'Our fishery has become so overcome with violence'
Fishery officers in Nova Scotia raised urgent alarms about dangerous working conditions last year, warning that federal inaction amid rising violence and illegal activity in the province’s fishing industry could cost lives.
According to documents obtained by Global News, 35 officers with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) refused to conduct field work in July 2024, citing inadequate personal protective equipment and escalating threats from armed individuals and organised crime.
Officers reported facing gunfire, death threats, harassment at home, and being confronted by fishers wielding long guns.
“The violence is certainly, certainly escalating,” said Colin Sproul, president of the Unified Fisheries Conservation Alliance, in the Global News report.
“I’m just shocked that our fishery has become so overcome with violence, but this is so much bigger than this one issue with the fishery officers.”
‘Threats to the lives of fishery officers’
In one internal exchange revealed by Global News, officers accused DFO leadership of failing to act on credible intelligence about threats. A representative for the officers alleged that the department had “intel on threats to the lives of fishery officers… and they’re sitting on it.”
Also, officers who “brought concerns up” faced disciplinary actions, according to the report.
Emails obtained by Global News show officers requested access to hard body armour, long guns, and basic safety gear such as helmets. In one 2023 message, a staff member noted they had been asking for helmet updates for more than two years. Another email, sent in July 2024, queried whether hard body armour would be provided “for those dicey evenings on the river.”
The refusal to work led to an investigation by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), which ultimately validated the officers’ concerns. ESDC directed the DFO to take immediate action, concluding that current risk assessments and protective measures were inadequate and had not been updated in three years.
A spokesperson for DFO told Global News that “immediate action was taken to address the [ESDC] direction received,” but did not specify what protections were implemented, according to the report. The department has not disclosed whether new PPE was issued, or whether officers returned to work voluntarily or under directive, according to the report.
DFO officials had downplayed the legitimacy of the work refusal during internal meetings, according to Global News. In an Aug. 14, 2024 transcript, DFO Conservation and Protection Director Tim Kerr stated that work “refusal cannot be based on speculation or unverified information, or assuming something’s gonna happen when you step out the door.”
Kerr also said that field work was not considered inherently dangerous under the Canada Labour Code.
“As part of ongoing efforts to support officer safety, Fisheries and Oceans Canada continuously assesses and updates equipment and training provided to officers as needed, in line with current risks and emerging threats,” a DFO spokesperson said, according to the report.
