The First Nation has a clear treaty right to collect lobster for mediocre survival without the approval of the federal government – a right upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in the 1999 Marshall Ruling. The community had stated in 2021 that it wanted to start such fishing, but first chose to negotiate with the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans on specific terms to be implemented. Head Darlene Bernard told CBC News on Thursday that the community had been waiting a long time and so Lennox Island had its own management plan. Includes:
A maximum of 1,000 traps are deleted per year. A timeline that falls into the commercial season, using the dock and infrastructure of the community itself. Compliance with DFO rules regarding trap size and conservation measures.
Bernard said the community sent the plan to the DFO last week but has not received a response.
Lennox Island’s first nation leader Darlene Bernard says the community no longer intends to wait for an agreement with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. A lobster fishing treaty will start on May 7. (Nicola MacLeod / CBC)
First Nation plans to launch the fishery on Saturday, May 7, weather permitting.
About 25 people from Lennox Island are already collecting lobster as part of the commercial fishery, which will open early in the week of May 2, provided the weather and ocean conditions are favorable.
Bernard told CBC News that if there was any violence on the water targeting Lennox Island fishermen, the band would hold the DFO responsible.
He added that representatives from Lennox Island met with the PEI Fishermen’s Association earlier this week to share details of the plan.
In this September 2021 photo, fishermen from Sipekne’katik, Nova Scotia’s second-largest Mi’kmaq complex, operate lobster traps on a pier. (Robert Short / CBC)
PEIFA “strongly opposes” any kind of conflict
On Thursday afternoon, the provincial fishermen’s association issued a written statement calling the talks “unfortunate” between the federal government, non-native fisheries associations and the First Nations to further discuss the requirements. “We now have a situation where stakeholders do not agree on how access to fisheries can be achieved in a controlled and regulated way,” the statement said. “PEIFA does not support the granting of additional access to fisheries and expects the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to fully implement the existing regulations. for all concerned it could have been achieved “. CBC News contacted DFO and the provincial fisheries department for comment, but had not received any news until mid-Thursday afternoon.
