By Andrew Bates, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Telegraph-Journal An Indigenous nation has been granted intervenor status in a case involving a U.S.-based lobster fisher accused of illegally fishing in Passamaquoddy Bay. Erik D. Francis, 55, of Perry, Maine, faces charges under the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act alleging that he illegally fished from a foreign vessel in New Brunswick waters. According to court documents, he was stopped on Nov. 15, 2022, off the coast of Deer Island by fisheries officials, who seized 36 lobster traps owned by Francis. Francis, who is self-represented, has claimed Indigenous fishing rights as a part of the Peskotomuhkati (Passamaquoddy) Nation, which has two communities in Maine including Sipayik (Pleasant Point), where Francis lives, and the community known as Skutik in Charlotte County. The Peskotomuhkati people, which…
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