What do you see in this fishery in the near future ? What has happened to 963 licenses ? Who has the right to fish ? Lets see, lobster buyers own/control probably over 200, another 150 or more are stacked, crab fishermen from down east own some, and first nations own some. The only license holders with no rights are the independent core owner/operators (which is to say our own coastal communities). The buyers have contracted rights to the catch from theirs, the first nations have treaty rights to theirs, only the independents have nothing but a privilege usable only at the whim of majority vote by whom? Some keep saying leave things alone, everything is just fine, well, ok, but 5 bucks is far from a good price, and catching more low value will only keep it low, and catching more costs more. The fleet is severely over-capitalized. Effort controls have long since failed, bring on output control and rights for independent license owners, and not just in 34, that would be useless, in all lobster districts. The future looks bright for buyers, processors, distributors and first nations, and foreign investors, but independents are on the way out unless we act. Thats what I see.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 19:05:21 +0000
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