DFO Archives – Ku'ku'kwes News

Sipekne’katik fisherman says delay in fishery launch the smart decision for now

June 5, 2021 Maureen Googoo

Robert Syliboy said he was reluctant to drop his lobster traps in St. Mary’s Bay this week. “If I put my gear in the water today, it would likely be gone by tomorrow,” the Mi’kmaw […]

United Nations committee seeks answers from Canada over racism, violence against Mi’kmaw fishers

May 11, 2021 Maureen Googoo

A United Nations committee is seeking answers from Canada regarding the racism and violence Mi’kmaw lobster fishers experienced while they exercised their treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood in Nova Scotia last fall. […]

Sipekne’katik to resume lobster fishing under moderate livelihood June 1

April 23, 2021 Maureen Googoo

The Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia says it plans to continue on with its own treaty fishery in St. Mary’s Bay in June despite the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’s directive that all moderate […]

Sipekne’katik sues Nova Scotia, says fish buying regulations infringe on treaty rights

February 5, 2021 Maureen Googoo

The Sipekne’katik First Nation is suing the Nova Scotia government over regulations that oversee fish and seafood sales from fish harvesters to buyers, calling them unconstitutional and an infringement of Mi’kmaw treaty rights. In the […]

Eskasoni fisherman plans to fight fishery charges against him

October 25, 2020 Maureen Googoo

A Mi’kmaw lobster fisherman from Eskasoni First Nation in Nova Scotia says he plans to fight several fishery charges against him. Ashton Bernard, 30, says he was exercising his treaty right to fish for a […]

Nova Scotia chiefs rejected $87-million offer from DFO, want moderate livelihood defined

October 5, 2020 Maureen Googoo

The co-chair of the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs says negotiations with the federal government over the treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood from the fishery reached an impasse earlier this year because […]

Nova Scotia First Nation launches its own moderate livelihood fishery

September 18, 2020 Maureen Googoo

Unable to reach an agreement with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to define a moderate livelihood, one Nova Scotia First Nation has instead launched its own rights-based lobster fishery. The Sipekne’katik First Nation rolled […]

Mi’kmaw harvesters confront protesters at wharf in southwestern Nova Scotia

September 15, 2020 Maureen Googoo

Mi’kmaw lobster harvesters confronted a large group of protesters who gathered at a wharf in Weymouth, N.S. Tuesday morning to protest against the Mi’kmaq treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood. Approximately 300 protesters, […]

Sipekne’katik Chief calls on NS Premier, DFO, RCMP to protect Mi’kmaw harvesters’ treaty rights

September 15, 2020 Maureen Googoo

The chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia is calling for the Nova Scotia premier, the minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the RCMP to protect Mi’kmaw lobster harvesters from harassment while they […]

Mi’kmaw lobster harvesters feeling harassed for practising moderate livelihood fishery

September 4, 2020 Maureen Googoo

Mi’kmaw lobster harvesters in southwestern Nova Scotia say they feel harassed by non-Indigenous harvesters for practicing their treaty right to earning a moderate livelihood by setting lobster traps in St. Mary’s Bay. “It’s been very […]

Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw lobster harvester to file an injunction against DFO for seizing traps

September 1, 2020 Maureen Googoo

A Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw lobster harvester plans to file an injunction against the Department of Fisheries and Oceans for seizing his traps in the Bay of Fundy last weekend. “I’m going to get (my lawyer) […]

Sipekne’katik harvesters sell lobster on Digby wharf to show solidarity for treaty rights

October 4, 2019 Maureen Googoo

Harvesters with the Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia dropped lobster traps in waters in the Annapolis Basin and sold their catch on the wharf in Digby Thursday to make a point they have a […]

A Mi’kmaw fisherman is fighting the same fishery charges his father faced 20 years ago

September 24, 2019 Maureen Googoo

A young Mi’kmaw man from Nova Scotia is vowing to fight fishery charges against him like his father did 20 years ago. Leon Knockwood, who is from Sipekne’katik First Nation, N.S. has been charged with […]

NS Mi’kmaw fishermen say DFO seized lobster traps tagged under moderate livelihood

August 20, 2019 Maureen Googoo

Editor’s note: Updated at 10:52 p.m. Includes response from DFO. Two Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw fishermen say the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are violating their treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood by seizing […]

DFO in talks with Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw fishermen to settle lawsuit says lawyer

May 9, 2019 Maureen Googoo

Four Mi’kmaw fishermen from Nova Scotia are in negotiations with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to settle a lawsuit they launched against the department in February. The lawyer for Mark Howe, Jeremy Syliboy, Alex […]