New fisheries officer for Barrington

BY CARLA ALLEN

The Coast Guard

NovaNewsNow.com

The scope and variety of fisheries is much larger here than in Margaree Forks, Cape Breton Island. That factor played an important role in attracting Matthew McDaniel to Barrington where he began working as a fisheries officer for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in May.

McDaniel (23) says he had a few options as to where he would be posted but wanted to come to the Barrington area.

“They say it’s one of the busier offices and you get exposure to a lot more types of fisheries than you would in any other office,” he said.

In his new position McDaniel will be enforcing the Fisheries Act and the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act, as well as many other acts and regulations relating to fisheries in the Maritimes Region. For the next 30 months he will be receiving hands-on field training under the guidance of senior fishery officers.

Being raised in an area that was dependant on natural resources, primarily forestry and fishing, McDaniel says that after he finished high school he decided he wanted to do something in that field in order to stay around the Maritimes.

“I always liked the outdoors. Where I grew up, woods and water surrounded me. Everything I did was associated with outdoor activity,” said McDaniel.

He studied at the Maritime Forest Ranger School in Fredericton, New Brunswick for his forestry diploma, receiving it in 2003, then continued on to the Atlantic Police Academy where he earned his certificate in Conservation Enforcement.

Afterwards he worked for the Department of Natural Resources as a conservation officer for one year.

Although the Barrington office is responsible for inland fisheries as well, the ocean-side workload is by far the heavier.

McDaniel says he finds it particularly rewarding when lawbreakers are caught doing something wrong.

“The honest fishermen, they are trying to get by the right way and the legal way, yet there are people out there that are cheating to get ahead of them. They appreciate when the bad ones are caught, so I guess that’s one of the greatest satisfactions… that and protecting the resources.

McDaniel is one of 55 recent graduates of the national Fishery Officer Career Progression Program (FOCPP), of which eight are posted in Nova Scotia and two in New Brunswick.