Minister of Fisheries and Tourism Kevin J. MacAdam is continuing to press the Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Herb Dhaliwal, for access to both the Gulf shrimp fishery and the northern shrimp fishery. "Prince Edward Island interests have been unfairly denied access to both the Gulf shrimp and the offshore northern shrimp fisheries for a number of years," Minister MacAdam emphasized. "The Federal Government is directing northern shrimp allocations to adjacent inshore fishers in Newfoundland and Labrador, while at the same time denying the requests of PEI fishers who are immediately adjacent to the Gulf shrimp resource. This is contradictory and unfair," declared the Minister.
"We were pleased that an Island-based proponent of a northern shrimp license, Polar Foods International, took the opportunity to present their case at meetings this week concerning the future of this important fishery," the Minister stated. Officials from the Department and the Island fishing fleets had earlier made a similar case at meetings regarding the future of the Gulf shrimp fishery in January.
While they target the same species, these two fisheries occur in different areas and are managed separately. "Access to the Gulf fishery would directly benefit Island fishers and would provide much needed processing employment in Island plants," stated the Minister, "while a northern shrimp license would represent an important diversification for our fishery and re-establish an Island-based presence in the Atlantic fishery."
Further information regarding the Gulf and northern shrimp fisheries is available by contacting the Marine Fisheries Section of the Department of Fisheries and Tourism at (902) 368-5261 or the e-mail address below.