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The following statement was issued today by John Efford, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture at a news conference held at Confederation building:

Earlier today, I met with a large group of fishers at the Mary Queen of Peace Hall in response to an invitation I received from the Fisherman Food and Allied Workers Union. I wanted to explain government's decision to lift the export restrictions on unprocessed crab for a 30-day period, and to answer any questions that arose on this issue. As I said yesterday, this was done at the request of the union, in order to allow the crab fishery to get underway for the benefit of fishers in this province.

For the most part, the vast majority of the people gathered today was willing to listen to me and engage in productive dialogue. However, it is most unfortunate that a number of individuals refused to let that happen. The shouting and commotion that followed made any sort of productive discussion impossible.

The organizers of the meeting had, unfortunately, provided access to alcoholic beverages and Earl McCurdy of the FFAW was unable to control the group. For that reason I had to leave. There was no way of carrying on productive dialogue under those conditions, and in fact, I felt the personal safety of myself and my officials was threatened.

I am sensitive to the fact that this decision will have some impact on plant workers, but I thought I had a clear message from the union. Given what has transpired this afternoon, I am putting a hold on the lifting of the restrictions until I have further discussions with the FFAW. I hope there will still be an opportunity for productive dialogue.