Ottawa has set up a roundtable of Indigenous representatives, scientists and commercial fishers to discuss lobster conservation as Mi’kmaq fishers prepare for a return to a summer harvest off southwestern Nova Scotia.
The Federal Fisheries Department says the virtual roundtable includes academic and federal researchers along with Mi’kmaq fisheries science groups, and it will take place on June 15 to discuss priorities for studying the lucrative species.
Megan Bailey, a Dalhousie University professor who is working with Sipekne’katik First Nation to study the impact of its summer lobster fishery in St. Marys Bay, says she has been invited and plans to take part.
The Mi’kmaq community maintains its traps aren’t having a significant impact on the stocks, though non-Indigenous fishers from the area have argued the fishery outside of the main commercial season poses long-term risk to the fishery.
Bailey said in an email today she looks forward to working with federal fisheries researchers, academic researchers and fishing communities and called the roundtable a good start.
Thursday’s announcement of the roundtable came the same day Sipekne’katik said it would scale back a planned moderate livelihood fishery, from 50 traps per boat, to a food, social and ceremonial fishery, with about five traps per person.
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