First Nation in N.S. vows to keep fishing despite arrest for ‘unauthorized fishery’

Chief Mike Sack said members of the Sipekne’katik First Nation will fish until the end of the year as planned

HALIFAXtoday \ Canadian Press

SAULNIERVILLE, N.S. — The chief of a First Nation in Nova Scotia says his band will continue fishing for lobster outside the federally regulated season, days after he was arrested by Fisheries Department officers.

Chief Mike Sack said today in an interview members of the Sipekne’katik First Nation will fish until the end of the year as planned, despite the fact federal officers continue to haul his community’s traps from the water.

Sack was arrested and questioned by fisheries officers earlier this week after he announced that band members would start fishing months ahead of the opening of the federally regulated season.

He says he wasn’t charged but was taken in for being “party to the offence of (an) unauthorized fishery.”

Sack says he hopes his band can operate its own fishery without being subject to enforcement operations by the federal government.

Sipekne’katik First Nation argues that a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision affirming its members’ treaty right to fish allows them to harvest lobster year-round.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2021.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press