Tag Archives: Mike Sack
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
Restorative justice to be used in resolving charges in ransacking Nova Scotia lobster pound
Restorative justice is being used to help resolve a case involving 25 people accused of ransacking a Nova Scotia lobster pound at the centre of a dispute over Indigenous fishing rights. The Pubnico pound was storing lobster caught by members of the Sipekne’katik First Nation, which angered commercial fishers because the harvest was conducted outside the federally regulated season. Reached for his reaction to Friday’s development, Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack expressed surprise and called the referral to restorative justice a “cop out” and a way for the accused to avoid consequences. Video, >click to read< 07:38
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
Sipekne’katik First Nation lobster boats cut loose from a wharf in Nova Scotia.
The chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation, Mike Sack, issued a statement saying the boats were cast adrift from their berths in Weymouth North, N.S., with the “intent to cause damage and intimidate the community.” Sack says the boats were ready to take part in the band’s food, social and ceremonial lobster fishery, which is regulated by federal rules but is not limited to a particular season. >click to read< 17:53
Company willing to buy Sipekne’katik lobster from open fishing area 35
Bruce Gidney of Gidney Fisheries in Digby made the offer in response to Chief Mike Sack of Sipekne’katik, who has said buyers and suppliers won’t do business with the band amid ongoing tensions between Mi’kmaw and non-Indigenous commercial fishers. “The chief said no one was interested,” said Gidney. “We weren’t contacted and neither were other buyers I’ve talked to.” The Sipekne’katik band is sitting on 6,800 kilograms of lobster harvested by members under three commercial licences it holds in Lobster Fishing Area 35, or LFA 35. The commercial season opened there last week. It is the only area currently open to commercial fishing. >click to read< 08:45
‘Blacklisted:’ Nova Scotia First Nation pulls commercial lobster boats from the water
The chief of the First Nation behind a disputed moderate livelihood lobster fishery in Nova Scotia says recent vandalism and the loss of potential sales have cost the band more than $1.5 million — and he wants those responsible to be held accountable. Mike Sack, chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation, also alleged the band had been blacklisted by lobster buyers. Sack later told reporters the band has filed an application for a court injunction aimed at preventing people from harassing Indigenous fishers at the wharf in Saulnierville, N.S., where the livelihood fleet is based. The First Nation attracted national attention on Sept. 17 when it launched a “moderate livelihood” fishing fleet in St. Marys Bay in southwestern Nova Scotia, almost two months before the federally regulated fishing season was set to open. >click to read< 08:29
‘DFO has to step in,’ says fisheries official of St. Marys Bay black market lobster
Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans says there are “clear indications” of abuse in the First Nations food, social and ceremonial lobster fishery underway this summer in St. Marys Bay, N.S. Since June, non-Indigenous lobster fishermen have complained that some Indigenous fishermen are using the fishery to cloak a black market lobster fishery. “They are making it clear DFO has to step in,” said Morley Knight, assistant deputy Minister with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Bay of Fundy lobster fisherman Chris Hudson liked what he heard. “We are satisfied with what DFO had to say. We’re anxiously looking to see if they do what they say, and that is enforce the rule of law, which is all we are asking,” click here to read the story 19:56
