According to commercial fishermen federal government is not considering the impact last week’s allocation of halibut will have on the industry. They fears that the government is catering to fishing lodges and charter fishing outfits, and disregarding the conservation of the resource.
They said that the government changed the commercial/recreational split of the halibut fishery to 85 percent for commercial fishermen and 15 percent for recreational anglers; down from 88 percent for commercial and 12 percent for the recreation sector. They alleged that Fisheries and Oceans Canada shows recreational anglers repeatedly violate the Total Allowable Catch for that sector.
Locla fisherman Carpenter doesn’t blame recreational anglers but he does blame the tourism fishing industry. He said Ottawa has rewarded charter vessels and lodges in the recreational sector that have “gone over their total allowable catch by 1.3 million pounds in the last five years.” He added that Ottawa is “completely ignoring the hardship and financial impact on fishermens’ families and businesses that they have purchased and invested in to maintain their livelihood.
