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CBC
a day ago
- Politics
- CBC
Some fishing groups say relationship with DFO is heading in positive direction
The heads of two Nova Scotia fishing groups say there are signs that the often-contentious relationship between the industry and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans is now heading in a promising direction. In Nova Scotia, a perceived lack of enforcement over unlicensed fishing in the baby eel fishery has been one of the sources of that contention, as well as illegal lobster fishing in the southwestern part of the province. Colin Sproul, president of the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance, said he believes there's a "course correction" happening with the federal department. "I think that each time a new minister has been appointed, there's been a hope that they would set a new direction on this issue and the department, but I feel like this time we've seen some evidence that that's the way it's going," he said. "And I've heard that from some of my colleagues as well." One of the things Sproul pointed to was increased enforcement in the baby eel fishery on Nova Scotia's South Shore. He said this has included more arrests and seizing more vehicles and juvenile eels, known as elvers, this year. The valuable eels have fetched up to $5,000 per kilogram in recent years, before being shipped off to Asia where they are grown to adulthood for food. Their value has made them attractive to illegal fishers. According to DFO's website, fishery officers have carried out 1,074 riverside inspections, 144 inspections at holding facilities and 295 inspections at airports in the 2025 season. "It's one more indication to me that a new prime minister and a new minister of fisheries are taking the extreme dangers to Nova Scotia's resources seriously," said Sproul. Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson was appointed to the position in mid-March, shortly before Prime Minister Mark Carney called a federal election. She retained the position post-election. Sproul also applauded DFO removing unauthorized traps from Malpeque Bay, P.E.I., in late May and June. Lennox Island First Nation says those traps belong to its moderate livelihood fishery. The Mi'kmaq have a right to fish for a "moderate livelihood" outside of the commercial fishery that's rigorously regulated by the federal government, a right that was reaffirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada's Marshall decision in 1999. And while a subsequent clarification, known as Marshall II, said the government can regulate a resource in certain circumstances, it has been up to Ottawa, in consultation with First Nations, to establish what constitutes a moderate livelihood. That has not happened. Lennox Island First Nation set 1,500 moderate livelihood lobster traps this year — 100 traps each for 15 fishermen from the community — but DFO has said it approved only up to 1,000. Sproul said the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance respects and supports treaty rights, but believes the fisheries minister has sole regulatory authority. The minister was recently in Nova Scotia. According to an email from DFO, Thompson visited Cape Breton from June 6 to 8 to attend the Canadian Coast Guard College graduation ceremony, visited a local search and rescue station and met with stakeholders in the fishing industry. It's unclear how many meetings were held and with what groups. Dan Fleck, executive director of the Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association, did not attend any of these meetings. He said there appears to be more willingness from the federal government to listen and learn. "It's nice to be listened to, it's nice to be heard," he said. Fleck said he's been pleased with the enforcement actions against the illegal elver and lobster fishing industries. "We're seeing some positive signs that those are going to be addressed," he said.
CBC
5 days ago
- Politics
- CBC
Commercial fishing group to call on courts to define moderate livlihood
Social Sharing An organization that represents commercial fishermen says it's steaming ahead with a lawsuit aiming to define the terms of a moderate livelihood fishery now that a Nova Scotia-based First Nation has dropped its own lawsuit against the federal government. "It is critically important for all participants in the fishery to understand what the moderate livelihood right is and what its scope is and just as important to understand what it isn't," Colin Sproul, president of the United Fisheries Conservation Alliance, said in an interview. "We really need that clarity for everyone." Sproul was responding after his organization learned late Friday that lawyers for Sipekne'katik First Nation filed a notice of discontinuance in a lawsuit the band launched against the Attorney General of Canada in 2021. The Chronicle Herald first reported the development. Sipekne'katik wanted the courts to rule that the federal Fisheries Act infringed on its right to fish for a moderate livelihood. That would include the group's ability to fish for lobster outside the commercial season and catch and hold lobster without a licence. Sensing roadblocks? Sipekne'katik Chief Michelle Glasgow, who had been scheduled to appear in court on Monday as part of discovery for that lawsuit, did not respond to requests for comment. A summer fishery the First Nation started in St. Mary's Bay five years ago has been a flashpoint, with representatives from Sproul's organization and some other commercial groups expressing concern that a full-scale commercial operation has been happening outside of the regulated commercial season and that Fisheries and Oceans Canada has not done enough to prevent it. First Nations fishers have countered that fisheries officers have unlawfully seized traps and interfered with their treaty right to fish. Concerns aside, some First Nations fishers have exercised their food, social and ceremonial rights in the area. Fish caught as part of the FSC fishery, which is not regulated by any kind of season, cannot be sold or traded and is a constitutionally recognized practice. Michel Samson, a lawyer for the United Fisheries Conservation Alliance, said his interpretation of the notice of discontinuance is that officials with Sipekne'katik determined "there was no way that the courts were going to recognize what was being claimed." Moderate livelihood never defined With that lawsuit coming to an end, the alliance is now free to pursue its own. The group had intervener status in the matter between Sipekne'katik and the federal government, which had been previously delayed while the two parties worked toward a resolution outside the court process. "The United Fisheries Conservation Alliance has gone from being in the back of the bus to now behind the driver's wheel in having the courts make a determination on what are the limits around a moderate livelihood fishery for First Nation communities in Nova Scotia," Samson said in an interview. Calls for a definition of what constitutes a moderate livelihood date back to a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada ruling known as the Marshall decision, which said that First Nations have a treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood. And while a subsequent clarification, known as Marshall II, said the government can regulate a resource in certain circumstances, it has been up to Ottawa, in consultation with First Nations, to establish what constitutes a moderate livelihood. That has not happened.
Global News
02-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Lobster fishers raise alarm about low Canadian prices, some giving up on season
Lobster fishers around Atlantic Canada are speaking out about this year's prices, with some saying it's unfairly low this season. Prices haven't officially been announced yet, but some fishers are saying they've heard it could be 'dollars' lower than 2024's figures. 'I would say the prices have never been lower than this, when you recognize the extreme upswing in costs to harvest lobster,' said Colin Sproul with the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen's Association. 'I hear reports of our membership in southwest Nova Scotia giving up on the season and landing their traps, because they can't fish at the prices that are being offered to them.' The Maritime Fishers Union's president says that rumoured buyers' prices hover around $6 to $6.50 a pound, which he says is unreasonable and an insult to fishers. Story continues below advertisement The union's executive treasurer, Bruce Wilson, says it feels like fishers are being taken advantage of. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'They wait until the last minute and drop the price and keep it as low as possible,' he said. 2:00 Canada's Atlantic Lobster faces grave danger as China's tariffs take effect Sproul alleges the problem is price-setting, which is being undertaken by a few big industry groups. 'But that is illegal in Canada, and there's a simple name to describe that: it's a cartel,' he said. However, the executive director of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, Kris Vascotto, disagrees with that assertion, and says buyers have to consider a volatile market — while lobster is a premium product. 'I've watched a dramatic softening of the live market over the last month or so. It has been incredible with the increased turbulence that we're seeing in the global economy … We're watching the price drop in every single market that we access,' he said. Story continues below advertisement Meanwhile, Wilson says hundreds of local fishers are planning to stay docked on Friday. Others are going so far as considering buying their own fish plants. 'Our lobster season's only two months. We've got to do a full year of living out of two months,' said Wilson. — with a file from Global News' Rebecca Lau
