By Andrew Bates, Telegraph-Journal, Local Journalism Initiative
A Maine lobster fisher claiming Indigenous fishing rights after his 2022 arrest off the coast of Deer Island will face a two-week trial next year.
Erik D. Francis, 55, of Perry, Maine, appeared by phone Thursday and confirmed court dates in April and May 2026. He faces Coastal Fisheries Protection Act charges related to allegations of fishing 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 communities in Maine and Charlotte County. The Peskotomuhkati people, part of the Peace and Friendship Treaties of 1725, have not been federally recognized in Canada as a First Nation since 1951.
In February, lawyer Paul Williams was granted intervenor status on behalf of the three Peskotomuhkati chiefs in order to protect and promote their treaty rights. In June, he had suggested they may need as many as four weeks, given four court days a week and a maximum of eight witnesses.
Last week on Thursday, Williams as well as Crown prosecutors Scott Millar and Len McKay appeared by video, with Francis unreachable by phone. Williams said that they were “trying to simplify the matter” in discussion with the Crown.
McKay said they needed to see full reports from experts to decide what they did or did not want to challenge, and suggested setting a few weeks aside.
Judge Kelly Ann Winchester said that two weeks had been selected from April 27 to May 1 and May 4 to May 8 in 2026, with a pre-trial conference in February. Williams and the Crown agreed, with Francis needing to confirm the dates.
On Thursday this week, Francis apologized for missing the earlier hearing, saying there was a family emergency and he was out of cellphone service. He confirmed that the trial dates worked for him, and Winchester said he would have to appear in person.
Francis is also facing a trial in December on Coastal Fisheries Protection Act charges related to a second incident Sept. 20, 2023, of unlawfully fishing for lobster in a foreign vessel and obstructing a fisheries officer along with Erik S. Francis, 28, of Perry, Maine, and Tyler Francis, 26, of Herrington, Maine.
