Premier Stephen McNeil says he’s disappointed by inaction from the federal government.
After Thursday’s cabinet meeting, he said Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan and DFO officials need to act to ease tensions in Southwest Nova.
McNeil said he’s not satisfied with the federal government’s response.
“There’re going to have to be difficult conversations, I think both sides know this, but we need the national government, we need DFO, the federal minister sitting down,” he said. “it’s not good enough to sit with the Indigenous community or the traditional fisheries associations by themselves. They all need to be in the room, so they hear from each other.”
McNeil said the fishery is a federal responsibility, so there’s nothing the provincial government can do to regulate it.
He said the entire situation is frustrating.
“This is only getting more entrenched and people are getting more entrenched in their positions,” he said.
Tensions boiled over this week, with commercial fishermen from Southwest Nova raiding lobster pounds as a response to what they say is an illegal, out of season fishery by Mi’kmaw fishermen.
Mi’kmaw fishermen say they’re facing threats and violence over their moderate livelihood fishery in the St. Mary’s Bay.
