NL MOU progress appears less than encouraging: Opposition

Marshall Dean, Opposition Fisheries Critic in Newfoundland, says it appears the MOU update to be provided by the provincial fisheries minister to his federal counterpart will field no further insight than was reached earlier the year and this is cause for concern.

Dean was reacting to news that the Minister Clyde Jackman will verbally brief Minister Gail Shea later this week on the status of the work by the three working groups involved in the MOU process.  Jackman publicly committed in early June to an update for the minister by July 11^th .

“The fact the minister has stated he will offer no specifics, but rather a mere overview of the work is far from encouraging,” says Dean. “We are past the one-year anniversary mark of this process and by now, I would have hoped that there would have been far greater progress than this.”

Dean also points out that the minister’s statements of the need for changes in the fishery and that the harvesting and processing sectors are not viable are also less than insightful. “These are basic bits of information we knew when this process started. I have no doubt that the committees are working hard, and perhaps they do have a more comprehensive report than the minister is disclosing, but his comments are not at all reassuring.    

“I was also intrigued by the minister’s comments that there has to be a consensus amongst stakeholders on the type and direction of fishery restructuring.  We have been a calling for a community voice in this process, and yet the minister has not filled this gap; nor is there a voice at the MOU table for other industry participants including the federal government or scientists.