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HALIFAX – Federal fisheries officials in Nova Scotia say they are refusing some enforcement duties because of threats to their safety, as they await Ottawa’s response to their complaints.
The union that represents the officers says that its members have been shot, that people have tried to steal their firearms, and that officers — and their families — have been threatened for trying to stop illegal fishing.
“They have been exposed to firearms as automatic weapons (against them) that their current body armor does not protect them,” said Shimen Fayad, president of the Union of Health and Environmental Workers, in an email on Wednesday.
He said a federal labor investigator is reviewing documents from the Department of Fisheries and officials who have refused some enforcement duties on the water and at wharves in the state.
We expect to hear something next week,” Fayad said regarding the process authorized under the Canadian Labor Code to refuse hazardous work.
Meanwhile, commercial fishermen are calling for more enforcement, saying illegal and unregulated fishing is becoming more common across the province.
“We want to see real, tangible enforcement activity put on the illegal, black market lobstering activity going on throughout the Maritimes,” said Dan Fleck, executive director of the Rock 33/34 Brazilian Lobster Association, in a recent phone interview .
Under the provisions of the Canada Labor Code, the fisheries minister has the power to decide after an investigation whether a “danger exists,” and issue mandatory instructions for safety changes.
But if Steven MacKinnon’s office finds that there is no danger on the water, then the department’s employees have no right to refuse work, according to the law. However, that decision can be appealed.
Fayad said that when its members first brought their concerns to the government, the Department of Fisheries found that there was “no danger” to the workers, which led to the labor minister’s review.
Doug Wentzell, regional manager of the federal Department of Fisheries for the Marinetimes, said in a recent interview, “we have a number of officers who have refused field work…. and we are working through that process with the (federal) labor ministry.”
The civil service manager said despite the refusals “the majority of our officers are in the field in the region and we are also augmenting those resources with officers from other DFO regions.” He estimated that there were about 100 field officers in the Marines.
A government source with knowledge of the refusal-to-work requests said about half of the field officers in southwestern Nova Scotia – home to the region’s most profitable lobster fishery – are not performing enforcement duties in the field because of the safety concerns.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the risk of employment retaliation, said that the work has become more violent as fishermen are increasingly reluctant to accept the authority of officers. He also said tensions with some Indigenous fishermen were rising.
“We have raised our issues with management. The management has chosen to ignore the issues,” he said.
“As we go through this problem, officers have found themselves in dangerous situations. Three officers have been hit by vehicles. We have had a fight where a person tried to take an officer’s gun. There have been very serious changes,” he said.
Efforts to enforce fisheries regulations on the fishing of small eels, known as juvenile eels, in East Coast rivers over the spring were also a source of tension with First Nations, he said.
However, the chief of a First Nation whose members fish for lobster off southwestern Nova Scotia said native fishermen are not aggressors, but rather continue to fish to support and feed their families.
“Our Mi’kmaq fishermen have been through enough. The victims are not DFO Officers, and we will not accept this narrative,” Chief Michelle Glasgow, leader of Sipekne’katik First Nation, wrote in an email.
She said that lobster fishermen from her community are exercising their treaty rights and will continue to do so. “All they (federal fisheries officials) need to do is respect this. They cannot continue to harass our people and tell us how much we can eat and how much we can feed our people. If they are afraid, it is not by our actions. “
Chief Wilbert Marshall, co-leader of fisheries for the Nova Scotia Assembly of Mi’kmaw Chiefs, said in an emailed statement that “violence on the water is unacceptable. No one should have to worry about their safety when they go to work – whether they’re working in conservation and protection (DFO), or fishing.”
“We have seen these kinds of conflicts for over 20 years and things need to change. We have been working to build bridges with DFO and conservation and protection officers on the fisheries protected by treaty rights to help create a more cohesive environment for all. We want a future where these kinds of security issues can be avoided, but we need real collaboration to get there,” the statement said.
In 2020, tensions in southwestern Nova Scotia escalated to the point where native traps were broken, one boat was destroyed and a lobster pound that handled Mi’kmaq catch was burned to the ground.
RCMP Supt. Jason Popik, the recently appointed senior officer for Nova’s Southwest district, said in an interview that DFO officials remain “out on the water” off Meteghan, NS, and that there have been two significant enforcement efforts during the past few weeks in southern Nova Scotia.
“It shows the community that they are working, they are trying … I don’t see a big stop (work) down there.”
This report was first published by The Canadian Press on October 3, 2024.
(Except translation, this story has not been edited by achinews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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