Which is more valid, fishing in an area based on decades of history and tradition – or fishing in an area determined by a line on a map?
That’s the question that Prince Edward Island lobstermen are asking federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Robert Thibault. The P.E.I. fishermen have been joined in their request by provincial Fisheries, Aquaculture and Environment Minister Chester Gillan.
The area in question, known locally as “The Ledge,” is approximately five miles from the P.E.I. shoreline and roughly 80 miles from the Magdalen Islands in the Province of Quebec, which has technical claim to the fishery.
As of the end of June Thibault indicated that he would probably go with the line on the map.
Consequently, Rory McLellan, general manager of the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association, says that his organization was planning to bypass the federal government and deal directly with their Quebec counterparts. McLellan added that the association would meet in Quebec City on another matter and that he would “propose a fishermen-to-fishermen meeting,” adding, “I believe this is the way to resolve this dispute.”
Noting that the lobster season had ended on June 29, McLellan said, “There are no other developments except that our request to have the charges dropped against the fishermen charged has been referred to the Department of Justice – in other words, Fisheries and Oceans will not drop the charges.”
Near the end of the season, there was “bad news, then good news, then very bad news,” according to McLellan. “Sixty fishermen were actually told to leave the area, and only 28 were allowed back in. Because of a misunderstanding all 60 thought they could go back in, several of them were arrested and charged with poaching and fishing in a restricted area. It’s a very serious charge.”
On June 24, P.E.I. fishermen in a fleet of more than 50 lobster boats gathered off Seacow Pond to protest the federal fisheries department’s handling of the dispute.
Noting that he had held meetings with “fishermen from the Magdalen Islands, the two regions, our regional office in Quebec as well as the regional office in Moncton,” Thibault said, “We have been working at this trying to find a resolution.”
But he adds, “We’re stuck with the fact that the line exists, it is there, it has been there for quite some time. PEI fishermen aren’t licensed to fish over the line so we have no choice but to do enforcement. I was hoping we’d be able to find a resolution this year and it doesn’t seem apparent. So hopefully, we’ll be able to have negotiations over the summer with stakeholders from both provinces and come to a resolution for next season.”
McLellan said that he was “very disappointed” with the Minister’s stand. “It’s too bad he can’t see something that’s obviously wrong and change it.”
P.E.I. Fisheries Minister Gillan said, “Generations of fishermen in the North Cape region have fished in this area, without incident, for decades. The issue must be resolved to ensure fishers in this area maintain access to their traditional fishing grounds.”
He added, “There is a need to find an immediate interim resolution to this issue, and beyond that, a long-term solution for fishers in the North Cape area. I have conveyed that message to Minister Thibault and I look forward to a positive outcome.”
Gillan added that his department staff would continue to “closely collaborate with the Prince Edward Island Fishermen’s Association which has been working diligently to find a solution to the boundary line issue.”
McLellan’s reading of the area’s history goes, “Some time back, a bureaucrat with too much time on his hands decided to make a new box on the map, a nice neat rectangular box around the Magdalen Islands. Unfortunately, it reached right to the shoreline of Prince Edward Island.”
P.E.I. Association president Donnie Strongman adds, “Some of our families have been fishing there for a hundred years.”
McLellan says, “Nobody paid any attention at the time because we all knew where the fishery was. But there’s another line that’s really important – a north-south line. You can fish in the north in the spring and in the south in the fall. The fall guys tend to set their traps pretty close to the line because they know there are lots of lobsters there. Well, one guy drifted over the line and the spring fishermen got upset because they felt this would hurt their spring fishery. So they complained to Fisheries and Oceans. The other guy said ‘well, if you’re going to enforce that line then why don’t you enforce the Quebec line too?’ It was a real bonehead decision. First of all Quebec doesn’t care; it’s 80 miles away from them. A few weeks ago M.P. Joe McGuire and I went to see Thibault and asked him to do something.”
The P.E.I. fishermen were ordered out of the area on May 21. They’ve kept their traps out of the area, McLellan says, but adds, “This is costing our fishermen thousands of dollars. Something positive has got to be done. We’re not giving up.”