The federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Diane Lebouthillier, made an about-face on Thursday. It has just lifted the ban on fishing in the area located north of the Acadian Peninsula, in New Brunswick.
Serge Cormier, the federal MP for Acadie—Bathurst, who took up the cause of the fishermen and opposed his Liberal colleague, said he learned the news from the minister. According to him, that’s very good news
. Lobster boats will thus be able, as they requested, to fish in a reduced area located near the coast.
According to Nathanaël Richard, general director of the lobster processors association, the ministry has revised its position and will allow fishermen to fish
.
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At the start of the day, all the boats were docked in Miscou. When the minister reversed her decision, everyone went out fishing.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Mario Landry
The lobster boats have already returned to sea. As soon as we heard the news, the conflict was over, we went fishing
, says Nicolas Chiasson, vice-president of the Pigeon Hill Fishermen’s Association. He is one of more than 200 fishermen who were affected.
Around 7 p.m. local time, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) finally confirmed the news. In a press release, the minister claims to have requested a review of the current whale protection protocol in order tostrike a balance between protecting whales while minimizing impacts on the fishing industry
.
Diane Lebouthillier says she recognizes that the past week has been difficult for fishermen
which she describes as essential partners
in the protection of the whale.
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The North Atlantic right whale named Jagger was seen Friday evening near the coast of the Acadian Peninsula (archives).
Photo: Associated Press / Michael Dwyer
On Saturday, the day after the sighting of a whale near the coast, the ministry issued a notice of closure of fishing from a major part of zone 23c from Miscou to part of Le Goulet for 15 days. More than 200 fishermen were affected by this ban.
Ottawa gave fishermen until Wednesday 5 p.m. to remove their traps. But the lobstermen in the area, angry and frustrated by the decision, refused.
They left their 60,000 traps but did not go fishing on Thursday in order to give political negotiations one last chance.
The minister called an emergency meeting Thursday with representatives of the lobster fishing industry after which she revoked her decision.
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Diane Lebouthillier standing on a dock in the Magdalen Islands, August 19, 2022.
Photo: The Canadian Press / Nigel Quinn
Diane Lebouthillier thus proves the fishermen right.
Under federal rules, if a whale is seen at a depth of less than 10 fathoms (18 meters), the entire area around where it is seen is closed to shore. If observed between 10 and 20 fathoms (18 to 37 meters), the closure is concentrated around the location where the whale is seen.
This allows fishermen to continue fishing if they move their traps closer to the coast. Since last Saturday, fishermen claimed that the whale had been seen between 10 and 20 fathoms.
Fishermen relieved but bitter
The overwhelming feeling among the fishermen is relief. They feared losing 15 days of fishing in a season that lasts a little over two months. The economic losses of such a closure would have caused around 30 million in lost revenue.
It’s good for the whole community here. We were like we were on life support.
And even if they are happy to be able to return to work, the fishermen remain resentful against the minister. They criticize her for the way she handled the conflict.
days of time and there she just came out to announce to us: “ah excuse us, we made a mistake and we open the fishery””,”text”:”We respected the law, we respected the protocol and she arrived and she wasn’t listening to us. She hid for 5 days and then she just came out to announce to us: “ah, excuse us, we made a mistake and we’re opening the door””}}”>We respected the law, we respected the protocol and she arrived and she wasn’t listening to us. She hid for 5 days and then she just came out to announce to us: “Ah, excuse us, we made a mistake and we’re opening the door”
annoys Nicolas Chiasson, vice-president of the Fishermen’s Association of Pigeon Hill.
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Nicolas Chiasson is vice-president of the Pigeon Hill Fishermen’s Association. He says the fishermen were ultimately right and believes the minister should publicly apologize for this mistake.
Photo: Radio-Canada
He judges that the minister owes them a public apology.
For Martin Mallet, general director of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union, the silence of the minister did not help the situation but the real responsible according to him is the centralization of powers and decisions in Ottawa with senior officials who do not really know the reality of fishing
.
MP Serge Cormier is of the same opinion and believes that the minister was poorly informed by senior officials. A situation aberrant and unacceptable. There have to be people who pay for these actions.
.
With information from Réal Fradette, Nicolas Steinbach and Julien Lecacheur
