Province Supports Industry Principles

FISHERIES/AQUACULTURE--Province Supports Industry Principles

• ---------------------------------------------------------------Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Ernest Fage said he is happy to be supporting principles brought forward by the fishing industry after a two-day meeting in Truro.

The principles, introduced by the newly formed Atlantic Fishermen's Alliance, include the following:

• conservation must be the first priority of fisheries management
• there must be only one fish management authority and that is the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
• the alliance accepts native participation in the fishery and supports existing programs for integration
• the current size of the fishery should not be expanded
• the federal government is responsible for all costs of implementing the Marshall decision
• a stay of the Supreme of Court of Canada decision in the Marshall case be sought to provide time to negotiate
• the implementation of treaty rights not damage the existing industry and coastal communities dependent on the fishery

Mr. Fage said he will push the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the federal government to provide more structure for fishieres management negotiations.

More than 60 fishing organizations attended the meeting at the Agritech Park.

The Mi'kmaq community was invited but unable to attend. Mr. Fage received regrets from Bernd Christmas, a lawyer in the Mi'kmaq community, who was in Yarmouth to support the Bear River and Acadian First Nations in discussion on a temporary fishery management plan for Area 34.