSC limit was made without adequate consultation and is an infringement of their rights, which also include the treaty right to earn a moderate living from fishing.

Band says there's no proof lobster are at risk

When DFO started seizing unauthorized traps in July, the band sued.

This year, Sipekne'katik band council authorized 175 traps per vessel to pursue a moderate livelihood fishery and 25 traps per vessel for the ceremonial fishery, according to documents filed as part of the suit.

DFO says harvesting for moderate livelihood purposes is not permitted outside of the commercial seasons.

Spokespeople for the Sipekne'katik First Nation and Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaw Chiefs did not respond to a request for comment.

The Sipekne'katik suit asserts DFO has no grounds to interfere with their rights-based fishing because there is no proof it puts lobster at risk.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled Mi'kmaq have a right to earn a moderate livelihood from fishing, but the government has the right to regulate that fishery for conservation and other purposes.

'The stock must be safeguarded'

"There is no factual evidence that lobster are threatened or a species at risk, therefore there can be no justifiable infringement for conservation purposes," the suit claims.

Nova Scotia Conservative MPs Rick Perkins and Chris d'Entremont have written to new federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier demanding more enforcement to stop rampant "poaching" this summer.

The Aug. 21 letter makes no reference to Indigenous harvesting, but says unauthorized lobster fishing in the summer breeding grounds is a conservation risk.

"The stock must be safeguarded against criminal activities and poaching, especially given the unprecedented yield per pot during this season. With as much as 100 pounds of lobster per pot being pulled from the warm waters daily, the delicate reproduction cycle of these creatures faces an imminent threat," the MPs wrote.

"What we are witnessing is a full-scale summer season of poaching, with licence plates from New Brunswick, Quebec and the New England states readily visible along the wharf."

D'Entremont, who represents West Nova, said in an interview the government has the responsibility to regulate any First Nations fishery in St. Marys Bay.

Enforcement issue

"There has to be some kind of agreement between the Government of Canada and the government of that First Nation on how the fishing is going to take place," he said.

"Ultimately, we're just asking, what is the detail? What are you doing? Are you charging people that are fishing illegally?"

Sproul says, "it doesn't matter who's doing it. The only thing that matters is that it's being done."

"The real issue here is whether or not the federal government has the will to enforce existing Canadian fishery law and policy. And the view in our communities and fishing communities to that question is no, they will not enforce existing law."

Sproul and the MPs say DFO's mishandling of the fishery for baby eels, or elvers, in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick this spring has emboldened poachers.

DFO shut down the elver fishery after hundreds of unauthorized harvesters flooded Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to cash in on the tiny eels that can fetch $5,000 per kilo.

'Everybody involved in the fishery loses'

But large-scale poaching by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people continued.

Lawful participants, including First Nations with moderate livelihood fisheries approved by DFO, were shut down.

"When government refuses to enforce existing Canadian fishery law for political purposes, everybody involved in the fishery loses, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike," said Sproul.