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Percy Barrett, Opposition Critic for Environment and
Conservation and MHA for the District of Bellevue, says he is disgusted with
the way the federal government is mismanaging the fishery off our coast and
is questioning the lack of involvement by the provincial government. "The
federal government is unreasonable about giving the people of this province
an opportunity to pursue a food fishery, yet they are unwilling to deal with
the serious problems involving foreign fishing fleets off our coast," said
Barrett.
The Liberal MHA says he is also angry because of the lack of research
which is being done into fish stocks off our coast. "It is quite obvious
when you hear the officials from the federal government speak that they
don’t have sufficient knowledge to make the decisions they are making.
"It is like the federal government has walked away from their
responsibility to manage this resource and what is even more amazing is that
we have heard so little from the provincial government on this matter. Since
coming to power two years ago they have done next to nothing on this issue.
"I want to know where the provincial Ministers of Environment &
Conservation and Fisheries & Aquaculture are in this whole situation. What
are their positions on the food fishery? What representation has been made
to the federal government on this issue? What are their reactions to the
information being released by Greenpeace? What role do they see for the
provincial government in dealing with problems in the fishery? These
ministers are developing a reputation for hiding from controversial issues,
but should not be allow to hide from this serious issue."
The Liberal MHA says it is somewhat ironic that one of the few sources of
information on what is happening offshore is Greenpeace. "To be quite honest
I don’t trust Greenpeace and their antics in relation to the seal hunt in
past years has soured my view of the organization. It is ironic that a group
we have grown to hate are doing more to bring attention to foreign
overfishing off our coast than our own government. There is something
seriously wrong with that."
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