Owner-Operator Policy Legal Challenge Withdrawn

A legal challenge to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans owner-operator policy could have set a legal precedent that would threaten the future of the independent inshore fishery, some in the industry believed. The owner-operator policy was enacted to ensure that ownership of inshore fishing vessels remained in the hands of inshore fishermen, not corporate entities. The case, which was scheduled to be heard Feb. 28, involved Kirby Elson, a Labrador snow crab fisherman and the federal ...