For the past several weeks, Mi’kmaw lobster fishers in southwestern Nova Scotia have had their traps cut loose and their catch dumped by angry commercial fishers. They have been assaulted and, this past weekend, the facility they were using to store their catch was burned to the ground.

Some in the commercial fishing sector say they are worried about their future, and that the new moderate livelihood fishery launched by the Sipekne’katik First Nation threatens the stocks.

Today in The Conversation Canada Megan Bailey from Dalhousie University puts the dispute into context and writes about the science behind the lobster fishery. The number of traps being used is small in comparison to the commercial fishery. “There is no reason, no science, to suggest that the equivalent of one or two commercial vessels fishing in St. Marys Bay will be problematic,” she writes. “The sector needs to address its racism, cease its vigilantism, support dialogue and ensure that its positions are grounded in evidence.”

Also today:

 

Regards,

Hannah Hoag

Deputy Editor | Environment + Energy Editor
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