Tag Archives: Conservation officers

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

Chief worried that harassment by ‘fish cops’ of First Nations could lead to violence

Chief Allan Adam, grand chief of Justice for Treaty 8 nations, says he’s tired of his people being “portrayed as criminals” for hunting and fishing, as is their right to do, without provincial licenses. He also says he’s tired of “fish cops (that) are more racist than the RCMP.” Last month, the Sovereign Nations of Treaty No. 8 launched a campaign introducing incident report forms in an effort to capture every time-past and current-that members have been “harassed, racially profiled, or discriminated against,  while expressing (their) inherent harvesting rights” by the RCMP, Fish and Wildlife officers, Conservation officers, sheriffs, government employees and others. >click to read< 19:46

Alleged crack head busted for allegedly poaching eels, and allegedly possessing meth!

AR-160409755.jpg&MaxW=315&MaxH=315A man was arrested for allegedly poaching eels in the Hampton Falls River on Friday, as well as for alleged methamphetamine possession, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game. Drew Hankins, 27, of Newbury, was arrested in the early morning and charged with illegally catching American eels after a foot pursuit by New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation officers and the New Hampshire State Police near Route 1, according to Fish and Game. When a uniformed Fish and Game officer approached Hankins, Eastman said Hankins jumped into the river and began swimming across toward a culvert. When Hankins saw a state trooper waiting there, he swam back to the Fish and Game officer and turned himself in. Read the article, click here 09:43