Fishing seasons for a reason
For years, inshore fishermen, MFU members and colleagues in other regions, have suffered from DFO management's double standards. They are bound by strict rules regarding fishing seasons, license conditions, and resource protection.
Fish stocks are a common resource that belongs neither to the government nor to Indigenous nor to non-Indigenous but to ALL Canadians, and they must be managed in a way that benefits ALL Canadians.
Our fisheries and the survival of our coastal communities are at stake. Known and unsanctioned abuses by the federal government, the same government's refusal to allow inshore fishers to participate in decisions about the industry and the resource, and secret deals with specific First Nations will lead to the disappearance of the resource, even greater tensions between our fishers and First Nations, and the impoverishment of our coastal communities. What will our communities do when the inshore fishery ceases to exist? Enough is enough.
Overweight
In January 2025, the federal government announced handing over a quarter of a billion dollars to provide First Nations with additional access to commercial fisheries in Atlantic Canada, over and above the more than $1 billion already invested since the late 1990s.
Although the Indigenous population represents around 5% of the region's population, indigenous fishermen hold over 10% of access to the resource. And this figure will increase with this new announcement.
The federal government is putting our region in a difficult situation and doing no one any favours!
Unanswered questions
MFU members have many questions for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. But the answers aren't coming. We ask ourselves:
WHAT WERE THE CONSULTATIONS? The January announcement took us by surprise. Once again, there has been NO prior consultation with commercial fishing organizations on the size, scope and impact of this upcoming buyout funding on our fishing members and their communities.
WHEN WILL THERE BE A SINGLE SET OF RULES AND CONSISTENT ENFORCEMENT? There is NO mechanism to address the ongoing problems of unregulated out-of-season fishing and its current impacts on the health of the lobster resource in many affected areas. Nor are there any mechanisms to address and enforce the growing illegal sales of lobsters for food, social and ceremonial (FSC) purposes. Over the past eight years, the Government of Canada has jeopardized sustainable stock management for the benefit of all Canadians.
WHERE IS THE OBLIGATION TO FISH AND THE BAN ON LEASING INDIGENOUS ACCESS? There are NO rules, mechanisms or policy changes to prevent Indigenous leaders from leasing their current and future communal fishing access to non-indigenous businesses. Policies should create direct employment in Indigenous communities with Indigenous owner-operators and crews, not allow organizations from outside the region to enrich themselves.
WHAT DO MODERATE LIVELIHOODS AND APPROPRIATE ACCESS MEAN? This new funding announcement still contains no legal definition of "moderate livelihood," no plan to solve the problems, and no targets for transferring access needed to "satisfy the right." The indigenous population of the Maritimes and Quebec (Gulf Region) represents approximately five (5) percent of the region's population (on- and off-reserve). How much of the fishery should the Canadian government give them? Currently, they hold over ten (10) percent of Canada's east coast fishery resources.
You can help!
Our inshore fishermen are privileged witnesses to climate change, changes in the habits of marine species and regulations that the federal government does not enforce.
Yet when they want to participate in discussions, the authorities tell them that their expertise and opinions are of no interest to them.
If you care about the survival of our coastal communities, help us get our message heard. You can do so by:
Sharing our campaign messages on your social media.
Asking questions of elected officials and federal election candidates.
Voting in the next federal election to get the message out.