Over 8,000 lobster were seized recently by DFO at a Delaps Cove fish plant. Photo by Contributed Photo /DFOArticle contentThe Sipekne’katik First Nation has been ordered to pay a commercial fishermen’s association $15,000 in court costs.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentOn Thursday, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice John Keith approved the application for costs by the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance (UFCA) but found fault with the group’s claim that it had spent $334,000 responding to Sipekne’katik’s lawsuit.Article contentArticle contentArticle contentHe settled on the amount of $15,000 as being fair.Article contentIntervenersArticle contentSipekne’katik First Nation lawyers had argued that the UFCA had no claim to costs because it was only an intervenor in the band’s lawsuit against the federal government. That suit was filed in 2020 by Sipekne’katik First Nation against Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the Attorney General of Canada over the seizing of traps set by its fishers in St. Mary’s Bay.Article contentSipekne’katik claimed in the suit and in subsequent letters to DFO brass that a series of Supreme Court of Canada rights-based decisions, including the 1999 Marshall decision, and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples meant the federal government does not have the authority to interfere in its self-managed fisheries.Article content Guiding a load of lobster traps from the fishing vessel Fallen Angel onto a trailer at the Marginal Wharf on Yarmouth’s waterfront on May 30 at the close of the six-month commercial lobster fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia. Photo by Tina Comeau /Tri-County VanguardArticle contentThe suit, had it progressed, would have seen the courts weigh back in on what constitutes a First Nation “moderate livelihood” fishery and how it’s regulated, 25 years after the Supreme Court of Canada coined the term in R v. Marshall and directed the federal government to consult with First Nations on implementing the right.Article contentArticle contentWith tensions rising in southwest Nova Scotia around Sipekne’katik’s self-regulated fishery in 2020, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court prioritized the case on an accelerated timeline that allowed it to, as Keith stated, “jump the queue.”Article contentArticle contentThe federal government filed thousands of pages of evidence and Sipekne’katik filed hundreds. Commercial fishermen sought and won, over the objections of Sipekne’katik, permission from the court to participate as an intervenor.Article contentLawsuit dissolvesArticle contentIn June 2023, the day before the court began discovery, a process during which witnesses are interviewed before the trial begins, the federal government and Sipekne’katik sought to put the suit on hold so they could enter into confidential “nation to nation” negotiations.Article contentKeith allowed the move and gave the parties six months to reach an agreement. When they returned without one, he gave them another six months but warned that if they didn’t reach an agreement the court would proceed with the case.
Sipekne’katik First Nation ordered to pay commercial fishermen’s court costs after band’s lawsuit dropped
