The provincial fisheries minister is accusing Ottawa of giving away 1,000 metric tonnes of yellowtail flounder off Newfoundland to the United States.
Canada has a NAFO yellowtail quota of 17,000 tonnes, all of which is held by Newfoundland and Labrador—except about 500 tonnes, which goes to St. Pierre et Miquelon.
Minister Gerry Byrne says the federal government is horse-trading away a species that means jobs in this province.
Further, the Government of Canada gave fish to the United States for nothing in return, he claims.
Byrne notes that the plant in Fortune is dependent on yellowtail, and that Ocean Choice International just built and financed a new vessel—the Calvert—to harvest yellowtail.
