The province minister has issued a new licence to a non-resident and that upsets cra fishermen in area 23 off Cape Breton, N.S. who have renewed their call for a meeting with the federal fisheries minister. The meeting was held on March 25 between Convention Centre with local officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, in which crab fishermen voted to request a meeting with Gail Shea, the new minister, prior to the start of the new season.
Josephine Kennedy, a representative of the East Cape Breton Fishermen’s Association, informed that they want the minister down here because we have so many questions. The Association asked for a meeting earlier this year and has received no response. Former fisheries minister Loyola Hearn used his ministerial discretion to issue a licence to Tim Rhyno of Scotsville, on the west side of the island in Inverness County, just before retiring in last October’s federal election.
Kennedy told that upset fishermen in the area because they had previously been told that CFA 23 — which runs from Main-a-Dieu to Fourchu off the southeast coast — was fully subscribed and no new licences would be issued. She said that it is a political decision, but it’s a decision that’s affecting everybody. It is explained that licences in the area are divided into the older licence-holders and newer ones, with the older ones receiving 60 per cent of the total allowable catch. The older licences are issued to individuals, while the newer ones are shared by up to 22 fishermen.
According to Kennedy the new licence is juts like winning the lottery as the loss of snow crab quota will be felt most by those who have to share a licence. She added that a full licence represents about 163,000 pounds of snow crab, which could amount to more than half a million dollars annually.
