Southwest N.S. lobster pound destroyed by fire

HALIFAX —
A large fire destroyed a commercial building, reported to be used as a lobster pound by Mi’kmaw fishers, in Middle West Pubnico, N.S. early Saturday morning.

Chief Mike Sack of the Sipekne’katik First Nation confirmed in a statement Saturday morning that the building was ‘owned by a friend and ally of Sipeknek’katik’.

“The devastating fire at the lobster pound in Middle West Pubnico further illustrates the need for greater police presence in the region,” wrote Sack in the emailed statement. “This should never have happened and the people responsible should be brought to justice. I do believe with the proper police presence however, this could have been avoided. I am once again calling on Prime Minister Trudeau and the RCMP to dedicate the necessary resources to this region to protect everyone. I am extremely concerned that someone is going to hurt or worse.”

Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson Andrew Joyce confirmed Saturday morning that police were on scene, but wasn’t able to confirm if the fire was being investigated as suspicious at this time.

Jonathan LeBlanc, fire chief for Eel Brook & District Fire Department says his his department was one of eight that received a call to assist the West Pubnico fire department with a structure fire at 1065 Highway 335 shortly after midnight on October 17.

Twitter user Pierrette dEntremont posted a video of the blaze early Saturday morning.

LeBlanc says that upon arrival the building was fully involved, and crews were unable to approach it due to power lines.

Crews focused on protecting exposures to adjacent buildings while the building was destroyed.

LeBlanc estimates that 80 to 120 firefighters from eight area fire departments were at the scene overnight. He says that after several hours, crews were able to contain the fire around 4:30 a.m.

LeBlanc says there were no injuries at the scene.

There is no idea of the fire’s cause at this point, and LeBlanc says it will be difficult to determine as the building was fully involved when crews arrived. The fire marshal has been called to investigate.

While LeBlanc wasn’t able to confirm the use of the building, a media representative for Sipekne’katik First Nation confirmed to CTV Atlantic that the building was the same lobster pound where two employees had barricaded themselves in on Tuesday.

RCMP confirmed in a news release that about 200 people were present at two incidents Tuesday night outside lobster pounds in southwestern Nova Scotia, during which employees were prevented from leaving, rocks were thrown and a vehicle was set on fire.

Jason Marr, a fisher from Sipekne’katik, said he and another Indigenous lobster fisherman were trapped inside the Middle West Pubnico facility after he arrived to store his lobster.

“Somebody followed me to the place in Pubnico, and I wasn’t there for three minutes before 200 guys showed up,” Marr said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.

He said the non-Indigenous “mob” threw stones at the facility, broke windows and damaged his van, burning its interior. Marr said that when RCMP arrived, they wanted him to leave the building, but he declined and remained barricaded inside.

“They said, `If you don’t come out we’re going burn you out,’ ” he said of he crowd outside. “I watched them pour stuff in my gas tank and my van, slash the tires, cut wires, they pissed all inside of it.”

Tension has been building for weeks between Indigenous and non-Indigenous lobster fishers in southwest, N.S.

On Friday, the chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation said between 150 and 200 lobster traps were lost after non-Indigenous commercial fishers cut lines and destroyed buoys.

The Sipekne’katik band argues Indigenous people in Atlantic Canada and Quebec have a treaty right to fish for a moderate livelihood where and when they want, based on a 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision that cites treaties signed by the Crown in the 1700s.

Many non-Indigenous critics, however, invoke a clarification issued four months after the 1999 ruling, stating the Mi’kmaq treaty rights would be subject to federal regulations to ensure conservation of the resource, in consultation with First Nations.

This is a developing story. Updates to follow.