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Letter
accompanying the variation order sent by Fisheries and Oceans Canada
to Chief Wilbur Dedam, of the Esgenoôpetitj (Burnt Church) First
Nation, to announce the closure of the food fishery. September 21,
2000
P. O. Box 5030 2000.09.21
Chief Wilbur Dedam & Councillors Dear Chief Dedam & Councillors: This letter will set out the position of the Department of Fisheries & Oceans with respect to this year's lobster fishing by the Burnt Church First Nation (BCFN) for food, social and ceremonial purposes. As you know, this year the BCFN was authorized, by communal licence No. 2000-FSC-0010-02, to use 40 lobster traps to fish lobster for food, social and ceremonial purposes from August 1 to October 31, 2000. After the BCFN decided to return to DFO the associated lobster trap tags which were provided with the communal licence, forty members of your community came to our office and requested these tags. The forty valid tags were issued to community members on the basis of first come first served and one tag per household. A list of the community members and the tag numbers assigned to each was earlier provided to the BCFN. Shortly after the issuance of the above noted communal licence and associated tags, DFO observed BCFN members setting large amounts of lobster traps in the Miramichi Bay, in excess of the forty traps authorized under the communal licence. The number of traps being fished has been rising since that time. Repeated attempts made by DFO Fishery Officers since the first week of August to inspect the fishing gear set in front of the Reserve and monitor catches have been met with resistance and confrontation by some members of BCFN. Also, the actions of certain BCFN members have been preventing Fishery Officers from conducting their work to ensure that other conservation measures to protect the lobster resource are complied with, such as the release of undersized lobsters and lobsters with eggs attached and the use of proper escape panels in lobster traps. DFO has the responsibility and authority for the proper management of the fishery and for the conservation and protection of fish and cannot allow the current situation to continue. Therefore, an Order will be issued closing the lobster food, social and ceremonial fishery in that portion of Lobster Fishing Area 23 generally indicated as the shaded area on the attached map and more particularly described in the Order. Fishing for food, social and ceremonial purposes under the communal licence will continue to be authorized in other portions of Lobster Fishing Area 23. We solicit your support and cooperation and ask that you inform in advance the forty fishers who have been issued DFO lobster trap tags that the lobster fishery for food, social and ceremonial purposes in the area described in the Order will terminate at 11:00 a.m. on Friday September 22, 2000. You are also requested to inform those fishers that any lobster fishing gear left in the area described in the Order after 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 22, 2000 will be subject to seizure. DFO will provide a copy of this letter to each member of the BCFN who have received one of the forty (40) lobster trap tags valid for the lobster food, social and ceremonial fishery. Should you wish to discuss this matter further, or any other issues relative to the BCFN fishing requirements, please do not hesitate to contact me at your convenience.
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