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From ; Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia
Halibut Update
With the summer fishing season well underway, we thought it would be timely to provide a brief update on the government's pilot project to allow recreational anglers to lease halibut quota from commercial quota holders on an annual basis. As we told you when this pilot project was announced shortly before the federal election, we believe that the program is fraught with problems and is little more than an attempt by the federal government to paper over the problems it created when it established the Pacific halibut allocation scheme in 2003.
At a recent meeting of the Halibut Working Group, DFO staff said that to date, the department has received 60 expressions of interest in the new experimental license. 37 of those who expressed interest submitted a formal application, and only ten of those pursued the application to the point of receiving an actual license. We believe that the number is low because the more people learned about the challenges and complications inherent in participating in the program; the more they decided that it was not worth the effort. More importantly, when these people realized they would be required to pay more than $5 per pound to a gifted quota holder, they were reminded of unfairness inherent in this unjust policy.
Three of the ten pilot project license holders, (yes only three) have secured quota....for a total of 220 pounds between them. In other words, those three will effectively have to "sort" the halibut they catch so that they don't exceed their leased quota limits simply by catching a larger halibut.
To recap, the pilot project has put enough halibut in the hands of private leaseholders to catch one large fish. Furthermore it reinforces that DFO needs to find a resolution for the flawed halibut allocation issue in manner that is fair to all Canadians.
It remains to be seen whether there will be greater interest in the program in the months ahead or whether DFO will assess this pilot program as a success or failure. We will continue to watch the situation and focus our energies on ensuring that government lives up to its commitment to "finding a solution to BC's halibut allocation issue in advance of the 2012 season that strikes a fair balance between all sectors. To this end we have written to our new minister, the Hon. Keith Ashfield and are looking forward to his reply.
From ; Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia
Halibut Update
With the summer fishing season well underway, we thought it would be timely to provide a brief update on the government's pilot project to allow recreational anglers to lease halibut quota from commercial quota holders on an annual basis. As we told you when this pilot project was announced shortly before the federal election, we believe that the program is fraught with problems and is little more than an attempt by the federal government to paper over the problems it created when it established the Pacific halibut allocation scheme in 2003.
At a recent meeting of the Halibut Working Group, DFO staff said that to date, the department has received 60 expressions of interest in the new experimental license. 37 of those who expressed interest submitted a formal application, and only ten of those pursued the application to the point of receiving an actual license. We believe that the number is low because the more people learned about the challenges and complications inherent in participating in the program; the more they decided that it was not worth the effort. More importantly, when these people realized they would be required to pay more than $5 per pound to a gifted quota holder, they were reminded of unfairness inherent in this unjust policy.
Three of the ten pilot project license holders, (yes only three) have secured quota....for a total of 220 pounds between them. In other words, those three will effectively have to "sort" the halibut they catch so that they don't exceed their leased quota limits simply by catching a larger halibut.
To recap, the pilot project has put enough halibut in the hands of private leaseholders to catch one large fish. Furthermore it reinforces that DFO needs to find a resolution for the flawed halibut allocation issue in manner that is fair to all Canadians.
It remains to be seen whether there will be greater interest in the program in the months ahead or whether DFO will assess this pilot program as a success or failure. We will continue to watch the situation and focus our energies on ensuring that government lives up to its commitment to "finding a solution to BC's halibut allocation issue in advance of the 2012 season that strikes a fair balance between all sectors. To this end we have written to our new minister, the Hon. Keith Ashfield and are looking forward to his reply.
