A Tribal Lobster War in Canada

Long ago, people belonged to tribes. Members of the tribe were there to support each other. To succeed, they had to protect the members of their tribe. So long as food was on the table, the tribe could fight its enemies. Over time, tribes won and lost their battles.

 Thousands of years later, tribes continue their ways of behaving.

Canada is the world’s biggest source of lobster. Tribal warfare has broken out in Canada. At stake is a lobster fishery. The tribe is an Indigenous people who fish the waters under treaty rights. The other “tribe” is the commercial fishermen who trap lobsters for a living.

 It is white people against a First Nation tribe. Each side sees the struggle from their own point of view. Is race an issue? Or is it all about money?

The lobster battle began last month. The Sipekne’katik First Nation tribe opened its own fishery enterprise. It started fishing for lobster outside of the government-approved  fishing season.

Commercial fishermen viewed the new fishery as a threat to their business. Acts of sabotage began soon after the fishery opened. A fishery owned by the Indigenous Sipekne’katik people was burned. The conflict turned violent.

 TThe Sipekne’katik are part of the Mi’kmaq people. Under a treaty dating to 1752, the Mi’kmans have a legal right to hunt and fish to earn a “moderate livelihood.” That right was upheld in a court case.

So it is a dispute about business. Why was the fishery ransacked and destroyed by fire? Why are First Nation people threatened and attacked?

Canada has a problem. The nation’s Prime Minister agreed. He said his country’s past was one of “humiliation, neglect and abuse” of the country’s 1.4 million Indigenous people.

 Everyone and every political party condemn the violence.

 Here are the issues.

 An expert said the Mi’kmaq fished 550 traps. The commercial fishermen use 900,000 traps for lobster fishing. There is not much danger in depleting stocks.

But the Indigenous people are fishing for lobster outside of the season. That riles the commercial fishermen.

 The violence has a racial overtone. Is the dispute racist or about money?

They could settle the differences in a peaceful way. Is this fight a spillover from the United States? The grievances of Native Americans are similar.

The movement for racial justice is well underway in Canada and the United States. It looks like it will not take place without resistance from white people.

 Source: The New York Times October 20, 2020