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der=0 cellpadding=3 cellspacing=0 width=100%> Mi'kmaq test limits of treaty rights
MAY 10, 2000

When Mi'kmaq Donald Marshall Jr. was arrested in 1993 for fishing and selling eels, he fought the charges all the way to the Supreme Court. His perserverance paid off years later.

In 1999, the Court upheld a 1760 British treaty which reserved the right for Mi'kmaq and Maliseet natives to maintain a moderate livelihood from fishing.

Almost immediately, the ruling caused conflicts between Native and white fishermen, who pay for their licences that require them to fish in season. Native fishermen were attacked, had their property vandalized, and had their traps sabotaged during last year's lobster season.

Similar violence was expected this year but no reports have been made so far. The real controversy is over the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and a Mi'kmaq band in Burnt Church, New Brunswick.

The Burnt Church First Nation has implemented its own fisheries program, issuing its own lobster trap tags. The government contends the traps need tags from the DFO and have been confiscating the traps on and off since Saturday.

Band members had earlier used DFO tags while their plan was being finalized.

The confrontations so far have been largely verbal. The DFO maintains it has the right to regulate the Mi'kmaq's treaty rights while the First Nation maintains its program does just that.

The government and Burnt Church have until the end of June, when the lobster season ends, to work out their differences.

Relevant Links:
From the CBC: Fishing Fury