U.S. Border Patrol says it won't stop checking Canadian fishing vessels

The U.S. Border Patrol says it has stopped 21 Canadian vessels this year in contested waters in the Bay of Fundy, and has no intention of stopping.

Fishermen from nearby GrandMananIslandrecently said they wereapproached and questioned by USBP vesselsnearMachiasSeal Island.

The contested island and surrounding waters, which begin about five kilometres southwest of New Brunswick's Grand Manan, are known as the "grey zone."

A spokesperson for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the USBP,said agents from Houlton, Maine,have "interviewed" 21 vessels as part of routine enforcement efforts. It's not known how many of those were fishing vessels.No arrests were made.

"Houlton Sector Border Patrol has conducted operations in the past in this area and will continue to conduct operations in the waters off the Coast of Maine in jurisdictional waters of the United States," Stephanie Malin wrote in an email.

The agents were enforcing "immigration laws and other violations of federal law," she said.

Laurence Cook, the chair of theGrand Manan Fishermen's Association, said earlier the agents claimed they were "looking for illegal immigrants."

It was not immediately clear what happened during the stops, or how they compareto previous USBP activity in the area.

Disputed area

The Grey Zone consists of about 700 square kilometres of lucrative lobster waters surroundingMachiasSeal Island, and has been claimed by both Canada and the U.S. for decades.

Canada operates alighthouseon the island year-round. Boats from both countries have fished the waters comfortably for years.

Ottawa says it's investigatingreports that two fishingvessels were questioned in the grey zone on June 24 and 25.

"Obviously, we are concerned when Canadian fishers are intercepted by American authorities when they arepractisingfishingactivitythat hasexistedpositively andco-operativelywith the Americans for a very long time," Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of fisheries and oceans, said Thursday morning.

He said bureaucrats in Ottawa and Washington mark outdifferent fishing zones, but often the lines aren't respected by lobstermen.

"So,there are, in the case of some international waters, sharedjurisdictions,agreementsor understandings, even informal understanding that have worked very successfully."

LeBlanc said concerns about illegalimmigration at the border between the U.S.and Mexico should not be applied to theCanada-U.S. border.

'There is no threat'

"I don't think you can draw a line between some of the concerns Americans have expressed for other border crossings with a fishing zone that has existed in the Bay of Fundy that has existedpositivelyandcollaborativelyfor a long time,"hesaid.

"I think you've got to be very careful not toextrapolatea policyconcerningthe Americans have expressed about other borders and simply apply that tothe GrandMananarea of the Bay of Fundy in a lobster fishery involving a small group of Canadian and American fishermen."

Thepossibilityof illegal immigrants entering the U.S. from Canada via the Bay of Fundy is remote,according toalocal immigrationlawyer.

"There is no threat, there's no indication of any movement of humanity from New Brunswick or Nova Scotia through the Bay of Fundy to the United States," said Lee Cohen, an immigration and refugee lawyer who haspractisedin Halifax for more than 30 years.

Wrong way

Cohen said he doesn't know who is being targeted by the U.S. Border Patrol when it pulls up along a Canadian fishing boat.

"But it strikes me as a silly idea and a concerning expression of aggression by American border officials pushing into Canadian jurisdiction. And I think it's something Canadian officials should beworriedabout."

According to Cohen, those seeking to crossthe Canada-U.S. border illegally areusuallypushing north.

"It has generally been the case, but it'sparticularlytrue in the last year or so, with the election of Donald Trump," Cohen said.

"The movement of humanity is coming the other way, from the United States into Canada."