Indigenous lobster fishermen in Nova Scotia brace for violence

You may recall a spate of violence off the coast of Nova Scotia last year, in which white commercial lobstermen attacked fishers from the Sipekne’katik First Nation. The Native fishermen had set up a fishery outside the traditional Canadian lobstering season, within their rights as members of a sovereign tribal nation. White lobstermen claimed injustice and proceeded to destroy equipment, block Native catches from being delivered, even physically attack Sipekne’katik Chief Mike Sack. This year, Native lobstermen are on high alert as “Dumping Day” approaches—the day when traps are first unloaded into the water to kick off lobstering season. Despite a court order keeping the Native and white fishermen apart, tensions are high. “It’s gonna be worse this year,” one member of Sipekne’katik told Vice. “Now, there’s death threats.”