Nighttime provides ideal cover for acts of sabotage in the sleepy fishing villages along the southern shores of Nova Scotia.

Slashed buoys, stolen lobster crates, mysterious fires. These are just some of the acts of vandalism on the wharves where lobster fishers have been locked in battle for more than three decades.

Lobstermen have a simple way of framing the dispute: Think of the ocean’s bounty like a pie. They are asking who should get a piece, and what is the fairest way to divide it between the white Canadians who built the commercial lobster industry and the Indigenous people who were historically left out.

The federal government, which regulates fisheries, has been reluctant to settle the politically fraught issue, alienating warring fishermen on both sides.

The conflict has created deep ruptures within fishing communities. Criminals have entered the equation, the authorities say, profiting from the illegal fishing and trading of lobsters.

The dispute raises thorny questions about Indigenous rights, economic equity, the conservation of resources and the future of Canada’s lobster industry.