As renewable industries go, the potential of the province's commercial fisheries is as great as Labrador hydro, but the Furey administration — like provincial governments before it — has almost completed ignored the wild fishery.
Premier Furey announced Wednesday, May 11th, an expert panel to recommend approaches to ensure "maximum long-term benefits" from the Upper Churchill project. The premier should do the same with the wild fisheries.
Management/science/stocks/pricing system are all weak in Newfoundland and Labrador, but there's incredible potential if turned around.
Few premiers have tackled the knot that is the wild fisheries: Clyde Wells' call for joint federal/provincial fisheries management went nowhere, and Brian Tobin's turbot war generated more publicity for himself than change to foreign fishing practices on/off the Grand Banks.
Danny Williams/Trevor Tayor took their shot at raw material sharing in the now crab fishery, but gasoline was quickly thrown on that idea. Furey put together an economic recovery team, but the recommendations from the Big Reset regarding the wild fishery gather dust on government shelves.
The fishery is what brought so many of us to this place, and it is only the fishery that will keep us here.
Personally, I'd support any provincial government with that attitude.
Ryan Cleary
Executive Director, SEA-NL
To read more about SEA-NL, and for owner-operators to join please visit our website or e-mail sea-nl@outlook.com Please sign SEA-NL's petition to the House of Commons on non-core commercial fishing licences here.