In once tranquil N.S. town, intimidation in the lobster industry now all too common

METEGHAN, N.S. — Standing by a bullet hole in his dining room wall, lobster buyer Geoffrey Jobert says such attacks have become an all-too-familiar reality in Nova Scotia’s largest fishery.

Overnight on Nov. 23, someone fired a single shot that passed through three rooms in his Mavillette, N.S., home, with the shell ending its journey in a rocking chair where Jobert occasionally sits during the daylight hours.

“It was pretty intense in the morning when I noticed the shot. My heart was beating … but at the same time it’s commonplace around the community for this to happen,” he said at his residence, as two security guards from his company Lobster Hub Inc. kept watch outside.

The 30-year-old and his younger brother came to the area from Halifax to take over his father’s processing plant five years ago and now employ 100 people. He’s enjoyed making friends in the francophone town and paddling along a stunning beach near his home when he has a few spare hours.

But last year, threats started after he agreed to buy the catch of a licensed, commercial harvester who was no longer willing to provide his catch to facilities allegedly purchasing illegally caught lobster. And Jobert soon learned he wasn’t the only person in the communities along the Acadian shore who experienced late-night attacks.

Sgt. Jeff LeBlanc, commander of the RCMP detachment in nearby Meteghan, estimates that over the past two years officers have laid 51 charges against what he refers to as a “criminal organization” related to illegal fisheries, including four shots fired into homes in the past seven months.

About half an hour’s drive north from Jobert’s home, there’s an isolated cabin in the woods, dislodged from its foundations by a front-end loader that tried to topple it over. At the time of the damage, the property belonged to Joel Comeau, a former president of the Maritime Fishermen’s Union who had been critical of buyers who purchase lobster caught outside of the regulated seasons.

The Canadian Press spoke to two commercial lobster fishermen who said they’d been targeted and who declined to provide their names for fear of retaliation. “I can’t take another hit right now,” said one veteran fisherman. “I’ve been hit more than once.”

Truck driver Wayne Saulnier of Meteghan said in a telephone interview Thursday it’s possible to be “caught in the middle” of the conflict, even when you’re uninvolved.

His tractor-trailer “was in the wrong place at the wrong time” when it went up in flames the night of Dec. 12, 2023, after he parked on the property adjacent to Jobert’s processing plant. “Apparently they filled tires with gasoline and shoved them under the truck and it more or less blew up with fumes,” said Saulnier.

Jean-Claude Comeau, who operates a marine hydraulics business at the Meteghan wharf, said in an interview on Tuesday, “it’s time for people to take a stand” against the lawlessness.

“The (commercial lobster) fishermen are starting to see where illegal activity is happening and they’re shifting from buyers because they’ve had enough of the illegal ones …. Now these illegal buyers are getting pissed off, and they’re wreaking havoc,” he said.

In a recent lawsuit against several processors, the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance — an advocacy group for commercial fishers — has said the conflict’s roots lie in Ottawa’s lack of enforcement efforts at the Saulnierville wharf, where a Mi’kmaq lobster fishery was launched in 2020 outside of the regulated federal season.

Jobert is cautious about directing blame at the Indigenous fishers, noting Mi’kmaq communities “have faced systemic racism through the years.” But he adds that he believes Ottawa must do more to bring peace back to the small community.

“I think they (Indigenous fishers) are being taken advantage of by these criminals because it’s still a grey business and an illegal business,” he said.

Chief Michelle Glasgow, leader of Sipekne’katik First Nation, did not respond to two emailed requests for interviews.

The community began fishing in St. Mary’s Bay in 2020, citing the 1999 Supreme Court of Canada Marshall decision. That decision ruled the Mi’kmaq had a treaty-based right to pursue a moderate livelihood fishery, though Ottawa could restrict treaty rights for conservation reasons and other justified grounds.

Glasgow has told a Senate committee hearing last year that the federal Fisheries Department has never fully honoured the Marshall ruling and improperly restricts the band’s right to sell its catch. She also told the committee in a written brief that the Fisheries Department has “made it impossible for our people to legally sell their catch.”

At the Meteghan wharf, Comeau said the short-term solution is improved policing in the region, adding that it’s rare to see police patrolling the area in the middle of the night. “They all seem to be turning a blind eye to this,” he said, referring to the RCMP and the municipal government.

The RCMP’s LeBlanc said he’s in talks with the local municipality of Clare about adding to the complement of seven officers and ensuring more are available to work the night shift. Municipal Warden Yvon LeBlanc didn’t return calls, instead sending a news release stating “we are truly saddened to see this type of activity in our area.”

Fisheries Department spokeswoman Debra Buott-Matheson said fisheries officers are conducting “compliance promotion activities,” and continue patrols to “monitor compliance.” She also said no charges have been laid to date for sales of lobster caught without a licence in southwest Nova Scotia in 2023 or 2024.

Jobert warned if there isn’t a greater sense of urgency from all levels of government and the police, the risk grows that someone will get hurt. Still, the young business owner doesn’t intend to bow to coercion.

“I’ll buy lobster from those I wish to buy from,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 8, 2024.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press