The Canadian Independent Redfish Harvesters are urging Ottawa to shred its Unit 1 redfish management plan and appoint a recovery team of industry experts to ensure the plan can work.
DFO’s plan for the resumption of a redfish harvest in the Gulf of St. Lawrence has been soundly thumped by inshore harvesters who have received a small portion of the overall quota compared to the offshore fleet based in Nova Scotia.
The FFAW says new measures announced this week further limit inshore fishers through what it calls “unreasonable seasons, depths, gear, observer coverage and by-catch rules.”
Those restrictions, says the union, effectively limit owner-operators from participating in the fishery.
(Federal Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier.)
The union says it’s now taking its concerns “to the top,” saying Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier has “lost all credibility.”
The FFAW is now consulting with a Gulf coalition in sending a list of industry leaders to the Prime Minister’s Office to protest the redfish decision.
