Province encouraged by permanent funding to combat overfishing

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is encouraged by the federal government�s budget commitment to combat foreign overfishing.

The intentional fishing of moratoria species by foreign vessels remains at alarming levels in areas beyond Canada�s immediate jurisdiction. In March 2004, the Canadian government committed $15 million to enhance its enforcement and surveillance program of fish straddling the 200-mile limit in 2004. As announced on Wednesday, that funding will become permanent with this year�s federal budget.

"The surveillance activities financed by this commitment are incredibly important," says Trevor Taylor, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture. "Rogue vessels from some member states of the European Union continue to purposely catch fish that international bodies have declared off-limits. When catches of moratoria species tripled from 2002 to 2003, the federal government announced a temporary initiative to improve its surveillance on the high seas. Indications are that the increase in patrols by Canada is working and that fishing of moratoria species has declined. However, the quantity of these depleted fish stocks that are purposely harvested is still too high.

"In November, I wrote to Minister Regan to stress the need for a sustained funding commitment to combat foreign overfishing. I am encouraged that the minister, and the Prime Minister, are emphasizing the importance of Canada�s enhanced surveillance and monitoring program outside 200 miles."

Minister Taylor has been expressing concern about fisheries conservation and has suggested that the weakened fish stocks are a concealed global environmental catastrophe. Premier Danny Williams and the minister have stated the need for the Prime Minister�s direct involvement with addressing this ecological crisis. The Prime Minister has raised the matter with a number of heads of states and has announced that an international "action conference" on overfishing will be held in St. John�s in May 2005.

The issue of foreign overfishing is very serious for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) rigorously ensures that local fish harvesters follow conservation measures to protect depleted fish stocks, but many of these moratoria fish swim just beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone 200-mile limit, where they are taken in alarming numbers by foreign vessels. Other members of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) are doing little to address this problem. Canada has a moral obligation to demonstrate international leadership by solving overfishing with a concrete long-term solution. It is the position of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador that, given the repeated failure of diplomacy, the Government of Canada must become the custodial manager of fish stocks which straddle the 200-mile limit.

Media contact: Alex Marland, Communications, (709) 729-3733, 690-6047

2005 02 24                    2:40 p.m.