COLUMN: Fallout from Larocque decision washes ashore in P.E.I.

The fallout from the landmark Larocque case has reached Canada’s smallest province and is threatening to split the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association.

For over a decade the provincial group has been administering a temporary snow crab allocation, with the participants chosen in a draw. In 2004, the provincial association and the Prince County Fishermen’s Association (one of its locals) agreed to a three-year deal.

Under the agreement, the Prince County group was entitled to 30 per cent of the temporary allocation. The money was used retire licences in the fall lobster fishery. During the three-year deal, the Prince County local made $1.6 million, which resulted in nine licences being taken out of circulation.

Then came the Larocque decision, which prohibited the licence purchase. Last year DFO ruled the entire quota belongs to the provincial group and they aren’t prepared to renew the 30 per cent allocation.

Now, the Prince County local is trying to get back their allocation through the legal system. They did obtain a temporary injunction, which resulted in 30 per cent of this year’s quota of 385 metric tonnes being held back. However, Justice Gordon Campbell decided against making the injunction permanent and the 23 additional allocations of temporary quota have since been made.

Now the Prince County group has launched a lawsuit for $1.5 million in what it is calling lost revenue. Danny Arsenault, the vice president of the Prince County group, has indicated he plans to resign from the provincial board. Shelton Barlow, the long-time president of the Prince County group, remains on the provincial board for now.

The Prince County group is planning a membership meeting in the near future to consider its next move. One of those options could well be a decision to sever ties with the provincial body and go it alone.

Both sides now appear to be communicating largely either through lawyers or the media – not exactly the most direct route to achieve a solution. If no effort is made by either side to build some bridges, the smart money is likely on a split.

If the decision is reached democratically, all parties involved – including the federal and provincial fisheries departments – will have little choice but to recognize it.

However, there has probably never been a more crucial time to be united in the fisheries. Catches remain low on the south side lobster fishery and prices have also been on a downward spiral since the peak Mother’s Day sales.

The province is in the process of launching a four-year lobster initiative, which will include enhanced monitoring and a renewed push to convince Ottawa to establish a licence rationalization scheme. The industry needs to put up a united front on this issue. Even if a split does occur, both sides must make sure there is enough accommodation to have a working relationship in the future.

Otherwise, they will be prone to a "divide and conquer" strategy on the part of government.