Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has told commercial fishermen in British Columbia that the salmon fleet must be cut in half.
He has put a gun to their heads, announcing an $80 million licence buy back program which fishermen must opt for prior to the end of June 1996.
What the minister has failed to do is set allocations guaranteeing salmon fishermen a set share of the resource. Fishermen are expected to make lifelong decisions with virtually no notice and no knowledge of what future allocations will be. The minister continues to reallocate the resource through aboriginal treaties without being forthright and admitting as much.
It is small wonder commercial fishermen in British Columbia are telling the minister his plan is totally unacceptable. The government must set allocation rules in advance of a buy back, not after the fact.