Our province is continuing to help groundfish fishermen. That is a problem that we have been trying to solve since 1993; it is a long process. Clearly, the decisions that were announced this week caught us a bit off guard. For a few years now, we have been working with people at home to create a rationalization program, a reintegration program. The simple solution would be a licence buy-back program.
However, there are businesses and contractors and fishermen that are important to the communities and that could continue to contribute to the fishing sector. We would like to find a way to incorporate those interests. Allocations vary depending on the type of fish and access clusters. We try to put them together to have a process that allows businesses to be profitable, all the while knowing that the various species have a tendency to fluctuate differently. We have not succeeded in finding a solution that allows businesses to move forward and to look to the future.
Before the end of the season, it was pretty negligible. Now that the cod is disappearing, it will be quite a challenge. The only licence buy-back would take away people who are important to our industry. We want to find a way to establish viable business plans with accommodations. There are other people, other sectors trying to change the situation. The question is, can we put them together?