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e-2993 (Fisheries)

  • Keywords
E-petition
Initiated by Mona Nickerson from Barrington, Nova Scotia

Original language of petition: English

Petition to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Whereas:
  • Lobster fisheries laws, upheld by generations of previous governments, were invoked to protect lobster stocks;
  • Current lobster stocks are high due to generations of commercial fishermen following strict fisheries laws;
  • Commercial fishermen do not risk their lives in severe weather and abide by fisheries laws, only to let a well-preserved fishery be sabotaged by Indigenous fishermen;
  • Volatile incidents in Southwest Nova Scotia is due to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) not enforcing Fisheries Laws for both groups;
  • This situation will remain dangerous if the indigenous create their own fisheries laws;
  • Fishing lobster in closed seasons, while molting and hungry, make it easy to catch large numbers which poses a serious threat to stocks.
  • One set of rules for all must include trap limits, prohibit the taking of undersized lobster, prohibit the taking of egg bearing female lobsters, and only one fishing season; and
  • The government must stop using lobster fishing laws as a means of reconciliation, between the government and Indigenous peoples, to define obscure sections of the Marshall Decision.
We, the undersigned, citizens of Canada, call upon the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to:
1. Direct the DFO, pursuant to the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, to enforce the regulated fishing season of each lobster fishing area, which are already in place, for both commercial and Indigenous fishermen
2. Control and maintain (i) the current lobster trap limit according to each lobster fishing area, (ii) that no person shall buy, sell or possess a lobster of a length that is less than 82.55 mm and any female lobster with eggs attached.
Open for signature
November 20, 2020, at 4:51 p.m. (EDT)
Closed for signature
December 20, 2020, at 4:51 p.m. (EDT)
Photo - Chris d'Entremont
West Nova
Conservative Caucus
Nova Scotia