Bay of Fundy fishermen see uptick in poaching patrols

Many lobster fishermen say they have seen an uptick in Coast Guard patrols in the Bay of Fundy less than a week after a protest against poaching in Saint Andrews, N.B.

“Last spring I didn’t see any fisheries on the water at all,” said Jaret Mawhinney, a sixth-generation fisherman. “Last fall I think I might have saw one boat and that was probably the first day. After that I never really seen too much.”

Mawhinney notes lobster catches have dropped in recent years, something he attributes to poaching.

Last Saturday, roughly 50 fishing boats from Lobster Fishing Area 36 – which covers waters from Alma to the American border – docked in Saint Andrews to peacefully protest illegal fishing and what they see as a lack of enforcement by the government.

“We have the illegal American fishing across the line,” said Amanda Johnson, executive director of the Fundy North Fishermen’s Association. “We have illegal FSC fishing happening here and then as well as illegal, non-Indigenous fishing where people without licences are blankly fishing lobster with untagged traps.”

The association says it saw a rigid-hulled inflatable boat from Grand Manan patrolling the waters alongside a Coast Guard helicopter on Wednesday. Two more vessels were expected to arrive on Thursday.

“It’s a small victory for us,” Johnson said. “I say small because we are looking for a long term solution. It is a response that we expect to be here for just a few days and they’ll go away.

“If they’re here over the weekend and gone by Monday, what happens on Monday?”

In an email, Fisheries and Oceans Canada said enforcement patrols are ongoing in Lobster Fishing Area 36 and officers deploy resources to follow up on illegal activity as needed.

Jaret and Spiro Mawhinney are pictured. (Source: Alana Pickrell/CTV News Atlantic)

Mawhinney would like to see patrols on the water daily so his family can continue to do what they love most.

“I never thought I’d have my daughter fishing with me,” Mawhinney said. “She’s hoping to go out on her own at some point and hopefully they’ll be officially there so she can continue fishing.”

“Maybe my grandchildren will fish, but the way it’s going, I can’t see the grandchildren wanting to do it.”