Tag Archives: DFO senior bureaucrat Morley Knight
Federal memo estimates more than $176M of Atlantic lobster catch unreported, untaxed
The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans suspects hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of lobster is caught in Atlantic Canadian waters each year but never reported to authorities, raising both tax evasion and conservation implications in the country’s largest fishery. An internal memo in August to DFO’s deputy minister said it’s estimated that between 10 and 30 per cent of lobster landings in the region are unreported, and the department said in a statement it is working to map out criminal networks and money laundering in the sector. “It’s mind-boggling,” said Osborne Burke, the president of the Nova Scotia Seafood Alliance, which represents about 150 lobster buyers and processors and has urged a crackdown on unreported cash sales. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 06:44
‘Anarchy will reign’ if Indigenous fishing rights in Maritimes aren’t settled, says former DFO official
A former senior Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) official says clarity on Indigenous fishing rights in the Maritimes is needed from the department and the courts or “anarchy will reign.” “The frustrations can be mitigated by clearly communicating the rules, having an orderly and regulated fishery, and then providing an adequate monitoring and compliance presence to effectively implement the rules. While that sounds simple, it is not. And while patience is required, action is also required before the situation explodes or stocks are harmed,” Morley Knight told the parliamentary standing committee on Fisheries and Oceans in Ottawa on Monday. The committee is examining illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. more, >>click to read<< 08:34
DFO minister: No compromise on independence of inshore fishery
Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans says there will be no backtracking on measures to preserve the independence of Atlantic Canada’s inshore fishery.”I’m not interested in weakening or diluting these policies,” Dominic LeBlanc told CBC News in a wide-ranging interview Tuesday. LeBlanc was responding for the first time to overtures from lobster buyers and plant owners in southwestern Nova Scotia who have floated schemes that would allow the companies ownership of a fisherman’s catch while somehow maintaining the independence of the fisherman.,,LeBlanc declined to discuss the impact on Atlantic Canada’s seafood exports to the United States in the event the Trump administration pulls out of the North American Free Trade Agreement. >click here to read<21:29 
