Chief Mike Sack with Donald Marshall III. Image: submitted.
Sipekne’katik First Nation Chief Mike Sack is threatening to block this year’s commercial lobster fishery in St. Mary’s Bay after a tense phone call with a DFO official. The commercial fishery in that area begins on November 30.
“If they can interfere with our fisheries, we’re going to start rallying up and blocking all of their wharves,” said Sack in an interview with Huddle.
“We’re not going to be aggressive, but we were trying to work through their system…and playing by everyone’s rules… and we’re just not going to have it anymore.”
Sack says that on October 30, he spoke with a regional director of fisheries management for DFO. The director, according to Sack, informed the Chief that any untagged Mi’kmaq lobster traps would be confiscated.
“She wanted to give us a head’s up that they noticed there were more lobster traps in the area. and they were going to have C&P come out and take those,” said Sack.
Sack says there are more traps in the water right now, as the Mi’kmaq fishermen try to obtain their quota of 50 traps per person,
“There are more traps than what was out there (initially)…our people only had a couple of hundred traps out there in total. So, they’re trying to get up to their 50 (traps) each,” he stated.
Huddle reached out to DFO for comment, and to ask whether they did, in fact, plan to confiscate any traps. They did not respond before publication.
Commercial fishermen are claiming, however, that the Band has increased its fishing in the lobster breeding ground in recent days. On October 29, in a letter to Bernadette Jordan, several fishermen’s groups claimed the federal government is doing nothing to stop the unregulated fishery.
“In recent days, sensing the weakness of your Government, the Sipekne’katik band has moved three large commercial boats from the now open LFA 35 zone to the closed St. Mary’s Bay area and are fishing thousands of traps 24-hours a day in a nursery,” states the letter. “Let me repeat, they have moved their legal lobster assets from an open area (LFA 35) to a closed area (LFA 34) because they know your government won’t act. The Bay is now lit up at night with illegal fishing by the Sipekne’katik band in a nursery. You must act.”
The letter was signed by representatives of the Coldwater Lobster Association, Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association, Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association, and the Scotia Fundy Inshore Fishermen’s Association.
Sack denies that the big vessels are fishing at all. He says that the boats in question were put on the water to protect and monitor the moderate livelihood fishermen.
Since the beginning of the Sipekne’katik moderate livelihood lobster fishery in September, many alleged crimes have been committed against Mi’kmaq fishermen. Many traps and lobster stock have been allegedly ruined by commercial fishermen and/or their supporters.
The dispute has also gotten violent at times. Earlier in October two lobster pounds were surrounded by hundreds of commercial fishermen on the same day. Mi’kmaq fishermen say they were outnumbered and surrounded while RCMP officers did little to intervene. Two vehicles were torched during the confrontation. Some Mi’kmaq people who were at the pounds say they were physically and verbally harassed, including racial slurs being used.
Commercial fishermen and their supporters say they oppose the Mi’kmaq fishery because it is being done out of the regulated lobster season. They say the fishery is a threat to the lobster stocks, and their livelihood, and goes against what science has shown is healthy for the stocks.
Sack believes DFO is unfairly targeting the Mi’kmaq fishery with this latest phone call, and they are giving in to the demands of the commercial fishermen.
“I mentioned that I find it very odd that DFO never noticed all of those commercial fishermen out there taking all of our people’s traps, but they’re noticing our people putting more traps out,” states Sack.
“It’s very shameful that they’re dictated to by the commercial industry. And that they are going to come out and harass our people? When it’s very obvious – it’s all on camera – that criminal acts have taken place… and nothing was done about it. As soon as our people are fishing, they’re right on us.”
Sack added that there has been widespread support for the Mi’kmaq people shutting down the commercial fishery on their unceded territory. He also says he is “100 percent” not bluffing with his threat to mobilize people to shut it down.
“It’s something that we’ve had support for all month. It’s just something we’ve been holding off on,” said Sack.
“There’s no plan in motion but it won’t take long to put one together.”
When asked when the Sipekne’katik plan to end their moderate livelihood fishery, Sack responded by saying “seven generations away.”
Derek Montague is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
