Fishermen walked out of a meeting in Halifax with Transport Canada officials yesterday frustrated with a lack of answers by the bureaucrats.
Ian MacPherson, general manager of the PEI Fishermen’s Association, told CBC fishermen have been requesting, for more than a year, a comprehensive and timely plan to help the industry comply with the new Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations.
Representatives from 15 fishing groups met with government officials yesterday but a lot of their questions went unanswered. They asked if some of the new equipment could be phased in because it costs thousands of dollars a boat. MacPherson also says there’s a lot of grey area in how the new regulations will be interpreted.