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Articles

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2024): The Marshall Decisions and New Brunswick Twenty-Five Years Later.

Rough Waters: The Legacy of the Marshall Decisions Workshop—A Fishing Organization’s Perspective

Submitted
September 2, 2024
Published
2024-09-13

Abstract

The Maritime Fishermen’s Union (MFU), founded in 1977, is one of the largest fishing organizations representing over 1,300 independent inshore owner-operator fishermen in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The MFU has membership in all fishing areas of the Maritimes where there are significant coastal Mi’kmaq communities. These communities share the same fishing grounds and often live side-by-side with our members in rural communities, many being Acadian communities with established roots going back to the 1600s. Our members have a long history of association with Mi’kmaq peoples. It is not surprising that our fishermen and communities would be significantly affected by the aftermath of the 1999 Marshall decisions and that the MFU would be front and centre in the controversies that followed. This article offers insights into some of the MFU experiences and perspectives relative to Indigenous integration and involvement in Atlantic Canadian fisheries, and options for moving forward.