Premier tables resolution to negotiate joint management of adjacent fisheries

A resolution tabled by Premier Roger Grimes in the legislature calls for federal-provincial negotiations that would lead to establishing a joint management regime over fisheries adjacent to Newfoundland and Labrador.

The resolution "is one of the most important resolutions we have ever had to consider," the Premier said.

"Time is running out to save our fishery that has been the lifeblood of this province for more than 500 years. There must be a new approach to the management of fisheries adjacent to our shores, an approach that ensures the people of this province have a meaningful say in management decisions, one that provides a solid foundation for stock recovery, one that recognizes that fisheries were managed responsibly by the Dominion of Newfoundland before our entry into Canada, and one that respects the experience and concerns of the people whose livelihoods depend upon this resource."

Premier Grimes said recent decisions concerning adjacent cod stocks in 3Pn4RS and 2J3KL came "as a shock to all of us" because when fisheries in those zones were re-opened in the late 1990s following years of moratoria, "we took it as a sign that recovery of the stocks was occurring, that federal fisheries management would not let us down again," the Premier said.

"We were wrong. The latest decisions of the federal minister has fundamentally undermined our confidence in federal fisheries management."

The Premier said the decision announced April 24 to close the Gulf cod fishery "was a wrong decision that flies in the face of expert advice given to the federal minister by his own Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, and ignores the advice of the All-Party Committee of the House of Assembly. Instead, it was a made-in Ottawa decision, thrust upon us without regard and respect for the consensus of the people of this province and the parties of the House of Assembly."

The resolution asks the House of Assembly "to call on the Government of Canada and direct the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to begin negotiations leading to the establishment of a joint management regime over the fisheries adjacent to Newfoundland and Labrador."

The principal elements of such a joint management regime would include "shared, equal, constitutional authority" by both levels of government over fisheries adjacent to the province. This would be established by amending the Terms of Union.

Other elements relate to establishing a joint fisheries management board, developing and implementing a plan to achieve conservation and rebuilding of fish stocks, developing and implementing harvesting plans, and programs to enhance scientific knowledge and understanding of the ocean ecosystems adjacent to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Click here for the full text of the resolution.

Media contact: Catherina Kennedy-Kelly, Office of the Premier, (709) 729-3960

2003 05 09                                        9:00 a.m.