Hearn hears FFAW concerns on Placentia Bay traffic, state of cod stock

By Jamie Baker

FOR THE SOU’WESTER

The Fish, Food and Allied Workers' (FFAW) union led two delegations to the St. John's office of federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn earlier this month to discuss concerns about Placentia Bay tanker traffic and the discrepancies in data from scientists and fishermen on 2J3KL cod.

FFAW president Earle McCurdy said the concern amongst the Placentia Bay Development Committee and, in particular, area fishermen, grows with each announcement concerning oil refining, natural gas terminals and other developments in the already hectic bay.

"People see themselves as being driven out of the job that has sustained them all their lifetime," McCurdy said, likening the situation to living in a residential neighbourhood where 18-wheelers roll up and down the street all day and night.

He said the proposed increase in tanker traffic in Placentia Bay "is not compatible with the current level of fishing activity in the bay and that "something has got to give."

"Either we don't have that increased activity or they find a way to accommodate fishermen," McCurdy said. "The minister was pretty clear on it - he said, 'I've made it clear nobody is going to come in and force fishermen out unless there is an agreement there that is acceptable to them.'

"That's the kind of messaging that is very important for the proponents of these developments to get from both levels of government. There should be no approvals given unless there is accommodation reached with the harvesters," McCurdy said.

Hearn said meeting with representatives for Placentia Bay fishermen was a "natural followup" to the round table sessions held last fall in Arnold's Cove.

"We all recognize that with the continued industrial development in Placentia Bay and the expected increased tanker traffic that accompanies it, the needs of those who were there first must be recognized along with the commercial growth of the Bay," Hearn said.

"We will continue to work with the harvesters and all Placentia Bay stakeholders to ensure that development is responsible and acknowledges the historic rights of those who were there first."

On the issue of 2J3KL cod, McCurdy said there has to be a way to find the happy medium between what scientists and fishermen are seeing in terms of numbers.

While science insists the numbers are down, fishermen in many areas, McCurdy said, couldn't prosecute other fisheries without running into cod bycatch problems.

McCurdy said there appears to be more "shared stewardship" between government and fishermen in some shellfish fisheries, but he didn't believe there was the same level of give and take on groundfish.

"It's still the kind of father-knows-best-approach," he said. "We made the point that, if you don't have buy-in from people on the water you will not have successful conservation."

McCurdy said fishermen were left with a sour taste in their mouth last year when the recreational fishery ended up being maintained at its previous level while individual commercial quotas were rolled back.

"We were most upset with that," he said. "It just wasn't fair and when you do things that are unfair you pay a price in terms of the amount of buy-in you get and the amount of respect you get for the rules.

"That has to be clearly remedied in the future."

McCurdy said there appears to be interest in finding means to reconcile the views of fishermen and scientists.

The fisheries minister agreed.

"We will move forward, combining (harvesters') knowledge with that of our scientists to ensure that the decisions that affect harvesters and the communities are based on sound data and experience," Hearn said.

"This meeting is part of an ongoing dialogue that we enjoy with the industry."

(Jamie Baker is a journalist with Transcontinental Media and a contributor to the Sou’Wester.)