Tag Archives: Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge
Sipekne’katik First Nation, federal government to begin mediation in effort to settle fishing dispute
Litigation scheduled for next year that could have helped settle outstanding questions about treaty fishing rights related to the Marshall decisions will no longer happen, after a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge granted a joint request from Sipekne’katik First Nation and the Attorney General of Canada to instead focus on mediation. The decision stems from a lawsuit Sipekne’katik filed in 2021 that wanted a declaration from the court that the federal Fisheries Act and regulations infringe on the treaty right to fish lobster for a moderate livelihood. That includes the prohibition on catching and holding lobsters without a licence and fishing outside of a commercial season. The trial was to start in May 2025, but this April, just as witness discovery was set to begin, the two parties served notice to the court that they’d reached an agreement to focus instead on mediation. They filed a joint request to have the trial dates and all other pretrial milestones adjourned. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:37
Judge issues caution to all commercial fishers, Logbook, “you are either in compliance or you are not,”
A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge has issued a general caution to all commercial fishers when it comes to properly recording their catches. “Fishers have to understand that the court will not treat the failure to make a log entry as a mere lapse in accounting. There is no wiggle room in the conditions; you are either in compliance or you are not,” ruled Justice Frank Edwards, in a decision released Wednesday. Edwards made the ruling in overturning a provincial court judgement against a 36-year-old Halifax County fisherman who pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to properly maintain an up-to-date log book of his fishing activities. >click to read<22:09
