Premier Pat Binns today confirmed that the provincial government will be commencing legal action against the Government of Canada to seek a resolution to a number of outstanding fisheries disputes. The disputes relate to not only the herring seiner boundary line, but also to the unfair and inequitable allocation of a number of fisheries species including Bluefin tuna, snow crab and gulf and northern shrimp.
“The Prince Edward Island government has been actively and aggressively seeking a resolution to these and other fisheries issues and has not received a satisfactory response or rationale from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans,” said Premier Binns. “We are reluctant to have to take the federal government to court in order to secure justice for Island fishermen, but the failure to resolve these issues through other means leaves us with no options but to seek a legal settlement.”
Fisheries Minister Kevin MacAdam said that the provincial government’s position is based on a number of fundamental principles including equity in the allocation of resources, and traditional access criteria including adjacency to the stocks, historic dependency and economic viability. These were adopted as part of the Atlantic Fisheries Policy Review endorsed by both the federal and provincial governments.
“Prince Edward Island has been consistently denied fair and equitable access to a number of resources, and this clearly affects the livelihoods of inshore fishermen who depend on a number of species to survive,” said Mr. MacAdam. “The management decisions made by DFO are clearly inconsistent with its stated approach to resource allocations and its failure to correct administrative errors related to the boundary line.”
In the case of Bluefin tuna, the minister said that Prince Edward Island has 46 percent of licenses in region, but has received an allocation of only 30 percent of the quota. It is the only province in the region without a permanent shrimp allocation, and its temporary allocation has not changed in proportion to that received by other jurisdictions. Mr. MacAdam also explained that, although the province was among the pioneers in the snow crab fishery, it has never received its fair share of the quota.
“There is tremendous frustration among fishermen about the lack of response by DFO on these and other issues,” said Mr. MacAdam. “Despite ongoing meetings between the federal and provincial fisheries ministers, regular meetings with officials to discuss fisheries management and allocation issues, and letters between the Premier and the Prince Minister, we are no closer to a resolution that we were at the outset.”
Premier Binns said that the provincial government is proceeding with this action supported by a legal opinion.
“I would prefer that these matters can be resolved in good faith on both sides,” said Premier Binns. “Despite the lack of progress to date, I remain hopeful that common sense will prevail and that the federal government will agree to a resolution of these issues and give Island fishermen the rights to which they are entitled.”