Sushihunter
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http://www.bclocalnews.com/opinion/116702349.html
Minister makes right choice on Halibut...
By Alan S. Hale - The Northern View
Published: February 23, 2011 1:00 AM
I know that all the Shaun Thomas fans out there will be disappointed, but our illustrious editor is away so it falls to me, a lowly reporter, to write an editorial in his stead.
Last week, Ottawa finally made an attempt to put to rest the feud - and really that’s the best word for it, feud - between the commercial and recreational fishing industries over the pacific halibut quota. Ever since the issue emerged last month the two industries have been at each other’s throats.
The debate is undeniably polarized and there will be no solution that will please everybody. But attacks from one industry on another, whether it be the commercial’s privatization of a common resource or the recreational’s much less stringent oversight, are not helpful and only serve to shrink the common ground that needs to be built upon.
But for the moment, the government’s decision to introduce an experimental license to allow recreational fishermen to lease commercial quota is the right one - for now.
In the long term though, something needs to give.
The system where commercial fishers are allowed to rent out or sell their quota needs to come to an end. Period.
But to take it all away all at once could leave many retired fishers in a terrible lurch, as some fishers have invested half a million dollars just to get that quota and expected to retire on the proceeds of leasing or selling it to others.
The federal government should make it so that fishers may lease out their quota but not to sell, gift or inherit it. This way fishers from both industries can continue to lease the quota from each other as they need it and retired fishermen can recoup some of the many thousands of dollars they spent just by entering the industry.
As older fishers pass on their quota can revert back to the government who should give it to new fishermen at little or no cost, with the condition that they will not be allowed to sell or lease it. If the cost of entry into the industry is as small as possible, then the need to lease one’s quota will be diminished.
This is by no means a perfect plan, and it would take decades to complete.
But whatever method is taken, the halibut industry - perhaps all fishing industries - need to reach a point where there are no people who have quota but don’t fish it; then there will enough for everyone who will. And this needs to be achieved without destroying the lives of people who have worked hard and were expecting a comfortable retirement.
DFO’s plan is a fine temporary fix, but it’s the whole structure of the halibut fishery that is
broken.
Minister makes right choice on Halibut...
By Alan S. Hale - The Northern View
Published: February 23, 2011 1:00 AM
I know that all the Shaun Thomas fans out there will be disappointed, but our illustrious editor is away so it falls to me, a lowly reporter, to write an editorial in his stead.
Last week, Ottawa finally made an attempt to put to rest the feud - and really that’s the best word for it, feud - between the commercial and recreational fishing industries over the pacific halibut quota. Ever since the issue emerged last month the two industries have been at each other’s throats.
The debate is undeniably polarized and there will be no solution that will please everybody. But attacks from one industry on another, whether it be the commercial’s privatization of a common resource or the recreational’s much less stringent oversight, are not helpful and only serve to shrink the common ground that needs to be built upon.
But for the moment, the government’s decision to introduce an experimental license to allow recreational fishermen to lease commercial quota is the right one - for now.
In the long term though, something needs to give.
The system where commercial fishers are allowed to rent out or sell their quota needs to come to an end. Period.
But to take it all away all at once could leave many retired fishers in a terrible lurch, as some fishers have invested half a million dollars just to get that quota and expected to retire on the proceeds of leasing or selling it to others.
The federal government should make it so that fishers may lease out their quota but not to sell, gift or inherit it. This way fishers from both industries can continue to lease the quota from each other as they need it and retired fishermen can recoup some of the many thousands of dollars they spent just by entering the industry.
As older fishers pass on their quota can revert back to the government who should give it to new fishermen at little or no cost, with the condition that they will not be allowed to sell or lease it. If the cost of entry into the industry is as small as possible, then the need to lease one’s quota will be diminished.
This is by no means a perfect plan, and it would take decades to complete.
But whatever method is taken, the halibut industry - perhaps all fishing industries - need to reach a point where there are no people who have quota but don’t fish it; then there will enough for everyone who will. And this needs to be achieved without destroying the lives of people who have worked hard and were expecting a comfortable retirement.
DFO’s plan is a fine temporary fix, but it’s the whole structure of the halibut fishery that is
broken.
