Daily Archives: September 13, 2021
Mi’kmaw vow to keep fishing despite harassment from DFO officials
The crew of the Sadie C, a Sipekne’katik Mi’kmaw lobster boat was out on the bay exercising their treaty rights when it was surrounded by six zodiacs and one large coast guard vessel. The crew dropped ten traps, which the fisheries officers immediately seized. Marcel Marr, captain of the Sadie C, says he will keep fishing. “Someone’s got to stand here and fight the fight so it might as well be me if I want further generations or my children to participate in our aboriginal fisheries,” says Marr. >click to read< 19:54
Hurricane Ida: Bayou Community Foundation Assisting Lafourche, Terrebonne Recovery
The executive director of the Bayou Community Foundation says the organization has raised several million dollars thus far. She says they have begun issuing grants “to local non-profits who are providing critical relief services on the ground.” Jennifer Armand says money keeps pouring into the foundation’s fund that has helped pay for fuel, food and the various other needs of residents who remain in recovery mode more than two weeks after Ida slammed the two parishes, including Grand Isle. She says that about three million dollars have come into the fund thus far “and we know that every cent will be needed as we look to the weeks, months and year ahead.” If you’d like to donate to the fund you can visit the website bayoucf.org and click on the banner Bayou Recovery Fund. >click to read< visit bayoucf.org 10:44
DFO is responding to allegations from the Sipekne’katik First Nation
On Thursday, the band said they had lobster traps tagged ‘Food, Social and Ceremonial,’ confiscated by DFO officers in St. Mary’s Bay. DFO says of the 10 traps they seized that day, none had FSC tags, and no vessels were seized. The department says respectful, constructive dialogue is the best way to advance reconciliation, and implement rights-based fisheries. They say their officers take a progressive approach on the water, including education, issuing warnings and laying charges, while using discretion as they take situational factors into consideration. >click to read< 08:36
