ESKASONI — Steven (Seki) Bernard Sr. spent Sunday draining the salt water out of a diesel engine in a family member’s backyard in Eskasoni.
The next step was to fill it with diesel engine fluid and add new filters.
Then he’ll turn it over to circulate the fluid and drain it.
Then he intended to repeat the process again to get what was left of the salt water out of the engine.
“The oil alone will be $400 and then there’s the transmission where I’ll have to do the same thing,” said Bernard.
“In other words we’re in the hole nearly 30 grand between boats and gear and we don’t have any money to work with here.”
Patching the four holes apparently drilled in the hull of the old fiberglass-over-wood Cape Islander will be the easiest part of the fix. The boat’s electronics have all been disassembled, flushed and are now drying.
He’ll find out soon whether they work again.
The RCMP are investigating the apparent act of sabotage at the St. Peter’s Canal and have copies of recordings from video cameras there.
The Eskasoni fishermen were catching lobster under the banner of a moderate livelihood fishery.
While the right was acknowledged by the Supreme Court of Canada in its 1999 Marshall Decision, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has yet to reach an agreement with the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs on how to implement it.
Meanwhile, tensions rise as First Nations fishermen on the Northumberland Strait, Cape Breton, Eastern Shore and South Shore have started to fish outside of the normal commercial seasons.
The boat’s owner, Ashton Bernard, has a warning for those who have opposed the moderate livelihood fishery.
“There are a lot more boats coming and bigger boats,” said Bernard on Sunday.
“They’ll be anywhere from Cape Breton to Yarmouth. The Mi’kmaq are gearing up.”
That is what worries non-aboriginal fishermen who have invested in expensive pieces of paper that allow them to fish. A licence alone can run from $200,000 up to a million dollars depending where it’s for around Nova Scotia’s coastline.
“The issues are complicated enough that nothing too immediate is likely to be happening positive or negative,” said Bruce Wildsmith, attorney for the assembly of chiefs regarding negotiations with the federal regulator.
“What’s happening on the water now is not the kind of issue that can be dealt with at the table.”
The presidents of the Eastern Shore Fishermen’s Protective Union and the Northumberland Fishermen’s Association, have called for a negotiated resolution between Fisheries and Oceans and the assembly to prevent the potential for violence.
On Jan. 8, the assembly will be meeting and one of the topics on the table will be the moderate livelihood fishery.
“Look, we’re not trying to start a war or take food from someone else’s table,” said Steven Bernard Sr.
“I’m just trying to make a living, to provide for myself and my kids, while doing something my ancestors have traditionally done.”
But with no negotiated outcome on the immediate horizon and an expanded moderate livelihood fishery expected to start in early spring, the fear is that tempers will flare and there will be more vigilantism.
“This is what it’s come to,” said Ashton Bernard of the expanded fishery he says will start March or April.
Asked about the potential for violence, “I hope not, I sure hope not,” he said.
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