HAY RIVER - Bob McLeod, the minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, has put a hold on the NWT's move towards leaving the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC).

And, McLeod has asked the NWT Fishermen's Federation to hold another membership vote on the issue, after he held a meeting with fishers in Hay River on Oct. 7.

"I guess the outcome of the meeting was we're not in a race to get out of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation," he said. "We have to be very careful to make sure that what we're doing is what the fishermen want to do."

In February, certificate-holders - owners and operators of fishing vessels on Great Slave Lake - launched a move to leave the FFMC by voting 11 to seven to quit the federal marketing body.

However, at an Aug. 27 meeting in Hay River, 14 certificate-holders voted unanimously to retain FFMC.

Afterwards, they wrote McLeod to ask the GNWT to stop any moves to leave FFMC and also requested a meeting, resulting in the Oct. 7 get-together with nine fishers.

The minister said the first vote was done in accordance with the bylaws of the federation, including advance notice, advertising and ensuring all who voted were recognized as fishers under the federation's bylaws.

"I indicated that, if we were going to change anything, we needed to have a vote that was done by the book," McLeod said. "Then we would take it from there. In the meantime, we would stop doing whatever we're doing until we get this vote."

The minister said, at the end of the day, he's going to go with what the fishers want to do on the issue.

His department has already done preparatory work to leave FFMC. It has advised the minister of Fisheries and Oceans of the NWT's intention to withdraw, has undertaken a consultation process, had lawyers review legislation and started to look at how fishermen would market fish in the absence of the

federal corporation.

McLeod said the GNWT has no intention to replace the FFMC.

NWT Fishermen's Federation president Alex Richardson could not be reached for comment on when a new vote might be held.

In his letter to McLeod, Richardson had questioned the results of the February vote.

"We feel this vote does not accurately reflect the desires of certificate-holders that are producing fish," Richardson wrote of the Feb. 17 ballot.

His letter stated the vote was "skewed" because many of the people voting do not currently fish and have no vested interest in the matter.

In earlier comments to News/North, Richardson said some of the 14 certificate-holders who agreed on Aug. 27 to keep FFMC had voted against the corporation in February.

There are 15 Class A certificate holders on Great Slave Lake and 29 Class B certificate-holders. Class A

certificates are for vessels larger than 9,000 kg in gross weight.

Under the existing system, fish exported out of the NWT must go through the FFMC, which purchases the fish, markets then and makes payments to fishers who have often been unhappy with the prices the corporation has been able to get for their fish.

Fishermen are also dissatisfied with not being permitted to sell their own fish to outside markets, although they can sell privately in the NWT.

In addition to marketing, the FFMC operates a fish plant in Hay River and provides ice to fishers.

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