Indigenous harvesters around the Strait area are currently on the water fishing lobster.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) announced earlier this month week that it reached an understanding with We’koqma’q First Nation that will see their members fishing lobster and selling their catch in accordance with an amendment to the amended Netukulimk Livelihood Fisheries Plan.
DFO said the plan was developed by the community with collaboration from Potlotek First Nation, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs, and Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office (KMKNO).
We’koqma’q harvesters will fish during the 2022 commercial seasons in Lobster Fishing Areas (LFAs) 27 and 31A with a trap limit of 210 in each, DFO said, noting the LFAs are within the Unama’ki District where We’koqma’q and Potlotek are located.
To provide access for We’koqma’q’s participation in the commercial lobster fishery, access was offset by using existing banked licences and unfished traps across the entire Unama’ki District, DFO said. The department said it remains committed to negotiating through the willing seller-willing buyer model.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada said the season in LFA 27 goes until July 15, and in LFA 31A, it runs from to June 30. They said lobster stocks are all considered to be in the Healthy Zone in these Lobster Fishing Areas.
The Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs said Mi’kmaw harvesters from We’koqma’q First Nation worked together to build a Netukulimk Livelihood Fisheries Plan for their community. They said the Netukulimk Livelihood Fisheries Plans provides the community authority and management for their constitutionally protected right to fish for a moderate livelihood.
We’koqma’q Chief Annie Bernard-Daisley said the community’s harvesters voiced their intent to exercise their “inherent” treaty rights to provide for their families and the community.
The assembly said We’koqma’q and DFO met through formal consultations and came to an interim understanding on how We’koqma’q would implement their Netukulimk Livelihood Fisheries Plan, without having to sign any agreements, or change how their community harvesters want to see their treaty rights implemented.
Noting that it’s been years since the Marshall decision, Bernard-Daisley said it’s time that Mi’kmaw harvesters exercise their rights “without fear of their gear and equipment being seized.”
The assembly said it continues to support decisions made by Mi’kmaw communities on how they will proceed with their Netukulimk Livelihood Fishery and welcomes the announcement from We’koqma’q as another step in the right direction towards self-governance. While interim understandings with DFO are allowing community harvesters to fish for a living, the assembly said it still sees the need for significant changes within the Fisheries Act to allow for the Mi’kmaq to truly self-govern moderate livelihood fisheries outside of DFO’s system and licenses.
Since the Supreme Court of Canada Marshall decisions, DFO said it has taken a number of steps to implement the right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood. The department said it uses programs and tools, such as the Marshall Response Initiative, the Atlantic Integrated Commercial Fisheries Initiative, the current Rights Reconciliation Agreement process and Moderate Livelihood Fish Plans, to support implementation of the treaty right. They said consideration is given to the community’s existing communal commercial access, the size of the community, and the characteristics of the area they want to fish.
On April 29, DFO said it reached a second interim understanding with Potlotek First Nation.
DFO said the harvesters designated under Potlotek’s Netukulimk Livelihood Fisheries Plan will fish a total of 1,200 traps in Lobster Fishing Areas (LFAs) 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31A.
The season end dates are: LFA 27 July 15; LFA 28 June 30; LFA 29 June 30; LFA 30 July 20; and LFA 31A June 30.
DFO said this understanding includes LFA-specific trap limits with a total authorized tab limit of 1,200, which comes out to: up to 210 traps in LFA 28; up to 700 traps in LFA 29; up to 210 traps in LFA 30; and up to 420 traps in LFA 31A.
In the LFAs where designated harvesters are authorized to fish, lobster stocks are all considered to be in the Healthy Zone, DFO noted.
The department their preferred approach is through the willing buyer–willing seller voluntary licence relinquishment process.
Last June, Potlotek and DFO reached an interim understanding.
Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray said that interim understanding was “the first of its kind,” which set the stage for understandings with other Mi’kmaw communities.
The assembly said Potlotek was one of the first Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw communities to launch their community based Netukulimk Livelihood Fisheries in the Fall of 2020, leading the way for other Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw communities.
Since their initial launch, the chiefs said Potlotek has also been working “diligently” at building management capacity and fostering relationships in the local fishing area.
Because many community members have family ties in surrounding communities outside of Potlotek, Chief Wilbert Marshall said building relationships with local fishers working alongside their harvesters is important.
Marshall said the community’s Netukulimk Livelihood Plan was developed through scientific research, Mi’kmaw traditional knowledge, and keeping with the Mi’kmaw philosophy of Netukulimk.
In the early stages of this fishery, there have been hiccups.
In late October, 2020 DFO Conservation and Protection Officers seized approximately 150 lobster traps from First Nations boats fishing in St. Peter’s Bay.
Then on Nov. 22, 2020, the DFO seized 196 traps from First Nations boats in Lennox Passage that were later returned.
On the opening day of the season for LFA 29 in 2021, DFO officers seized 37 traps from a harvester in St. Peter’s Bay, which Potlotek legally challenged with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
On June 22, 2021, DFO said over 400 undersized lobsters were taken and released from a boat at the St. Peter’s Canal. The department said some egg-bearing female lobsters were also released.
Between Oct. 5 and 15, 2021, fishery officers seized a total of 409 traps in the St. Peter’s Bay area, for reasons such as improperly tagged traps and unauthorized tags.
As of press time, there have been no seizures, lobster dumping, fines, or charges confirmed by authorities in local LFAs this season, which is good news and demonstrates that the current arrangement just might work.
But it’s not definitive proof that short-term, interim understandings are enough to avoid past problems, nor does it sooth lingering tensions, and skepticism about the viability of the First Nation fishery.
It will take time to earn that credibility, but there is no doubt, this initial success shows promise that these fisheries can move on to long-term agreements that still adhere to the rules.
If this quiet season continues, it will demonstrate that the understanding extends beyond offices and boardrooms, to the fishers on the water.