A boycott of the snow crab fishery by traditional New Brunswick crabbers to protest a federal quota decision was canceled on May 20, effective May 23. Called on May 5, one day before the season opening, the boycott was intended to protest the decision by Fisheries and Oceans Minister Robert Thibault to lower the total snow crab quota by 20 percent and to announce that two percent of the quota would go to inshore and Native fishermen.
By calling off the boycott, the Northeast New Brunswick Crabbers’ Association and the Acadian Crabbers’ Association agreed to accept a Total Allowable Catch of 17,148 tons, a compromise offered by Thibault.
But the traditional crabbers are not happy about the decision, according to spokesman Peter Noel. “This fight’s not over,” he said on May 21.
“There’s still a lot of adverse feeling, but we all need to go fishing. In the meantime, we’re exploring different legal remedies for the problem. We believe that Minister Thibault’s decision to hold back some of the quota may be illegal based on the last co-management agreement we signed.”
Noel continued, “We also need to look at what we accomplished, and what we didn’t accomplish. In any event, we showed Minister Thibault that we’re serious about taking care of the stock. The Minister has completely distorted the fishermen’s understanding of co-management of the fisheries with the Department,” Noel added.
On May 2, Canadian Fisheries and Oceans Minister Robert Thibault announced his decision.
The next day, Mi’kmaq fishing boats in Shippagan were burned and vandalized, a fish processing plant burned to the ground, and Department of Fisheries and Oceans office was set afire during a riot. Damage was estimated in the millions of dollars.
As of May 16, no vessels had left the docks but the Maritime Fishermen’s Union, representing inshore fishermen, and the Big Cove First Nation announced that they would no longer respect the boycott.
Chief Robert Levi of the Big Cove First Nation Reserve said that Big Cove boats would go into the water within the week. “We have 14 boats ready to go. We are also calling on the Canadian government to protect us and our boats and to uphold the rule of law. We want and expect protection by the RCMP, the Coast Guard, even the Army and the Navy if it comes to that,” he said, adding that the snow crab harvest means approximately $4 million for the band.
At the same time, Listiguj First Nation Chief Allison Metallic said that his band would join the Big Cove boats.
Maurice Theriault, project officer for the MFU in Shediac, New Brunswick, said, “I can’t give you a specific date, but our boats will be in the water some time during the next week.” Theriault also called on law enforcement officers to protect the inshore fishermen and to “uphold the rule of law.”
Informed of these announcements, Peter Noel, spokesman for the traditional crabbers said, “we’ve told our people to be calm and to be civil. I have no indication that there will be any trouble.” He added that his members had not threatened anyone and said, “They can do whatever they want to do. We’re going to keep on our road right to the end.”
Earlier, Thibault met with the traditional crabbers and offered to increase the overall quota but said he would not back down on the issue of sharing the fishery. Thibault added, “While a new co-management arrangement is not yet in place, I remain committed to bringing everyone together, in a spirit of co-operation, to look at practical ways to monitor and manage this important resource in the years to come. I will not bow to the kind of pressure we saw in Shippagan on May 3.”
The traditional crabbers voted to reject Thibault’s offer and to continue the boycott. Noel said the refusal to accept the proposal was based on a concern about conserving the stock.
Chief Levi said, however, that the traditional crabbers resistance to sharing is motivated by greed. “And it has also been my experience that whenever there’s a fishery dispute, it’s our boats that get burned. We’re the ones who always seem to pay the price. What they did to our boats this time is an act of terrorism.”
Noel says that Thibault’s new three-year management plan “will contribute directly to the decline and possibly the collapse of the Zone 12 crab stock.”