Halifax Restaurants Are Taking Lobster Off The Menu To Support Mi’kmaq Fishermen
HALIFAX – A restaurant in Halifax is taking a stand in the violent, ongoing, lobster fishery dispute in Nova Scotia. After learning that a fish plant was burned to the ground in Southwestern N.S., Kourosh Rad, the owner of Garden Food Bar & Lounge, decided lobster was no longer on his menu.
“It really was the burning down of the building… and the violence escalating. I felt like if we could play a small role in putting some focus (on the issue), then we should,” said Kourosh. The lobster we have on our menu is the very lobster that’s at the centre of the crisis, Nova Scotian lobster.”
“We had a conversation with our staff on Saturday morning. Some were opposed (to taking lobster off the menu), some were for.”
The suspicious fire in question happened in Middle West Pubnico on Oct 17. One man, who police believe is connected to the fire, is in hospital with life-threatening injuries. The fish plant was extensively damaged.
The fire is the latest in a string of violent actions that have taken place against Mi’kmaq fishermen in Southwest Nova Scotia this fall. Ever since the Sipekne’katik First Nation launched their moderate livelihood lobster fishery in September, commercial, non-Indigenous fishermen have been protesting it.
Some of the protests have crossed the line into criminality. Mi’kmaq fishermen have reported damaged lobster gear and cut lines on a regular basis. On October 13, two Mi’kmaq men had their vehicles torched when hundreds of commercial fishermen showed up at two different lobster pounds to confront Indigenous fishermen.
“The acts of violence and racism, especially with the images we saw coming out of the USA earlier this year… a lot of people wanted to take a stand against racism,” said Kourosh. “This is it; this is the moment in Canada (to take a stand).”
Kourosh, who immigrated from Iran to Halifax in 2007, bought the Garden Food Bar & Lounge in February of 2020, just before the pandemic. It has been a tough eight months under the current economic conditions for him and his 24 staff, and he knows taking the popular lobster sandwich off the menu is risky for business.
“Am I worried? Sure, obviously I would rather not be in the place I am right now. I would rather not have to take a stand,” said Kourosh.
“The state of the crisis is such that we have to take a stand. My concern about losing customers comes secondary at this point.”
At first, Kourosh was worried that there might have been a public pushback against the restaurant’s decision. But, after he made the twitter announcement over the weekend, most online commentators have been supportive.
“We are a restaurant. We have a public profile. We had concern about the public backlash. But we felt if we could do something, even as small as pulling the lobster out, to help with the conversation, we should do it,” he said.
“The vast majority of people have been endorsing our message – a lot of shares, a lot of people reaching out saying, ‘thank you for the solidarity with the Mi’kmaq.’”
Kourosh is hoping to get lobster from Mi’kmaq sources by the end of the week and put the item back on Garden Food’s menu.
Other restaurants in the HRM are also taking lobster off their menu in support of the Mi’kmaq community. Employees from The Stubborn Goat and Durty Nelly’s confirmed over the phone that lobster is off their menu right now.