Commercial fishermen file suit against Canadian government, Sipekne'katik over moderate livelihood fishery

A group representing commercial fishermen is asking the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to rule that the Sipekne’katik First Nation self-governed summer lobster fishery in St. Marys Bay is illegal and that its fishers are subject to federal regulation under the Fisheries Act. On Thursday the United Fisheries Conservation Alliance filed the notice of action with the court. The document names Sipekne’katik First Nation fishers, Sipekne’katik Chief Michelle Glasgow and the attorney general of Canada as defendants. The court filing is the latest page in the long and conflicted saga to determine what a “moderate livelihood” means and how it is to be pursued by First Nations. It runs counter to Sipekne’katik's lawsuit, launched in 2021, asking the court to state that the federal Fisheries Act is of “no force or effect” on its members. That lawsuit was supposed to head to trial next May. The United Fisheries Conservation Alliance had been granted intervenor status, allowing it to submit ...