Lobster Boom In Canadian Waters Spurs Tension Between IP, U.S. Fishers

As waters warm and the lobster population booms off Canada, tensions rise between Indigenous and commercial fishermen, Boston Globe reported.

Photo Insert: Fresh live lobster caught in Canada

In recent years, the temperatures of St. Mary’s Bay in Nova Scotia have warmed and reached a kind of sweet spot for lobster. Since 2000, the lobster catch across Atlantic Canada has more than doubled, while the value of that catch tripled.

With other fisheries in decline and valuable markets in Asia boosting prices, the increasing lobster catch has raised the stakes for local fishermen, including the Mi’kmaw indigenous people, whose income derives mainly from fishing.

As a result, long-simmering tensions between the Mi’kmaw and commercial fishermen, who have lobbied the government to shut down what they consider an illegal fishery, have boiled, in some cases leading to violence.

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