Federal Minister Says New Fisheries Act May Be Dead in the Water

By CHRIS MORRIS

MONCTON, N.B. (CP) – Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn says the government’s proposed new Fisheries Act could be dead in the water.

Hearn defended Bill C-45, which is aimed at modernizing the existing 139-year-old legislation governing fisheries in Canada, but said Saturday that a recent Liberal amendment in the House of Commons could mean the demise of the government bill.

“The act is now in limbo because the Liberals have moved a six-month hoist amendment,” Hearn said while attending a New Brunswick fisheries summit in Moncton on the weekend.

“It is being debated and if we get a vote, we might be able to defeat the amendment and get on with the act. If we lose the vote, the act is actually dead. We’ll have to see another act at some time, maybe another 139 years down the road.”

The hoist amendment would delay further debate on the bill for six months and require that it be substantially revised before it’s brought back to Parliament.

There has been strong opposition to Bill C-45, especially from environmental groups, some fishermen and the NDP, who say the legislation would erode protections of fish stocks and allow greater concentration of the resource in fewer hands.

A spokesperson for the Liberals couldn’t be reached for comment, but NDP fisheries critic Peter Stoffer, who supports the Liberal motion, said there are too many problems with the current legislation.

“It basically means we’re trying to hijack this thing for six months so we can have real consultation,” Stoffer said in an interview.

“This privatizes a public resource, and we want to stop that. If (Hearn) wants to move to a corporate fishery, then he should at least come out and say it, and then we can have that honest, intellectual debate.”

Fishermen at the New Brunswick summit seemed lukewarm towards the proposed legislation, which most said needed more fine-tuning.

“It needs tweaking, but I don’t think it would harm the industry,” said Grand Manan lobster fisherman Laurence Cook.

Hearn said the new act would give the fisheries minister more clout to enforce regulations.

He said it would also foster closer working relationships with the provinces and with fisheries management groups.

About 150 fish processors and fishermen attended the two-day summit, along with federal and provincial fisheries officials.

The industry is trying to find answers to declining stocks and overcapacity.

Cook said fishermen don’t want to see an industry based on high volume.

“As long as our fisheries are based on a low-quality, low-price product where high volume must be required, we’re heading down in terms of stocks,” he said.

“If we can get to a point where we’re maximizing profit on a lower volume of fish coming out of the water, that’s where we all want to be.”

Processors complained about not having enough raw material to process at fish plants. They suggested bringing in fish from outside the province, or using their plants and workers to process other kinds of food products.

Participants at the New Brunswick meetings agreed to create a permanent fisheries roundtable made up of a cross-section of people in the industry to advise the provincial government.