Tories to protect offshore fish stocks: Harper
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 6, 2005 | 2:10 PM ET
CBC News
Harper said the Conservative party supports custodial management, which would see the federal government extend its jurisdiction over parts of the Grand Banks that lie outside Canada's 200-mile limit.
The governing Liberals also support custodial management, but have had little success in persuading other countries to come on side.
The so-called nose and tail of the Grand Banks, as well as the Flemish Cap, continue to attract trawlers from other countries. Canada contends that international fishing quotas are routinely ignored, despite obviously dwindling stocks.
Stephen Harper (CP photo)
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"It is not just our responsibility to the fishermen of this country," Harper said. "It is our responsibility to the planet to ensure that these resources are managed and regulated and used responsibly, not raped the way they're being now."
Using the fishing village of Petty Harbour as a backdrop, Harper said the Conservatives would make custodial management happen during their first term in office.
"My hope would be that once we start to move in this direction the international community will come to the table and resolve the issue," he said. "It is a reasonable time frame."
Harper echoed what has been the practice of past administrations: seeking a solution through international diplomacy.
Harper said, however, that he is prepared to back up the pledge with other resources, although he was cautious when asked if he would dispatch gunboats to the Grand Banks.
"We will have enforcement authorities. They don't have to be gunboats, per se," he said.
"The important thing is, we have got to convince the international community we're serious, because to this point they aren't doing the job and they don't seem convinced that we're going to do anything about it."
The provinces would have an increased role in fisheries with the Conservatives in power, Harper said.
Meanwhile, Harper reiterated a Conservative pledge to allow fishermen a tax break, by scrapping a capital gains tax on the transfer of fishing assets – including licences – within a family.
In 2004, the Conservatives won two of Newfoundland and Labrador's seven seats, both of them in St. John's.
