Tag Archives: Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs

“There are a lot more boats coming and bigger boats,” Tensions rise after suspected sabotage of Eskasoni fishing boat

The RCMP are investigating the apparent act of sabotage at the St. Peter’s Canal and have copies of recordings from video cameras there. The Eskasoni fishermen were catching lobster under the banner of a moderate livelihood fishery. While the right was acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada in its 1999 Marshall Decision, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has yet to reach an agreement with the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs on how to implement it. Meanwhile, tensions rise as First Nations fishermen on the Northumberland Strait, Cape Breton, Eastern Shore and South Shore have started to fish outside of the normal commercial seasons. >click to read< 07:44

Fourteen First Nations announce landmark agreement with Clearwater on Arctic Surf Clam

Fourteen First Nations communities in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador and Clearwater Seafoods Incorporated (“Clearwater”) (TSX: CLR) are pleased to announce they have reached a landmark agreement to the benefit of all parties. The Agreement forges a 50-year partnership that protects existing jobs in the Arctic Surf Clam fishery while creating meaningful economic, employment and capacity building for the fourteen First Nations that are adjacent to the clam resource. >click to read<19:09

Indigenous leaders raise ‘serious questions’ about multimillion-dollar clam licence

A backlash is growing against a multimillion-dollar federal bid to promote reconciliation and economic development among Indigenous groups in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. A group that represents 13 Mi’kmaq First Nations in Nova Scotia issued a statement Friday saying it is joining politicians in Newfoundland and Labrador to demand Ottawa reverse its recent decision to award a lucrative Arctic surf clam fishing licence to a company based in Cape Breton that claims to have Indigenous partners in all five provinces.,,, “What we know to be true is that this is anything but reconciliation. This has pitted province against province, community against community, and First Nation against First Nation.” >click to read<12:36

Lobster wars

Burned out fishing boats, thousands of pounds of dumped, dead lobsters and allegations of a booming black market for the popular crustacean have drawn federal investigators to Nova Scotia’s most lucrative fishing grounds in the lead-up to lobster season. Tensions have been running high in recent weeks along the small wharves in the communities that dot St. Mary’s Bay, a well-known breeding ground for lobsters during the summer. While conservation laws prevent lobster fishers from harvesting the shellfish during breeding season in order to safeguard stocks, stunned locals watched thousands of pounds of lobsters that appeared to be commercial loads pass over their docks though the summer months. click here to read the story 10:53

The Donald Marshall decision and Digby’s lobster wars 

A debate over illegal fishing has reached a boiling point in southwest Nova Scotia. Amidst accusations from non-Indigenous fishers about black market lobster sales, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs is calling on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to finally clarify the policy surrounding a legal case nearly 20 years old. Mi’kmaw fishers working in St. Mary’s Bay have been facing vocal outcry this season from non-Indigenous fishers in and around the Digby wharves.  click here to read the story 08:40

Why one Mi’kmaq fisherman says commercial fishing licences aren’t workingclick here 16:11