Commercial Lobstermen Sue to End Unregulated Lobster Fishing in St. Marys Bay

The Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFCA) is an alliance of commercial fishing stakeholders who are calling on the Canadian government to establish regulatory oversight of all fishing. The group has filed a lawsuit against the Sipenkne’katik First Nation and the Canadian attorney general. The group wants a judge to rule that the First Nation’s summer and fall lobster fisheries in St. Marys Bay are illegal and that they have no treaty rights to them. The commercial season in the bay area begins in late November.

In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a ruling in the Marshall case, which concerned the capture of adult eels and the Mi’kmaq’s right to fish, hunt, and gather under the treaty as a “moderate livelihood.” However, the court never defined the term and said the government could regulate in certain circumstances. Under the Fisheries Act, Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishermen had historically cooperated in commercial lobster fishing. But two decades later, things quickly changed.

Fast forward to 2020, Chief Mike Sack of the Sipekne’katik First Nation initiated a lobster fishery in St. Marys Bay that was unauthorized by the Canadian Department of Fisheries. In 2021, the First Nations group filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration from the court that the federal Fisheries Act and regulations violated the treaty right to fish lobster as a moderate livelihood. The judge granted the group and the Attorney General of Canada permission to mediate, and UFCA then joined the case.

UFCA filed a notice of action on Aug. 23, 2024, arguing that unregulated fishing that began in 2020 has significantly depleted the bay’s lobster stocks. It says it has led to commercial fishermen abandoning the area and the closure of a local processing plant. The Mi’kmaw, also known as the First Nations, issued its own lobster tags and trap licenses when it began fishing, arguing that its members have a treaty right to earn a living by selling their catch.

After the First Nation fishery was established in the area, commercial fishermen claimed the fishery was a front for a large-scale commercial operation. Tensions between the two groups escalated, leading to lobster burnings and other confrontations.

According to CBC Canada, 30 licensed commercial fishermen recently left the St. Marys Bay area, hurting the income of those who remained. The latest lawsuit filed by UFCA asked the court to declare the First Nation’s self-regulated lobster fishery in St. Marys Bay illegal and additionally seeks regulation under the Federal Fisheries Act.

Colin Sproul, president of UFCA, told CBC: “We’re seeing tens of thousands of pounds of lobster being removed from St. Marys Bay.”

UFCA found that the Mi’kmaq did not traditionally trade in lobsters when the 1760-61 Treaty of Peace and Amity was signed. They also noted that St. Marys Bay was not part of the traditional territory of the Sipekne’katik and that financial resources “from government and private enterprise are sufficient to support a moderate livelihood without unregulated summer/fall commercial lobster fishing in St. Mary’s Bay.”

UFCA noted in a Facebook post on Aug. 31, “We are calling on the federal Minister of Fisheries to declare the current out-of-season lobster fishery in St. Mary’s Bay illegal and put an end to it,” and “All stakeholders in the fishery need clear guidance so everyone understands what the rules are.”