Agreed on a vision, directed by a mission, collaborating on thirteen goals and focused with thirteen objectives, MAARS serves the Maritime Aboriginal Peoples’ Community partners and their communal commercial fisheries enterprises with advisory management support on aquatic resources, oceans management, commercial fishing industry and effective participation in governance decision making processes.

Aquatic Resources

The Maritime Region traditional ancestral homelands communities represented by the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council, Native Council of Nova Scotia and Native Council of Prince Edward Island of Mi’Kmaq have each established Aboriginal communal commercial fisheries enterprises.

Collectively, these communal commercial fisheries enterprises operate within the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Scotian Shelf, the Bay of Fundy and the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. These five watershed regions are the life source and habitat for thousands of aquatic resources.

Oceans Management

The impacts on the ocean environment and coasts by the relentless activities of human kind have caused dramatic changes, harm and growing evidence of ocean habitat destruction. Ocean management decision makers can no longer continue to segregate nor isolate the wide range of social, economic and environmental issues required to be incorporated into good management decision making.

Integrating the wide scope of social, economic and environmental issues within the context of our living ocean in transparent inclusive processes, inviting the knowledge of all interests, is the only approach to healing and saving our sustainable ocean world – the legacy for our future generations.

Commercial Fishing Industry

The oldest, largest and most important resource industry and commercial business in the Maritime Region, is the commercial fishing industry, which generates billions of dollars in economic growth for the region. While the MAARS partners retain independent control and autonomy for the conduct of their communal commercial fishing enterprises, each agrees that a regional collaborative aquatic resources and oceans management body can promote traditional knowledge and the rightful access to commercial aquatic resources, learn best modern fishing practices and management and achieve sustained economic growth of the Aboriginal Communal Commercial Fisheries in the Maritime Region.

Multi-Stakeholder Relationships

Nurturing predictable multi-stakeholder partnerships to advance effective participation of the MAARS partner communities and their Aboriginal Communal Commercial Fisheries Enterprises in accessing aquatic resources, inputting into oceans management, learning about the modern commercial fishing industry and participating in governance decision making is a MAARS Team effort.

An Aboriginal Resources advisor is deployed to identify and attend many advisory and stakeholder meetings. The work of MAARS through community meetings and the MAPC MAARS journal Mawqatmuti’kw (We all live together) share some notable information with partners.

Governance Decision Making

The fundamental difference between Aboriginal Peoples’ access to aquatic resources, input into oceans management, participation in the commercial fishing industry and direct involvement in governance decision making is “communal” over “private”. Aboriginal Peoples’ stake and interest in aquatic resources and oceans management involve the whole community.

Our social progress, economic development, and responsibility to maintain a sustainable living world, begins with our world-view principles, co-management arrangements, and aquatic harvesting regimes. Recognizing our history and relationships for sharing and our place in the Federation of the Peoples of Canada requires respect to accommodate our direct involvement in decision making governance.

Conclusion

Everyone in Canada has a stake in promoting knowledge about aquatic resources, participating in oceans management planning, developing relationships and understanding within the commercial fishing industry, and becoming involved in decision making governance.

Aboriginal Peoples and Non-Aboriginal Peoples have a stake, interest, duty and responsibility to ensure that all coastal Canadians including Aboriginal Coastal Peoples of the Maritime Region grow, flourish and are a part of the fabric of Canada. Involvement in decision making governance today will help our future generations to also live the promise that is Canada.

Canada and other countries in the world realize that governance must begin to find and strike a balance for the social progress of citizens, economic prosperity and opportunity of citizens and the sustained integrity and protection of our life giving environments for all interests, today and into the future.

Mother Earth has created all life forms to exist in harmony and balance. Human kind as a creation is interconnected and interdependent with that harmony and balance. We must follow the inclusive path of harmony and balance. To continue separate and apart from our living environments of land, waters and air is to put our continuum at risk.