Minister meets with federal minister on fisheries issues

Gerry Reid, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, today met with Robert Thibault, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, to discuss two issues of great importance to the provincial fishing industry. Reid was joined by Earle McCurdy of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union (FFAW) and Alastair O�Reilly of the Fisheries Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (FANL).

"We travelled to Ottawa today to reiterate to the minister the province�s position on foreign over-fishing and the EU tariff on cooked and peeled shrimp," said Minister Reid. "Both of these issues greatly impact the fishery in the province and must be addressed by the federal government. Foreign over-fishing continues to negatively impact the resource on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks, and the tariff on shrimp into EU countries places our industry at a competitive disadvantage. It is critical that we have the support of Ottawa in addressing these matters at the international level."

Minister Reid gave a detailed presentation to Thibault on foreign over-fishing and its impact on Newfoundland and Labrador. Reid outlined the province�s position, which advocates custodial management on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks.

"We are presently developing a model of Custodial Management within the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture," added Minister Reid. "Under Custodial Management, Canada would manage the NAFO areas on the nose and tail for the purpose of applying consistent and conservation-based measures. Essentially, we would recognize and respect the historical shares of other nations; however, Canada would be responsible for the management and enforcement of the quotas, regulations and conservation measures within that area."

Under current NAFO rules, member countries are individually responsible for enforcing the regulations and prosecuting violators from their own countries. This has proven to be ineffective, as certain countries continue to blatantly disregard conservation measures and regulations.

"The federal government has a responsibility to Newfoundland and Labrador, and indeed the entire country, to ensure that our fishery resources are protected," said Minister Reid. "They must act decisively to resolve the problem of foreign over-fishing, and we made this point very clearly to Minister Thibault again today."

The issue of the EU tariff on cooked and peeled shrimp is a major impediment to Eastern Canadian shrimp producers. "The EU is the largest market for cooked and peeled shrimp; however, local processors are at a competitive disadvantage because of the tariff," said Minister Reid. "We would like to see an aggressive strategy prepared by the federal government to achieve our objective of having the tariff removed or, at the very least, reduced. As long as this tariff remains in place, our shrimp producers simply cannot compete in the EU. We will continue to press the federal government until we see some movement on this issue."

Media contact: Elizabeth Matthews, Communications, (709) 727-3734.

2002 06 03                              2:25 p.m.