Nova Scotias fisheries minister says the federal failure to stop what he calls illegal out-of-season fishing in some of the most lucrative lobster grounds in the country has fuelled organized crime that is 'terrorizing the community' along a stretch of the provinces southwest.

A group representing commercial fishing interests has filed a lawsuit against the chief of a central Nova Scotia First Nation and wants a judge to declare that the bands summer and fall lobster fishery in St. Marys Bay is unlawful and they do not have a treaty right to it.

An internal review into whether federal prosecutions are refusing to pursue infractions related to the lucrative but turbulent baby eel fishery in the Maritimes has reportedly determined they have used proper discretion and that several dozen cases have been brought to court.