Nova Scotia minister calls on Ottawa for help with illegal fishing

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

Nova Scotia’s fisheries minister is once again calling on the federal government to address illegal fishing in the province.

Last Friday, the Canadian fisheries and aquaculture ministers came together to meet in Iqaluit with federal fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson.

Nova Scotia’s Kent Smith released a statement shortly after the meeting, saying he once again pressed the federal government to help with better enforcement in the province’s waters.

“Our communities and commercial harvesters have reported increasing illegal activities over the past years, which also has raised public safety issues,” he wrote.

This comes as the elver industry in Nova Scotia has seen violence and aggressive confrontations on the water in recent years between Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishers.

Smith went on to say he called on the federal government to support the province in the midst of the U.S. trade war by helping get seafood products to new markets.

Related:

• As elver fishery season set to launch, N.S. First Nation rejects federal rules
• Baby eel fisher calls for enforcement against illegal harvesting on N.S. river
• Federal fisheries minister does about-face on unpopular baby eel quota redistribution

“My Atlantic colleagues and I also repeated our call for a rapid renewal of the Atlantic Fisheries Fund (AFF), which has been a key partnership program to help our industry modernize and adapt to new opportunities,” Smith wrote.

He says he also reiterated the importance of the province’s work to advance offshore wind, adding he is cautiously optimistic about the direction the new minister is articulating for the province’s seafood industry.

“I continue to be cautiously optimistic with the direction that the new Minister is articulating for our seafood industry, and I look forward to ongoing engagement with her department on Nova Scotia’s priorities,” the letter finishes by noting.

(From left) Zack Bell, Prince Edward Island Minister of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport and Culture; Lisa Dempster, Newfoundland and Labrador Minister of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture; Joanne Thompson, federal Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard; Kent Smith, Nova Scotia Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture; and Pat Finnigan, New Brunswick Minister of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries. (Province of Nova Scotia)