Tag Archives: Ken McDonald
Fisheries and Oceans standing committee question why owner-operator system can’t work in B.C.
Young West Coast fishers made the trek to Ottawa, two in gumboots, to testify and advocate for change in British Columbia’s fisheries management system, causing an immediate ripple effect. Federal policymakers who are amending the Fisheries Act, or Bill C-68, have submitted a motion to study owner-operator fleets after listening to the independent fishers who want the policy enforced on the West Coast. In B.C., fishers lease quotas from owners who have purchased the fishing rights. Multinational companies, or foreign investors, can own quota and licenses on the West Coast, but not on the East Coast of Canada. >click to read<18:31
Stakeholders hope for more input, more preparedness for potential cod fishery
When it comes to a rebuilding plan for the northern cod stocks, the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) union wants the government to remember why it’s important to plan for the longevity for the groundfish off the province’s northeast coasts. “That fishery and the way it was, was the lifeblood of many, many communities around rural Newfoundland and Labrador,” FFAW secretary treasurer Dave Decker says. “It’s important that as we are rebuilding that stock … we keep focus on why we’re rebuilding fisheries and it’s to rejuvenate the same communities. Decker took comfort that towns and harvesters affected by a cod moratorium that will celebrate a 25-year anniversary this year weren’t forgotten in a standing committee on fisheries and oceans report tabled in the House of Commons Monday. Ken McDonald, Member of Parliament for Avalon, who initially motioned for the study last February, is hopeful that investments into DFO last year to create 135 new jobs for research scientists following years of cutbacks will help facilitate those assessments. continue reading the article here 22:15
