FREDERICTON -- New Brunswick Premier David Alward and members of the Elsipogtog First Nation resumed talks today to resolve a dispute over shale gas exploration.

They met at a hotel in Fredericton to try to end a protest that has blocked a highway near Rexton in eastern New Brunswick for more than a week.

Both Alward and Chief Arren Sock say they hope to build on a three-hour meeting they held Sunday in Moncton.

The RCMP blocked Highway 134 on Sept. 29 after a protest against shale gas exploration began spilling onto the road.

Protesters subsequently cut down trees across another part of the highway and have blocked an entrance to a compound used by energy company SWN Resources to store exploration equipment.

The protesters want SWN Resources to stop seismic testing and leave the province.