Monthly Archives: June 2016
Trudeau says Hunter Tootoo resigned after ‘very difficult situation’
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had very little to say Wednesday morning after the abrupt resignation of his fisheries minister the night before. “As was announced yesterday, Hunter Tootoo has left the Liberal caucus and resigned from cabinet to seek treatment for addiction issues,” Trudeau said in his first public words on the resignation of the fisheries minister last night. “This was his own choice after a very difficult situation and we’ll have nothing further to say on the matter,” Trudeau said on Parliament Hill, before making his way into his party’s weekly caucus meeting. Trudeau did not specify what kind of addiction issues Tootoo is seeking treatment for, nor did he elaborate on the “difficult situation.” He did not take questions from reporters. Government House Leader Dominic Leblanc has taken over as fisheries minister, the prime minister’s office announced Tuesday evening. Link 10:59
Last-minute change allows public comments on Joint Law Enforcement Agreement at tonight’s DMF meeting
The Joint Law Enforcement Agreement Advisory Group has been scheduled to meet June 1 at 5:00 P.M. at the Craven County Agricultural Center in New Bern for several weeks. In a press release e-mailed to media outlets and those on the Division of Marine Fisheries/Marine Fisheries Commission contact list on the afternoon of May 31, the Division of Marine Fisheries announced the agenda had been changed to allow public comment at the meeting. This was a surprise and hopefully those wanting to speak will be able to change their schedules at the late notice. Read the rest here 10:30
South Shore ground fishermen skeptical of plan to use digital cameras for monitoring mandate
Longtime commercial fishermen from Marshfield and Scituate said the project to equip some groundfishing boats with digital cameras comes with numerous pitfalls, including cost burdens and concerns about how video footage would be used. Beginning this week, up to 20 groundfishermen from the Maine and Cape Cod will use three to four cameras to document fish handling on their vessels. At the end of each fishing trip, boat captains will send hard drives to third-party reviewers, who will view the footage and determine how much fish was discarded. The Nature Conservancy is overseeing the project and hailed it Tuesday as a “new era in fisheries monitoring” South Shore fisherman Ed Barrett questioned whether there would be any cost savings, saying the camera equipment would cost thousands of dollars. Read the rest here 10:06
