Tag Archives: Nunatsiavut government

Inuit harvesters threaten legal action

Monday, June 3rd, 2024 – Inuit harvesters from northern Labrador are threatening to take the Nunatsivut government to court if their 2024 inshore shrimp allocations aren’t restored, and an investigation ordered into why they were reassigned to an offshore factory-freezer trawler.  “The spirit and intent of a communal licence is to provide local inshore Inuit with jobs and connect them to their culture and traditions, and that has been broken,” says Lisa Blandford, an Inuit harvester on behalf of the group. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:21

Inuit inshore harvesters of northern Labrador have scheduled a protest for Tuesday morning, May 28th, at 8 a.m.

Inuit inshore harvesters of northern Labrador have scheduled a protest for Tuesday morning, May 28th, at 8 a.m. (8:30 a.m. in Newfoundland) outside all Nunatsiavut Government buildings in the province. “We encourage all Inuit harvesters, their families, and non-harvesters alike to support us against this grave injustice,” says organizer and Inuit harvester Lisa Blandford. In past years the Nunatsiavut government has distributed its annual federal allocation of shrimp off northern Labrador to more than 20 inshore harvesters or designates. This year, however, seven Inuit harvesters say the Nunatsiavut government has denied them a 2024 share of northern shrimp quota in favour of an Inuit designate with a factory-freezer trawler, displacing as many as 40 inshore harvesters along the north Labrador coast. The inshore harvesters have also raised questions of conflict of interest involving current and past members of the Nunatsiavut government and have DFO documentation from 2003 that dictates shrimp quota to be assigned specifically to the inshore. DFO is expected to open the shrimp fishery off northern Labrador in fishing zones 4 and 5 any day. Contact Lisa Blandford: 709 897 7531 – 13:20

Indigenous harvesters call for independent review of Nunatsiavut government shrimp allocations; conflict of interest questions raised

A group of seven indigenous inshore harvesters from northern Labrador say the Nunatsiavut government has denied them a 2024 share of northern shrimp quota in favour of a factory-freezer trawler and are calling for an independent investigation. “This is an injustice that goes against the spirit of our communal licence to preserve the culture and economy of the North Coast,” says Lisa Blandford, an Indigenous harvester on behalf the group. In past years the Nunatsiavut government has distributed its annual federal allocation of shrimp off northern Labrador to more than 20 inshore harvesters or “designates.” This year, however, Blandford said seven inshore designates have been told they will not be awarded northern shrimp. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:24