House of Assembly
Newfoundland and Labrador

Petition  
Presented May 10, 2011
To reinstate the regional processing restriction ("the cap") in order
to preserve the principle of adjacency for shrimp processing

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MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for the District of The Straits & White Bay North.

MR. DEAN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is a privilege to be able to stand again this afternoon and present a petition in the House of Assembly. I will read the petition into the record.

To the hon. House of Assembly of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Parliament assembled. The petition of the undersigned residents humbly sheweth:

WHEREAS the shrimp industry is in crisis for both harvesters and processors; and

WHEREAS previously there was protection for Gulf shrimp plants and plant workers through a regional processing restriction mechanism ("the cap") which prevented landed shrimp from being trucked for processing beyond the region where it was landed;

WHEREUPON the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to urge government to reinstate the regional processing restriction ("the cap") in order to preserve the principle of adjacency for shrimp processing and to ensure that employment opportunities are protected for plant workers and the overall viability of communities in the region.

And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever humbly pray.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased this afternoon to be able to stand and present this petition on behalf of the people of the Northern Peninsula, particularly those who fish from the Gulf shrimp part of that region. Mr. Speaker, as we know, in the past week there have been protests that have taken place. There have been interruptions of traffic movement along the Viking Trail. We know there are others planned, not that we are advocating that, but in frustration it is their only means of really expressing their concern and so on.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the minister talked about the shrimp that is shipped on to the Northern Peninsula. I would suggest the tally would be far more coming off than what is going on. My concern is not as much about where it is going but my concern is about the plants that are there and the workers who depend on this fishery. There is nowhere else for them to look.

Mr. Speaker, if we do not have a viable fishery in the coastal communities of Newfoundland and Labrador, then certainly the challenge will be tremendous. I use the example of Black Duck Cove, whose annual production of shrimp has gone from 16 million, to 12 million, and to 8 million last year. Mr. Speaker, we all know that in a business at some point or another, it just is not viable to open your doors anymore. I am sure if you have lost production by upwards of 50 per cent over a two-year period, at some point or another you must be reaching that line.

Mr. Speaker, that is the only reason that I stand today, is because it is a very pressing issue and it is one that people have collected signatures from along the Northern Peninsula. Mr. Speaker, I would urge this government today to do whatever is within its power to see that this crisis is somehow settled, that there is a resolution, and in this particular case, as the petition is asking for, that this government reinstate the cap that was there. It is a cap that worked for a number of years. It is one that was removed by this government for whatever reason, it does not really matter, but it is one that protected the product that was being landed in a particular region of this Province. Mr. Speaker, I would ask today that government reinstate the same as requested by those on the petition.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

 
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