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Burnt Church, New Brunswick - Department of Fisheries and Oceans New Brunswick and the Mi'kmaq of Burnt Church had reached a tentative agreement that would allow the Natives to fish in a certain perimeter. However, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) had broken protocol by restricting further the fishing grounds allocated to the Mi'kmaq as well the number of traps has been reduced further.

As the talks degenerated further, DFO stated that they would use "force" to achieve their objective of shutting down the lobster fishery at Burnt Church. Many of the Mi'kmaq depend on the lobster fishery as their only means of support, as the unemployment rate is near 90%. Burnt Church First Nation is not in a position to lose any more traps as over 3000 have already been confiscated by DFO or destroyed by non- native fishermen.

We are urgently requesting any assistance you can offer as this is a desperate situation. We cannot give up this fight and must continue to ensure that our Treaty Rights are honored by the Canadian Government, and we must protect our Inherent Right for the next 7 generations, we are obligated by honor and duty to do so.

It is critical for us at this time to plead for the presence of witnesses to the continued assault of the DFO, RCMP and Canadian military on our fishermen.

Unarmed members of our community members have suffered repeated violent attacks by government officials; these have not been reported by mainstream media, further compromising our safety and well-being. We have tried our best to trust in the peaceful process of discussion and negotiation, and are left to defend ourselves against the bad faith of the government officials. We thank you for your consideration.