'Just plain panic': Fears mount as N.B. considers restricting U.S. hunters, anglers

Bradford Burns grew up in Friendship, Maine, a town south of Augusta made up of just over 1,000 people. It rests on a peninsula and hosts a public wharf used by dozens of lobster fishers.

That included his grandfather. He’d spend time with him on the boat helping to place bait in lobster traps. But, as he grew up, his taste for fishing brought him inland. First for brook trout. Then he hooked his first salmon.

“There's just a lot of things that scratched a lot of itches for me,” said Burns. “I really got into it, and I really sort of abandoned saltwater fishing after I came here and started making this the focus of my fishing.”

"Here" is New Brunswick. For the last 25 years, Burns has made the six-hour drive from Friendship to Blackville multiple times a year. 

This year, he stayed in New Brunswick from mid-June to mid-July, fishing the early salmon run before returning home to his wife, June.

This fall, he’ll spend another five weeks in the province fishing with companions he’s invited from the U.S. and reconnecting with locals.

He loves the wilderness and the people. But mostly he just loves a big fish.

“Every day it's a little different. Some of them pass up the river through the pool," Burns said.

"Those will stay here for a few days, and you'll see them jumping. You'll even get to recognize your particular fish for a few days, and then they're gone.

“It's just interesting to me and exciting and very natural and wild. And so I just like everything about it.”

At 75, Burns is very invested in salmon fishing. He’s bought multiple fishing camps on the shores of the Cains River and the Miramichi.

He owns the rights to Campbells and Keenans fishing pools in front of his fishing camp just outside of Blackville. He owns Doctor's Island in the town that hosts multiple fishing camps.

“I've spent over a million dollars in buying these camps up here and, you know, I don't know if I'll ever get it back,” said Burns, who made his money in the copy business. “But I figured, whatever I spent on it was for my hobby.”

That’s why the idea of not being allowed to obtain a New Brunswick fishing licence is unthinkable.

WATCH | ‘Crippling’ and ‘asinine’: Outfitters oppose restricting U.S. hunters and anglers:

Hunters on both sides of border react to possible curb on hunting, fishing licences

1 hour ago|

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On Sept. 10, Premier Susan Holt detailed responses to new tariffs from the U.S.

In the aftermath of President Donald Trump imposing new 50 per cent tariffs on select Canadian goods and blocking the import of Canadian alcohol, the province stated it would work to eliminate U.S. goods for government contracts. It would prioritize Canadian goods and work to develop supports for moving away from American markets.

But Holt stated hunting and fishing allowances for Americans could also be targeted.

A following news release from the province states that “the provincial government will continue to pursue additional measures, including undertaking a legislative review to explore giving the minister of natural resources the authority to restrict the issue of fishing and hunting licenses and mining claims based on certain criteria.”

CBC News called and emailed New Brunswick’s Department of Natural Resources communications officer Nick Brown for clarification on what that could mean for U.S. hunters and anglers. CBC News did not receive a response.

But Burns said he believes that could eventually mean hunting and fishing licences will not be available to Americans.

“What good would it do in New Brunswick to take [from] people like me or other people that live along the river; that own property?” asked Burns. “To say, 'Well, you can't come and spend your money here anymore because we're mad at the country, at these officials that have nothing to do with us.'"

Burns described himself as a "Trump Republican." He compared the province's threat of restricting American access to New Brunswick’s fish and wildlife to something his president would do.

“I think, just like Trump has done, is famous for doing, is to come out with these statements that are a little far-fetched, you know, sometimes to get people's attention,” said Burns. “I certainly hope that it's along those lines. I mean that it's not really a serious thought.”

Burns’s sentiment is shared among several New Brunswick outfitters and anglers.

“Putting this industry into that trade war is completely asinine,” said Larry Adair.

He owns Adair's Wilderness Lodge near Poley Mountain. He’s been guiding Americans on hunts since the 70s. Today, he said about 30 per cent of his business comes from the States. But he knows other outfitters, particularly those that cater to bear hunters, where Americans make up nearly 100 per cent of the clientele.

“A lot of our small outfitters, it would devastate them.”

He said his business is only starting to recover from the last time Americans were banned from hunting and fishing the province during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Adair, the typical American hunter pays between $3,000 and $5,000 a week to hunt at his outfitting business. That’s on top of paying the province significantly more for a non-resident hunting licence.

New Brunswick’s annual big game harvest reports do not break down sales of hunting licences to Americans. It categorizes them as resident and non-resident licenses. And for the last five years, the number of non-resident licences has been growing.

In 2021, there were 1,954 non-resident moose licences sold. Last year, there were 3,247 sold. In 2021, the province sold 198 deer non-resident licences. In 2025, it sold 363. The report does not tally black bear licences sold.

The cost of a non-resident licences is significantly more for non-residents.

A licence for hunting black bear costs $37 for a New Brunswicker, or $18 if you’re a senior. For non-residents, that same licence costs nearly four times as much — $143, plus a $26.25 application fee.

For a moose licence, New Brunswickers pay $72, or $37 for seniors, plus a $6.30 application fee. Non-residents pay more than seven times as much — $548 for that same licence plus a $26.25 application fee.

For an antlered deer licence, locals pay $34, or $19 for seniors. But non-residents pay five times more for a total of $183.

Adair said a significant portion of those non-resident licences are sold to Americans.

“They have to pay more than your average New Brunswicker or they pay a premium rate,” said Adair.

Those paying Americans have been coming to Upper Oxbow Adventures for more than a century.  Co-owner Debbie Norton said her family has guided hunting and fishing guides for five generations now. Her family has lived on the same property alongside the Little Southwest Miramichi River for 203 years. 

As an outfitter and the president of the New Brunswick Professional Outfitter Guide Association, she said restricting American hunters from purchasing licences for hunting and fishing would be “crippling.”

“I was a bit astonished and scared,” said Norton about her reaction to hearing about the possibility of restricting American hunters. 

Norton said the amount of business the province's outfitters rely on from the States is massive.

"I would have to say that probably over 90 per cent of business in the hunting and fishing outfitting industry in the province comes from Americans," said Norton.

What she’s hearing from the provinces collective of hunting and fishing guides is dire.

“Panic; I think that sums it up the best,” said Norton. “Just plain panic.”

Norton said she and her husband host “hundreds” of Americans each year. She estimated that around 90 per cent of them are repeat customers.

“If somebody is your customer for 40 years, you develop a real friendship with them,” said Norton. “So it sounds a little silly maybe, but sometimes they come just to visit us.”

Norton said she and the association understand that “everything needs to be on the table” regarding Canada’s response to American tariffs. But she argued that American hunting and fishing parties bring in a lot of “new” money to the province, especially in rural areas.

“It's not the hugest industry in the province, but it is a real industry," she said. "It has a tremendous impact, particularly in rural New Brunswick because that's where the industry operates and it will have, should it go forward, it would have a very negative economic outcome for rural New Brunswick in my opinion.”

For Burns, he knows he’ll be able to continue fishing for salmon in the Miramichi and the Cains River throughout the fall until the end of the season. Until then he’s expecting a revolving door for friends coming up for a few days at a time to join him, most of them American. But after Oct. 15, he’ll pack up his fishing gear and head home to Friendship.

What happens over the winter months with New Brunswick’s legislative review will weigh on his mind while he waits to return to his camp for the fishing season to start again. 

He said he’ll be at a loss if New Brunswick does move to restrict him from obtaining an angler's licence. It may mark the end of his time coming back to his riverside properties.

“I don't know what I would do,” said Burns. “I guess I'd have to sell it, especially if it was going to be a long-term thing.”