The MHA for Corner Brook accuses Ottawa of “intellectual and moral dishonesty” in its approach to the reopening of the redfish fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Gerry Byrne accuses Ottawa of creating capacity that has resulted in the “insatiable political demand for more fish”, which is out of step with the resource.
The federal minister announced an initial 30,000 tonne quota in the Gulf, the lion’s share of which will go to the Nova Scotia offshore fleet, with 10 per cent going to the NL inshore. That has upset local harvesters, who were hoping to transition away from a dwindling shrimp fishery.
Byrne says the minister has already indicated that the quotas will rise, and the approach her department is taking is wrong.
He says Minister Lebouthillier has already indicated to inshore harvesters that the quota will increase to 75,000 tonnes, with their 10 per cent share rising to 7,500 tonnes. “Well guess what happens whenever you do that?” says Byrne “You create more, and more, and more demand.”
Byrne says what makes that approach morally dishonest is the fact that the fleet and processing capacity already exists—rather than “start from scratch,” spending taxpayer money to build new factory freezer trawlers, and bringing in temporary foreign workers to process the fish.
“You do not create this insatiable appetite to surrender more and more quota to keep those brand new factory freezer trawlers—which you built using government money,” an exasperated Byrne told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly. The federal minister has indicated that Ottawa plans to spend $50 million on the creation of new vessels to prosecute the fishery, when the fleet is there and ready to go, with existing plants on the west coast of Newfoundland ready to process the fish, says Byrne.
DFO Response
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans meanwhile says it is anticipated that that the initial TAC will be at least 25,000 tonnes, not 30,000 as stated by Byrne.
DFO says the federal minister has not indicated to inshore harvester that the quota will increase to 75,000 tonnes.
The Redfish Advisory Committee will meet in the coming weeks to discus the sustainable management of the fishery, and outline next steps.
DFO says that 10 per cent of the red fish resource will go to an Indigenous quota bank. The rest of the allocations will go to the inshore fleet (at 14.8 per cent), the midshore fleet (at 5.72 per cent) and the offshore fleet (at 58.69 per cent).
The department says the minister has not indicated that Ottawa plans to spend $50 million on the creatin of new vessels. Minister Lebouthillier has said that, pending ongoing negotiations, that she intends to extend the Quebec and Atlantic Fisheries Funds by two years until 2026, and giving federal funding to innovating redfish related projects.
