P. E. I. Fisheries Minister Ron MacKinley says the Maritime Lobster Panel’s report is a good step.
AMHERST, N. S. — Prince Edward Island’s minister of fisheries is applauding the findings of a threeperson panel hired to come up with suggestions on fixing the Maritimes’ beleaguered lobster fishery.
“It’s a good report but it’s going to be up to the fishers to decide what they want to do,” Ron MacKinley said after the panel released a report containing 33 recommendations on avoiding a repeat of last spring when lobster fishermen across the region took their boats off the waters for several days to protest low lobster prices.
“The handwriting is on the wall. We had two bad years and $ 3 a pound is not economical for the second most important industry we have in the province.”
MacKinley said the Prince Edward Island government and he as minister will do what has to be done to co- operate with both the fishermen themselves and the processors.
“If we have to change legislation for it, we will,” he said.
The three- person panel’s review took place at the same time as a study by former Island auditor general Colin Younker. MacKinley said Younker’s report has been completed and he is reviewing its findings before making it public.
“The review is done, but I can’t release it until Wednesday. It’s pretty similar to this ( review) but it was done by our former auditor and is a little more in depth in that he looked at the processors’ books for the last five years and their profits and losses and he looked at the buyers in what the fishers were paid,” the minister said.