Dec. 19, 2022
HALIFAX – 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.
“Gear is still being cut by non-natives and DFO is still seizing traps,” said Hubert Nicholas, fisheries director with the Membertou First Nation in Cape Breton.
“The non-natives allowed us to fish for a few days (in 2020) … But every time somebody put a trap in the water, they were cut … We heard about someone pointing a gun at somebody here just a couple of months ago.”
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