Prince Edward Island Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development Minister Allan Campbell has expressed serious dissatisfaction with the way the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has allocated the 2008 quota in the cod and halibut fishery, and concerns about the authorization to allow mid-water trawlers to fish herring in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. The measures were announced last week by Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn.
“Once again, Prince Edward Island is being denied its fair and equitable share of the fisheries quota for cod and halibut, and the decision to allow mid-water trawlers to fish herring is potentially devastating for the resource,” said Mr. Campbell. “It appears that politics has once again trumped science and common sense in the way DFO is managing these fisheries.”
Mr. Campbell said there has been a temporary transfer of halibut quota from mobile gear to fixed gear fleets this year, resulting in an increase of 108 tonnes to fixed gear fleets. Of this, Prince Edward Island will only be receiving an additional 1.58 metric tonnes, or 1.46 percent of the increase, which is the same percentage of the total allocation it received last year. Mr. Campbell said the allocation is totally unacceptable, as it is based only on historical share, and ignores other fisheries management principles such as adjacency, equity and fairness.
“Last year, I objected to the inequitable share of the halibut fishery received by Prince Edward Island, and nothing has changed,” he said. “Our fishers are being denied their rightful share and that is completely unacceptable.”
On the cod fishery, the federal minister announced that shares will be fixed and a commercial fishery will take place in 2008. Prince Edward Island will receive 19.3 percent of the fixed gear quota. Prince Edward Island’s position on sharing was based on its share of the post-1992 cod moratorium which would result in a 30.43 percent share. The federal government chose to use the 1996-2004 period.
Mr. Campbell said he has serious concerns about the authorization to allow mid-water trawlers access to herring stocks in the southern Gulf. He said that both the provincial government and the Prince Edward Island Fisherman’s Association lobbied last year to have the 2007 authorization rescinded to protect the stocks and other fisheries which depend on it. He is also concerned that the minimum size is being reduced and that management and enforcement measures that protect smaller stocks are being relaxed.
“By reducing the minimum size for herring, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is clearly using poor judgement, and is further jeopardizing the resource,” said Mr. Campbell. “I am not prepared to stand by and watch the fishery be devastated by short-term political considerations on the part of the federal government.”
Mr. Campbell said he has repeatedly raised his concerns with DFO Minister Loyola Hearn, and will be further protesting the 2008 management measures for these and other fisheries.