Southwest Nova Scotia fishing costs

Canada’s fisheries minister says licences have become “over-valued” and he wants to do something about it.

During a speech in Chester, Dominic LeBlanc said he’s interested in making the licensing process fairer and called on industry members to help him find a way.

He said that fishing licenses have become over-valued in recent years, especially in southwest Nova Scotia.

In some cases, licences can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, with the only way around paying that cost usually being the ability for someone to transfer the licence to another person, such as a family member.

LeBlanc added that those high upfront costs are excluding some people from the industry.