Mr. Speaker, the gulf crab fishery is made up of both traditional and new entrants alike.
In recent years, former groundfish-dependent fleets were allowed entry into area 12, but when the minister announced the 63% reductions in quota this year, rather than cutting the newer entrants first, a policy known as last in, first out, all shared the cuts proportionately and all shared the remaining quota, regardless of when they entered the fishery.
Will the minister confirm that she will be consistent and apply this same decision to northern shrimp, should quota reductions occur in that fishery?