Tag Archives: Pictou Landing First Nation

Conflict over new Indigenous lobster fishery continues to smolder amid some progress

Federal conservation officers have seized more than 7,000 lobster traps in the two years since violence flared in Nova Scotia when a First Nation tried to assert a treaty right by fishing out of season. Earlier this month, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans confirmed it had confiscated almost 2,000 traps this year alone, a figure that shows the dispute between Ottawa and some Indigenous fishers has not gone away, despite DFO’s best efforts to keep a lid on tensions. Tim Kerr, DFO’s director of conservation and protection in the Maritimes, said the department has stepped up patrols in the region to ensure safety and compliance with the rules. >click to read< 12:00

DFO promises enforcement on ‘out of season’ indigenous moderate livelihood fishery

DFO warned two Nova Scotia First Nations this summer that unauthorized lobster fishing would result in enforcement. When the bands went fishing, enforcement ensued. Fishery officers from DFO’s conservation and protection branch seized traps, released thousands of lobsters and made arrests in separate actions involving fishing by members of the Sipekne’katik and Pictou Landing bands. In the case of Sipekne’katik, DFO spokesperson Barre Campbell said officials wrote to the band on July 5 and Aug. 31 to invite Sipekne’katik fisheries managers to discuss the possibility of “working together towards a moderate livelihood fishing plan that implements their treaty rights while ensuring conservation and sustainability of stocks under transparent and predictable management.” >click to read< 09:23

Pictou Landing reports peaceful season of moderate livelihood lobster fishery

Generations of Craig Francis’s family have fished the waters between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, so being a part of Pictou Landing First Nation’s moderate livelihood fishery is a big deal for him. “It’s nice to have our rights recognized,” he said. “We were given these inherent rights, so to go out and do that on our own and have support with DFO and local fishermen is pretty good.” Francis is one of the community members designated by the First Nation to fish lobster under the plan. It’s the community’s first moderate livelihood plan with an understanding from Fisheries and Oceans Canada. >click to read< 06:57

Pictou Landing to operate DFO approved moderate livelihood lobster fishery

The Pictou Landing First Nation is getting ready to operate a moderate livelihood lobster fishery in waters off Nova Scotia starting Tuesday with the approval of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. About 25 members of the community have registered to fish and sell their catch under the plan and are being issued traps and tags by the First Nation, according to Chief Andrea Paul. In a news release, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs said the Pictou Landing First Nation held formal consultations with DFO and came to an understanding without having to sign any agreements or changing its position on treaty rights. >click to read< 18:24

RCMP arrest four men after alleged shots fired at Indigenous fisher

Officers said they responded to a call of gunfire in the Northumberland Strait near the First Nation at around 5:30 p.m. yesterday. After arriving at the scene, RCMP said they learned a man from the Indigenous band had seen crew members on a fishing vessel removing lobster traps from the water. A 51-year-old man from Pictou County turned himself in Monday evening and was arrested. The other three men from the area were arrested this morning without incident. >click to read< 07:10

RCMP Investigates – Pictou Landing chief says lobster fisher was shot at on the water

RCMP in Pictou County, N.S. have one person in custody after reports of shots fired Sunday in the area of Pictou Landing First Nation. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Lisa Croteau said RCMP responded to the incident around 5:30 p.m. She said she could not provide an exact location of the incident, only that it was “in the Pictou Landing area.” Croteau said no injuries have been reported and a police investigation is ongoing. >click to read< 06:30

Fishermen’s groups seek candidates’ stance on Nova Scotia pulp effluent

In a joint statement released Monday, the coalition, representing the Gulf Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board, Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association, Maritime Fishermen’s Union and Pictou Landing First Nation, says it will be seeking the position of all local federal election candidates on Northern Pulp’s proposed effluent pipeline. The coalition maintains the pipe would, on a daily basis, release between 65 and 87 million litres of effluent into the Northumberland Strait, “one of our most important commercial fishing areas.”,,, It points out the area falls under the Canadian Fisheries Act and is the jurisdiction of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. >click to read< 12:49

Fishing groups say concerns validated by missing data in Northern Pulp assessment

A working group of Maritime fishermen says a number of concerns regarding Northern Pulp’s proposed effluent pipe have been validated in a report released by the province of Nova Scotia. The fishing groups from P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Pictou Landing First Nation are maintaining a stance of “no pipe” in the Northumberland Strait and “no extension” to the Boat Harbour closure date following the April 23 release of a focus report – terms of reference by the province of Nova Scotia. >click to read<

No pipe in the strait: fisheries groups and First Nations to Northern Pulp

They don’t want pulp effluent in the Northumberland Strait. An alliance has been forged among the Gulf Nova Scotia Fleet Planning Board, the Maritime Fishermen’s Union, the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association (PEIFA), the New Brunswick Fisheries Association and Pictou Landing First Nation. Their purpose is to publicly and officially oppose the proposed discharge of Northern Pulp’s effluent into the Northumberland Strait – and to demand a federal environmental assessment into the matter. >click to read<13:51

Nova Scotia’s Dirty Secret: The Tale of a Toxic Mill and The Book Its Owners Don’t Want You to Read

The story of Pictou Landing is one of desperation, of corruption and incompetence. So perhaps it’s no surprise that when Canadian journalist and anthropologist Joan Baxter tried to tell it, old forces of power moved in to silence her. The mill’s owners tried to banish Baxter and her book The Mill: Fifty Years of Pulp and Protest from local bookstores. Of course, that backfired in spectacular fashion: The Mill sold out two printings and became the best-selling book in Nova Scotia Chapters and Coles book stores the month it was released. >click to read< 10:14

LETHBRIDGE: Pulp friction grips Pictou once again

Pictou County is a community torn asunder by the smell, foam and brown water of money. The controversy over Northern Pulp — known locally as “The Mill” — has been ripping apart families, neighbours and businesses. This is the toxic byproduct of economic output from the plant, and the jobs it generates in rural Nova Scotia. This week, wounds were ripped open again, as Northern Pulp announced a plan to pump effluent into the Northumberland Strait. The mill is facing a January 2020 deadline to replace the treatment facility at Boat Harbour. click here to read the story 15:08

First Nation, fishermen distrust Northern Pulp wastewater treatment plan

There’s too much risk and not nearly enough trust to bring Northern Pulp’s plan for a new wastewater treatment facility to fruition, according to Andrea Paul, the chief of the Pictou Landing First Nation, and scores of fishermen and residents in Pictou County.,,, Concerned Northumberland Strait fishermen met with the company on Monday and two public consultations were held on Tuesday and Wednesday.,,, Speaking on behalf of the Northumberland Fisheries Association, lobster fisherman Allan MacCarthy said the Monday meeting did not offer any answers. click here to read the story 10:42