Fishermen walked out of a meeting with Transport Canada officials yesterday frustrated with a lack of answers by the bureaucrats.
Ian MacPherson, the general manager of the PEI Fishermen’s Association; told the CBC fishermen have been requesting for more than a year, for a comprehensive and timely plan to help the industry comply with the new Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations. Representatives from 15 fishing groups, representing 20,000 fish harvesters 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 $3,000 to $6,000 a boat. MacPherson also says there’s a lot of grey area in how the new regulations will be interpreted.