Lobster fishing industry reps remain concerned about illegal fishing

A hastily organized meeting with senior Fisheries Department officials on Tuesday did nothing to quell concerns among commercial lobster industry representatives about illegal fishing and insufficient enforcement along coastal communities.

The meeting came together hours after people attending a gathering of the Maritimes Region Lobster Advisory Committee in Dartmouth, N.S., walked out in protest when a motion to change the agenda to deal only with enforcement and illegal fishing was rejected.

"It's the No. 1 industry in Atlantic Canada and we feel abandoned," Dan Fleck, executive director of the Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association, told reporters after walking out of the morning session.

Fleck and others who participated in the walkout represent 3,000 captains and their crews across the Maritimes.

By mid-afternoon, DFO associate deputy minister Adam Burns, Anik Michelle Chartrand, the director general of conservation and protection, and Maritimes region director general Doug Wentzell were sitting around a hotel lobby table with Fleck and five other industry reps for a meeting that lasted about 35 minutes.

Little was resolved.

"There's nothing more we can add," said Fleck, who earlier in the day blasted DFO officials for not taking "the most pressing issue out there" more seriously.

Illegal fishing in southwestern Nova Scotia has been an ongoing concern, with some politicians and fishermen linking it to other illegal activity happening in the Clare region, including shootings and arson. But others who walked out of Tuesday's meeting said the problem extends throughout Nova Scotia and beyond.

Amanda Johnson, executive director of the Fundy North Fishermen's Association for lobster fishing area 36 in southwestern New Brunswick, said people she represents are seeing illegal fishing in various forms, including American boats crossing into Canadian waters.

Members of her organization staged a protest earlier this month in St. Andrews, N.B., to bring attention to the need for more enforcement and to support fisheries officers who are off the job due to concerns about workplace safety.

Johnson, who was part of the afternoon meeting, said the entire lobster fishery is at risk without more action from DFO.

"I don't understand why they're not acknowledging us or taking our concerns seriously," she told reporters.

Following the afternoon meeting, Wentzell said DFO officials wanted to hear directly from industry members and share what the government is doing to uphold the Fisheries Act.

"I think it's fair to say that industry has concerns and there is a level of activity that we need to continue to address," he said in an interview.

Wentzell said Burns and Chartrand were able to be brought in following the morning walkout because they were already in Halifax for other meetings.

Enforcement conditions are increasingly complex, said Wentzell, but he said that in recent weeks "a number of operations" have resulted in arrests and gear seizures.

"Officers are clearly out there doing their jobs."