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from the Halifax Daily News
Saturday, August 19, 2000
By ANDREA MacDONALD
Indian Brook natives filed legal action yesterday after federal fisheries officers seized 85 traps and arrested several fishermen near Digby. The Hants County band wants a judge to strike down Ottawa's recent restrictions on the native lobster fishery at St. Mary's Bay.
Yesterday morning, Department of Fisheries and Oceans officers stormed the Pat Shoal in waters off New Edinburgh and arrested four of the eight people on board for violating the Fisheries Act. Charges are possible.
Natives on the boat said the officers boarded their vessel and pushed them to the ground.
"They rammed my boat and jumped on board and arrested my fellow crew members," said Donnie Jeans, skipper of the boat. "They slammed them on to the floor and handcuffed them and took them to jail."
Four native lobster fishermen were arrested. Federal fisheries officials said they could be charged with obstruction and possessing untagged gear. Four other people on board, including children, were released. Wendy Williams, a fisheries spokeswoman in Halifax, said the traps and the boat were seized. She denied the boat was rammed and said the native fishermen resisted when they were boarded.
At an impromptu news conference in Dartmouth yesterday afternoon, Chief Reg Maloney said the band was forced to ask the Federal Court of Canada to intervene.
"The Indian Brook band feels that there is no alternative left, short of either being coerced into signing the MacKenzie agreement - which is what the DFO wants - or going to court," Maloney said.
"Indian Brook has decided to go to court to let a judge break the stalemate."
Maloney was referring to federally-appointed negotiator James MacKenzie, who is trying to reach deals with natives before the lobster season opens next May.
The band says it's challenging the legality of federal Fisheries Minister Herb Dhaliwal's July 21 decision to prevent the band from fishing commercially for lobster in St. Mary's Bay between July and mid-October.
DFO considers this period outside the regular season it has designated for the bay. Indian Brook conservation studies allow for 800 traps for food, social and ceremonial purposes, but Dhaliwal has limited the number to 35.
The government began cracking down after rumours that far more lobsters were being hauled out of the bay. "Any sign of weakening on the part of DFO will be a go-ahead for more illegal activity," said Denny Morrow, a fishermen's spokesman. "There's a great deal of concern about that."
The band says Dhaliwal's decision violates its constitutional rights under treaties with the Crown in 1760-61, as well as last year's landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision involving Donald Marshall. That ruling confirmed natives' right to fish for food and ceremonial purposes, subject to federal regulation.
The Indian Brook band wants the court to declare Dhaliwal's licensing requirements illegal and prohibit fisheries officers from seizing traps and vessels. The Mi'kmaq band also plans to sue to recover costs and damages incurred in recent seizures.
Ten band fishermen face charges, and others have been served with court-appearance notices after two separate incidents this summer.
Members of several other bands who have signed fisheries agreements with the federal government have joined the Indian Brook fishermen in a show of support, Maloney said.
While the situation heated up in Nova Scotia yesterday, tensions eased in Burnt Church, N.B., where native leaders met federal negotiator James MacKenzie. The two sides left the meeting optimistic a peaceful solution can be reached. Native leaders were so pleased with the progress they ordered the removal of barricades that had been blocking a major public highway near the reserve for days.
Nearly 800 illegal Mi'kmaq traps from the Burnt Church band were pulled from Miramichi Bay on Sunday and four natives were arrested for obstructing fisheries officers.
The two sides apparently agreed during yesterday's meeting on a protocol for monitoring fishing on the bay. Details weren't released because the deal had yet to be approved by Burnt Church residents. The calm provided a rare break in a series of hostile confrontations this week that included a collision between a fisheries boat and a native vessel. Ottawa has responded to the natives with tough talk but has said they want to reach a negotiated settlement with the Mi'kmaq. - CP
Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law.
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This page created August 31, 2000
