Things got off to a rocky start when St. John’s East MP Joanne Thompson took over the fisheries portfolio, but the union representing those who work in the industry hopes the current stint will go more smoothly.

Thompson was at the helm when her department levelled significant cuts to the snow crab quota in 3K, which is off the northeast coast. The FFAW vehemently opposed the reductions – 25 per cent for the offshore and 20 per cent for the inshore.

Thompson has once again been named as the fisheries minister in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new cabinet. Carney kicked off the election campaign in St. John’s by declaring that it is time to rely on those at the wharf for science and management instead of the bureaucrats. FFAW President Dwan Street says they will hold Carney – and the minister – to that.

Street says it’s hard to believe that a bureaucrat in Ottawa can disagree with somebody who has spent their lifetime on the water and has seen the cycles of the resource “whether that’s crab or mackerel or whatever.”