Buyer Secured for Sipekne'katik Commercial Catch

Sipekne’katik, FN. The Sipekne’katik First Nation commercial fishery has secured a buyer for their DFO licensed lobster. “We are so grateful to the hundreds of people who have reached out to us from across the country and even some from the US who offered to purchase our lobster,” said Chief Mike Sack. “Restaurant owners, chefs, seafood brokers and Canadians far and wide have approached us with sincere and creative proposals and more importantly with their support which has meant so much to my community, this is the Canada we know.”

To purchase lobster in Nova Scotia for resale companies must be included in the Provincially regulated approved buyers list. Sipekne’katik’s commercial fishery has never had any difficulty selling its lobster within this system previously or had questions raised about the quality or origin of its catch until the launch of the Moderate Livelihood Fishery. Chief Sack announced earlier today that the buyer does not wish to be disclosed publicly, as many buyers and commercial fishery suppliers have experienced intimidation and harassment at the prospect of doing business with Sipekne’katik. “This has been an extremely difficult time for my people and given recent events we cannot disclose who the buyer is to ensure the safety of our fishermen and the buyer.”

Chief Sack and the Sipekne’katik executive continued discussions with Ministers Jordan and Bennet throughout the weekend and are moving forward with the Sipekne’katik Rights Implementation Fishery Management Plan. While the appointment of Allister Surrette as a Special Representative for the Federal Government has no direct impact on the community’s existing channel for discussions with DFO or the implementation plan, Chief Sack is open to sharing his experience with Mr. Surrette. “We know that our communities are apprehensive about the appointment, however, we can also point out the systemic flaws we’ve come up against to Mr. Surrette and how we’ve had to navigate them, these are best practices that we intend to also share with our fellow Mi’kmaq communities,” said Chief Sack.