October 31, 2008

Vancouver - "This decision by DFO constitutes a betrayal of a commitment from a previous Minister of Fisheries that the public fishery for Halibut would not be closed in-season," said Federation president Mel Arnold. "If the present Minister is not prepared to respect that commitment, what further cuts might the public expect for their fishery in, 2009 and beyond? Will we see a further reduction in the possession limit or an even earlier closure next year?" Arnold asked.

"This problem began when a previous Minister 'gifted' the majority of Canada's total allowable catch (TAC) of Halibut to private interests in the commercial fishing sector to use, or dispose of, as they wished", Federation Tidal Fisheries committee chair Ken Franzen explained. "Ignoring the advice of his Sport Fishing Advisory Board that a minimum 20% of the TAC was required to meet reasonable needs of the public fishery, the Minister elected to restrict resident harvest to a paltry 12% of the TAC." Franzen continued. "To add insult to injury, the Minister decreed that, should resident harvest exceed its' meager allocation, additional quota would have to be 'acquired' from the commercial sector under a 'market-based mechanism' even though Halibut are a common property resource owned by the people of Canada".

"The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the Minister lacks the 'competent legislation' to enter into contracts for the exclusive use of a common property resource." Arnold remarked. "Our Federation believes that the Minister of Fisheries, by 'gifting' most of the Halibut TAC to private interests, exceeded his authority under the Fisheries Act."

"The most appalling aspect of this fiasco is that many of those who originally received their quota 'gift' no longer fish it but, instead, lease to other fishermen while enjoying their Hawaiian condos essentially at public expense. The Minister had the option of leasing quota to commercial fishermen on an annual basis with proceeds going to the owners of the resource, the Canadian public. Instead, he chose to provide windfall profits to a select few and it is our understanding that this is intended to be the first of several giveaways of the public resources on the Pacific coast," Arnold concluded.