Future generations
I am the Son of James Everard and the Nephew of the late Tom Best. I am a member of what once was the largest inshore fishing family in Petty Harbour known as the “Best Brothers” whom received bravery medals for risking their lives from the Order of Canada to save others who were in distress. Now it’s time we need your help to rebuild the inshore fishery here in Petty Harbour. All our licences are leaving the community to Large Boat fishing family’s because the rules in the professionalization program are designed to help them grow and in turn destroy us.
Time is of the essence because right now we only have one fisher left in the community that is under 40 and eligible to hold a licence and the only license remaining in our family is also about to leave unless these people are stopped.
Here’s a conversation between a person that despises us being back into a corner and having to fish for $2.20 when he’s fortunate enough to have a choice although he can’t technically own his family fishing of or represent his pears and offer a solution to get us out of the Corner we are backed in, and another that has the ability to do his job and is happy to fish for $2.20 and sits on the inshore council and encourages his peers that things will get better based on the processors stopping manipulating the markets they dictate. Ask yourself who you think is better suited to be tied up alongside of you and take back control of our industry. We might be dirt poor, but in my opinion we are not DIRT BAGS.Ryan I understand your situation but keep in mind if someone wants to become a professional trade person they have to train and follow the process to become a electrician or a mechanic. This is no different.
Me: You’re exactly right my friend but there is a big difference. They don’t have to become unemployed to do it.
Wouldn’t you want your crew to have the same rights as you to become a fisherman or did they throw away the magic wand after it touches certain people? The programs intent was to make fishing a profession and diversify them for the exact situation we are in right now having to fish for 2.20 a pound. Ask yourself why I had the choice to choose between supporting the tie up or not when many others are far less fortunate. It’s because diversification works and the founders of the program knew it but a few greedy fishermen decide they want the industry to their selves and road blocked the ones on the decks of our boats to try and keep the industry to themselves for them and their family members.
Well let me tell you they are about to get kicked off auto-pilot because I’m getting a lend of that magic wand for me and my kids. Anyone who completed the 5-year program are suppose to be equally as entitled to harvesting the resource. Do making them endure 5 summers of financial hard ship prepare them for anything positive from your perspective ??? There’s nobody arguing the process, I am arguing the fact that the rules are not designed around fairness and equality. Who do you think was on our boats in petty harbour this last 26 years if we only have one person now under 40 that’s eligible to hold a licence ??? In 2020 you quietly lifted the rules because you knew in the under 40 fleet we couldn’t get anyone to come aboard our boats unless we paid cash.
“You can find this info anytime in the Certification Criteria posted on the PHCB webpage, but I will explain it in some detail here. The PFHCB has never applied the “75% rule” to fish harvesters who have achieved Level I/ll certification. This is the case since 1997, and it has not changed”
Explain this one in some detail and ask the minister of labour and the minister of education if you think they should apply it in other apprenticeships programs if you support it
***SILENCE****
It’s criminal what’s being done. Two individuals that manage the PFHCB By-passed the inshore council with my request and went straight to the house of assembly and senate and expressed extreme concern and said I was trying to open up the industry to big business based on two own bias views that’s destroying the small boat fishery and their own program that turned away 80 percent of new entrants without even asking way. I guess they failed to tell that that I even went as far as saying I’d sign a clause that I couldn’t assign a designated operator and I would commit to fishing it myself we me and my crew. I’m not asking to open the industry, I’m asking to remove one discriminative rule in the 5 year program that allows the people who are actually on our boats the opportunity to advance and become independent owner-operators without having to become unemployed and dependent on the processor for financial support like they have in the past. That’s the reason we are owned not because our enterprises have become valuable.
Ryan Everard (Upgrade request Feb 2023):
