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THIBAULT ANNOUNCES CONVERSION OF SNOW CRAB TEMPORARY PERMITS TO LICENCES
St. John’s-- The Honourable Robert G. Thibault, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today announced that temporary seasonal permits for snow crab will be converted to regular licences for fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2003.
“For some time now fishers in Newfoundland and Labrador have asked me to allow conversion of permits to licences and in late 2002, the Fisheries Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) submitted a proposal to the Department on their behalf. My Department responded with a counter proposal that included all elements of the FFAW proposal and an additional option that allows fishers greater flexibility in managing their own businesses. I am very pleased that FFAW members have accepted the DFO proposal and that we can now move to convert temporary seasonal crab permits to licences."
A key component of the FFAW proposal is the ‘buddy-up’ option, which is already available to some harvesters. A ‘buddy-up’ arrangement allows two licence holders to form a temporary partnership and fish two Individual Quotas (IQs) from a single vessel. The option added by the Department is that fishers can, on a voluntary basis, permanently combine crab licences and IQs within the same crab area.
“I acknowledge the concern that some in the industry have with the idea of combining licences. The policy will be in place by December 2004, so over the coming months the Department will work closely with fishers to address these concerns, including identifying safeguards to protect the owner/operator policy and developing criteria that will limit concentration of ownership, ” said Minister Thibault.
“We all recognize that the snow crab fishery is vulnerable to cyclical changes in resources and prices. The options of buddy-up and combining will allow fishers to decide for themselves the appropriate balance between harvesting capacity and the available resource. DFO’s role is to provide the tools for fishers to achieve their goals, and through this process, we will share stewardship of the resource in a very real way.”
“We all recognize that the snow crab fishery is vulnerable to cyclical changes in resources and prices. The options of buddy-up and combining will allow fishers to decide for themselves the appropriate balance between harvesting capacity and the available resource. DFO’s role is to provide the tools for fishers to achieve their goals, and through this process, we will share stewardship of the resource in a very real way.”
Conversion of permits to licences will take place in time for the start of the 2003 crab fishery. Licences will be issued to fishers who held a temporary crab permit in any of the last three years (2000, 2001, or 2002).
Other details, including licence transfer conditions and appeal processes will be developed in collaboration with fishers.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Jan Woodford Regional Director
Communications
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
St. John’s
(709) 772-7622
Caroline Quinn
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ottawa
(613) 992-3474
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