Fish4all and Derby,
Yes, I can say this week was clearly a very difficult week for our 3 Canadian commissioners and to their credit they did a sterling job for us. They really deserve kudos from any and all Cdn hali fisherman. I took the time to approach the podium at the end of this morning's session and shook each of their hands. We heard 4.59 million lbs for 2B going in on Monday and came away at status quo from last year. That is the sign of savvy negotiating and using our (Canada's) admired fisheries model as the tipping points in our favour.
Another very mentionable point is how the 30 person Canadian Conference Board delegation from 3 different harvest sectors were able to be so cohesive and able to work in each others best interest without any rancor. Lock step all the way. Especially with the back drop of a court case pending. Kudos there too!
I think for me one of the surprising moments was the almost unanimous support for the conference board catch limit recommendations (59 for, 3 against and 2 abstains by USA and Cda vote ). I am pretty sure that played strongly on the minds of the commissioners, when they went to a vote, because they agreed to exactly what the Conference Board voted in favour of. Unprecedented apparently. It was impressive to be there and be part of it.
At least we got a semblance of a 2013 fishery and it doesn't appear the commercial boys will lose their shirts financially. You just need the PAG boys to clear out the big frozen inventory!
Gov