It’s time for PEIFA to grow up

‘Will fishermen assume their traditional role of bitching and complaining, and doing little else?’

General speaking, lobster fishermen fishing the spring season on the Island had a “pretty good year.” While catches were down from last year in some harbours on the north side and on the southeast coast, prices ranging from $6.50 to $8 a pound made up for it.

There wouldn’t be many boats that grossed less than $100,000 and there’d be a good many that grossed well over $200,000.

Improved transportation systems have made it possible to develop markets for live lobsters in China and other parts of Southeast Asia, and this is driving the demand for Canadian lobsters.

The positive part of increased demand is the higher prices that it brings, but it also could bring increased pressure on the resource, and that would mean increased responsibility on both those who exploit the resource, and those who manage The Meddler it.

Each lobster boat is a small business, but collectively Island lobster fishermen are big business, adding more than $200 million to the GDP of the province.

Are the 1.200-1.300 members of the P.E.I. Fishermen’s Association prepared to accept their part in sustaining this valuable resource, or will they assume their traditional role of bitching and complaining, and doing little else?

Recently the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) decided to gradually increase the minimum legal size for lobsters caught in District 25. Scientific and anecdotal evidence suggests that following an increase in the carapace size, catch sizes also increase. There seems to be general acceptance of this change. However, no one was surprised when PEIFA opposed the measure.

“Being forced to fish bigger carapace lobsters will be the downfall for the fall lobster fishermen,” Craig Avery, president of PEIFA, recently told The Western Graphic.

Mr. Avery, and others who want the smaller sized lobsters, claim there’s a strong demand for them. But, one wonders, if there’s such a demand for ‘canners’, why is the price for them almost always 50 cents a pound less than the market size.

The PEIFA was also critical of the provincial government for not taking a strong enough stand against the measure ‘imposed’ by the DFO. For Mr. Avery this was just another example of why there should be a separate ministry of fisheries, instead of it being part of the department of agriculture and fisheries.

The problem is, Mr. Avery and his colleagues can’t see the ocean for the waves. They need to do a little more thinking outside ‘the trap.’

The federal government is responsible for all aspects of the fishery and the fishing industry. Only the processing plants are outside the DFO, and most of these fall under the jurisdiction of the federal department of health and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Why do Mr. Avery and his colleagues get all worked up over a provincial minister who has little or no influence on their industry or their lives?

Under the Fisheries Organization Support Program the province is already funding the PEIFA, why not ask for enough money so that the fishermen could run their own show.

Instead of asking for a minister, PEIFA should suggest the province get out of running fishery programs and pay the PEIFA to operate them. The organization should also make sure there’s enough money for it to hire competent people to properly lobby the DFO, instead of expecting the province to do it for them.

The DFO could then deal directly with the PEIFA without having to play footsies with a provincial minister and provincial bureaucrats who don’t really have any power or influence.

Of course, before any government would entertain such a proposal, and before the organization could possibly attract the talent needed to make it a success, the PEIFA, especially its executive, but, also its members, would have to take a much more serious and professional approach to their own organization.