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

[icymist]

Source: CBC News

...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.

..."Obviously, we are concerned when Canadian fishers are intercepted by American authorities when they are practising fishing activity that has existed positively and co-operatively with 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 out different fishing zones, but often the lines aren't respected by lobstermen.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/lobster-fishermen-stopped-us-border-patrol-1.4735171

[icymist]

1. "American aggression"

"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 be worried about."

from the above article

[sakabatou]

2. Is the USBP trying to start something with Canada?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Trump trying to prove Canadian lobster fishers are a National Security THREAT. . . . nt

[donkeypoofed]

3. Are they riding the waves or riding Canadian asses??

Don't they have better things to do? It's like a big FU to Canada.

[SergeStorms]

5. It makes you wonder....

who's behind the "big FU to Canada"? Three guesses, the first two don't count.

[Freethinker65]

6. Fucking waste of taxpayer and security resources.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

7. The USBP is out of control

These lobster fishermen have been peacefully fishing side by side for years. And the territory in question has been disputed for some time. But for USBP to be boarding Canadian-flagged vessels in international waters, questioning fishermen about immigrants is a clear provocation. This agency has been increasingly pushing the envelope and over-stepping the boundaries of their authority.

Canadian friends of mine told me that they had been boarded by USBP, with the US Coast Guard standing by, in sight. They were outraged, and questioned by what authority they were told to heave to and prepare for boarding. USBP asked questions about immigrants, when the Captain ordered them off his boat and they then quickly left. The Captain has filed a complaint to Ottawa.

This will not end well.

[TomSlick]

8. Canada ought not tolerate this.

Maybe if a few USCBP boats were boarded by the Royal Canadian Navy they'd get the message.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. More likely that a US lobster boat be boarded & offered Tim Horton's coffee & maple donuts.

"Just checking to see if you are smuggling any Chinese-made long red ties or Kentucky bourbon" (a switch from Prohibition days when Canadians ran rum down to the US).

"Sorry to trouble you. Here, have a Canadian Steel bar as a souvenir. But be sure to declare it to Border & Customs, otherwise you might be importing a National Security Threat. Good day."