The effort of N.L. fishermen and their union, Loyola Hearn has bear fruit as the government has rolled out the new rules for combining fishing licences. Under this rule the independent core licence holders will now be able to buy out fellow fishermen and double up their quotas for ‘predominant fisheries’. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has listed cod, shrimp and snow crab as predominant fisheries in 3K while lobster, cod and shrimp were listed in 4R.
According to the new rule the fishermen will only be able to double their current quota, which means they won’t be allowed to buy more than one additional licence per species. And above all the fishermen will not be able to have duplicate licences of species not listed by DFO as predominant fisheries. The rule also allows the group of fishermen to jointly buy another harvester’s licence and share it between them. For 3K the regulations come into effect this season.
However, DFO released information that 4R will have to wait for additional consultations because “fish harvesters expressed concerns about the potential movement of effort from areas of low productivity to areas of higher productivity.” The rules changed for 40-foot fleet, in which two licences fish from one boat, which was permitted last year. It is called buddy up system.
Hearn, the federal fisheries minister, said that the enterprise combining policy gives those on the water, in their boats, greater control of their economic future and greater opportunity to decide for themselves their place in this industry. He added that it will increase the income levels for current harvesters and attract the next generation of fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador. Some do not like Hearn’s plan saying that the licence combining won’t go far because fishermen won’t sell their licences and boats separately.
