Haddock for Canso?
Council cautious despite high-powered New Glasgow meeting
"If there's something out there that can be harvested without destroying the resource then we're willing to look at that immediately."
- Loyola Hearn
GUYSBOROUGH - A haddock quota for Canso and other Atlantic Canadian fish plants that could be granted as early as this fall was the central topic of discussion at a high-powered private meeting in New Glasgow last week.
The meeting - between Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, MP Peter MacKay, Guysborough-Sheet Harbour MLA and Provincial Fisheries Minister Ronnie Chisholm, Seafreez Foods owner and Newfoundland fish baron Bill Barry, the Canso Trawlermen's Association and others - was held on Tuesday, August 22 and ran for more than two hours.
The Journal understands that Barry, who flew in from Newfoundland to attend the meeting, tabled a proposal that asked for a haddock quota for Canso and other Barry Group-owned plants.
The gathering in New Glasgow was discussed at Monday night's regular monthly council meeting in Canso. While no members of the council attended the New Glasgow meeting, Canso mayor Ray White and other councillors warned against any premature celebrations.
"It's very difficult to comment apart from generalizing…but none of us would want to get our hopes up," White said.
He added, however, that the council hoped the "decision makers" would "make a favourable decision" in the near future.
Former Seafreez employee Judy Smith - who did not attend the New Glasgow meeting but is considered an expert in the Canso fishery - was invited by council to comment about the prospect of a haddock quota.
"There's only 17 people this year who have their hours at Seafreez so whatever's coming better come fast," she said.
The Journal interviewed Hearn and MacKay in Antigonish the morning after the meeting. Both men described the meeting as "very positive" but neither gave any guarantees that a haddock quota for Canso was a done deal.
"We spent two-and-a-half hours looking at possibilities, about the history of the plant, about the resource in the area - what's there, what's being caught, not being caught, potential resources that we haven't tapped," Hearn said.
The minister added that the time had come to "maybe sometimes take a chance."
"We're not going to know what's out there unless we look," Hearn said. "Can we find resource for Canso? There's not a lot around, as everybody knows. What is around is pretty well-tapped…however I think we waste a lot of resource in the way we catch it and handle it right now…and the other thing is there is probably still resource that's untapped and we have to identify that and see if we can use it for places like Canso."
Hearn said Barry made a "general presentation" at the meeting and tabled "a couple of requests about things he'd like to do."
"We are more than willing to look closely at his requests in light of the information we might have and if Barry or anyone else has some idea that can help enhance opportunities for the people involved…we are more than willing to look at it," Hearn said.
"If it's at all possible or viable we're open to that."
The Journal asked Hearn when a Canso quota would come into effect if Barry's proposal was approved.
"If there are possibilities…we will look at those things sooner rather than later," he said. "Time's a wasting and the stock is diminishing. If there's something out there that can be harvested without destroying the resource then we're willing to look at that immediately. It's not something we'll be looking at five years from now."
MacKay, meanwhile, said he was "very encouraged" by the meeting.
"We were able to bring the best people together to deal with these issues…I've been seized with some of the challenges of Canso from the day I was elected," MacKay said.
"I could almost feel the spirit of Pat Fougere in the room, who for so many years on behalf of the trawlermen and all of the people of Canso was such a compelling voice for the region, for his community. Having people there (at the meeting)…from the Trawlermen's Association, Captain Fred Gurney was there, we had (Seafreez plant manager) Kaye Ryan, who (both) know intimately the importance of access to the resource. Bill Barry put forward a very compelling argument to allow for access to an untapped resource.
"Minister Hearn was very gracious and agreed to look into the possibility of giving access to a haddock quota, which…based on the practical knowledge of fishermen appears to be there. The bottom line is that people need hope and they need to feel that their voice is heard and that an opportunity might arise. We're going to give that opportunity if it's there."
MacKay described the decline in the Atlantic Canadian fishery and the overall out-migration problem as a "tragedy."
"It's not particular to any one town or community, it's unfortunately an epidemic that we've dealt with for several generations in the region," he said.
Hearn said the time had come for Atlantic Canada to present a "unified" voice on the fishery and that Ottawa-centric "one-size-fits-all" solutions wouldn't work.
"We talked about the need to have an entirely different look, different approach to the fishery generally if we're going to have a fishery in the future and have one where those involved have a direct interest, have some say - a little more local involvement. Too many times we have a one-size-fits-all solution made in Ottawa, or even made provincially.
"We need to get more value with what we have left. We have to catch it at the right time, in the right manner, bring it to the processing facilities in good condition at a time where they can handle it properly.
"That's not rocket science, that's just common sense."
The Journal was unable to contact Chisholm for comment on Tuesday afternoon.
