Review proceeds at snail's pace
Fishing quota disagreement won't be resolved any time soon

Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 28/99) - The federal government is revamping the policy it uses to determine Atlantic fish quotas, but Baffin fishermen hoping to get a bigger share of the catch in their own waters had better not hold their breath waiting for changes.

Federal representatives met with Baffin Fish and Wildlife Management Board leaders on Tuesday in Iqaluit to talk about the game plan to revamp the quota system.

The basic problem with the policy is that there isn't one, explained the Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials heading up the review.

"Our policies, in many cases, are not explicit," said Paul Sprout. "They're not written down. They're in ministers' statements, they're not in one document."

The review will be done in two phases. In the first, which began in April, the basic principles and objectives of the fisheries policy will be identified through a series of meetings with stakeholders.

Issues such as quotas will be hammered out in the second phase.

The first phase began in April and is expected to conclude in the fall or winter. There is no completion deadline for the second phase.

"That's something we'll develop during Phase I," said Sprout. He said the second will take more time than the first.

Clearly, quotas and the principle of adjacency --that fishermen living closest to a fishery deserve the biggest share of it -- was uppermost on the minds of the Nunavut representatives.

Baffin Fisheries Council chairman Ben Ell said the quota fishermen of his region receive is "nowhere near" what they deserve.

"It's like giving your son a little piece of chocolate when he asks for a chocolate bar," said Ell.

"It seems we have given all of the rights to other Canadians," he later added.

"There seems to be one application (of the policy) for the Maritime provinces and one for the North," said council executive member Peter Keenainak. "Even the time allowed for application approval can be different."

The council recommended that controls be put in place to ensure regulations be applied consistently throughout Canada.