Please find below a comment that was left on Sue's Blog - Post Ask What we can do for our Fishery..
I hope we are on the cusp of fighting for our culture, heritage, economy, and future generations. The truth is we have no choice.
Comment from Dr. Earle
Randy's comment immediately after I hung up the phone was that 'it will be interesting to know what will be in the MOU when it's information is released.' Completely putting the issue back, for the listener, where it has been, on the wrong track.
This remark from him after I spent 5 minutes explaining that the MOU addresses the tip of the ice berg of our fisheries problems and its basic philosophy accepts all that has been , and is being done, wrong to the resource. (By Ottawa and the Industry).
We all know, because of this, that we have lost 100,000 of our coastal people and 30,000 fisheries jobs, gutting the beautiful unspoiled places where our spirit is rooted.
And how does Jackman respond to these facts? By saying the so called hard decisions that we will have to face with the downsizing of a successful MOU will be placed on the ordinary people of rural NL!
This from some one we elected to represent us in our government indicates he has no spine to stand against the Industry nor to be a leader of our sea people. (What ever hardships we may have to adjust to in future in our fishery should never be further on our fishers and coastal people...it has to be adsorbed by the Union and ASP.)
All this was expressed to Randy, but as soon as my air time ended he acted as if nothing I said meant anything, it didn't dent his authoritative mantra, because he thinks he knows more then anyone else and what got past that didn't pass his arrogant political ego.
Randy is not alone however in this omnipotency, it pervades nearly all our so called leaders and elected heads. Nearly all of them think power and voice emanate from themselves instead of the truth, that it comes from the people.
We have been bullied out of much of our resources since our federation in 49 in one way and another by 'outsiders', the worst of them being Ottawa.
No bullying however has been as devastating as the one in our fishery, because it has destroyed our culture, our homes and families...a tragedy.
The people who have allowed this to happen are as guilty and responsible as are the ones who have done it. They are barbarians.
But they will never dent the passion that is in my heart to do what is right for, and fight for, this marvelous, beautiful, sacred place and our people.
dr earle
4 comments:
Dr. Earle's frustration is palpable ,and I can really empathize with him .
Simms and Jackman would be the first to declare their love for this province and it's people , but ,only on their terms and how that applies to the status quo .
That should read its people .
I think Simms likes to play little games , he rarely commits , he likes to ask "what do you think", thus generating more calls .
The "quantity" of calls appear more important than the "quality" .
I think Simms is there to entertain, not offer any substantive dialogue .
Simms response to ‘Ask what we can do for our fishery! Dr. Earle says...’.
I find it interesting that you hold such a negative view of my alleged position regarding fisheries. I think I should clarify.
(1) I totally agree that we have not done enough fisheries science to determine what really happened to the cod. Overfishing is certainly one of the major causes but after 18 years of our not fishing the stocks in any true commercial way and no real recovery being documented means something else must be at work.
(2) There has been no real effort at trying to help stocks recover and that includes allowing foreign fishing to continue off the nose and tail of the grand banks. I think both of the men you mention in your e/mail, Gus Etchegary and Dr. Phil Earle would agree with that. This kind of fishing should be stopped.
(3) There is no denying the truth contained in the statement, "Where there is no fish, there is no fishery". I don't know how anyone could challenge it. Sadly that means people will have to look for alternate employment in other areas and in other industries. This is not a matter of opinion but one of fact. No one has to be happy about that and I am not, though your comments imply that I am taking some kind of pleasure from it.
(4) Whether we like it or not, in order for the industry to be successful it must match up with the resources available and the demand within the market place. The current MOU exercise is supposed to outline a path to achieving that. I have no idea what it contains and the delays in releasing it are disconcerting, but one assumes it will mean taking people out of the industry. If anything is implemented it has to include some form of pension (compensation) for older workers forced to retire because of the current reality. I have proposed that if Ottawa is not willing to help we should do it ourselves while we have the money to make it happen.
(5) My view then is of a smaller industry today, which is viable for all of those working in it, with the development of a concrete plan to grow stocks and with it grow the industry of tomorrow. This would make the industry more attractive to our youth, none of whom relish a life of constant dependence on government cheques, which may or may not appear from year to year. I have never said there is no place for young people in the industry, but I have observed that young people are not attracted to it. The average age of plant workers seems to bear that out.
(6) If the estimates are right we have about 30 years of oil wealth to depend on. We should use it to develop an equally profitable fishing industry. By the way, I feel the same way about other renewable resources as well. Energy and agriculture being two of the areas in need of additional investment.
If my view is myopic I take comfort from knowing I am not alone and many of the people who work inside the industry today would and do agree with the approaches I have articulated.
Thanks for your thoughts and yes I am learning a lot about the fishery.
Randy
Randy writes in (1) "Overfishing is certainly one of the major causes but after 18 years [...] something else must be at work.”
There are other factors that are not permitting the return of the cod, e.g., predation by 10 million seal population, foreign freezer ships (6) under Canadian flags of convenience fishing inside our 200 mile limit, but the destruction of our migrating stocks on the N&T of the banks by NAFO has been out of controlled since the moratorium. The figures on their fishing are undocumented, or hidden by the fed gov , but when some knowledge of foreign fishing has been obtained stocks have been over fished by more then 100% - 200%.
Thousands of tons of fish taken illegally, yearly, by NAFO fleets (beyond the quota limits that scientists have recommended) is the dagger in the heart of our fisheries recovery. What kind of reasoning does Mr Simms have when in the same sentence he comments that ... ”Over fishing is certainly one of the major causes....”, only to follow this by , “something else must be at work”?
This reasoning is paced by a political-industry ego, one that sequesters, not admitting the fishery has failed to the public because it counters the wishes of the Industry.
In (4) Mr Simms verify’s this ..quote, “....in order for the industry to be successful it must match up with the resources available ....”. Industry (union /ASP), matching up to the resources available is a philosophy which means take what you can while it’s there before its all gone. But this is the very attitude which precludes the industry being successful, one that has helped it’s present state of affairs. For the Industry to be successful, the renewable resource must be healthy and sustainable, and the Industry must do all it can to protect and help restore the stocks and then process it with need, not greed.
Mr Simms does not recognize that our fishing heritage is being destroyed because people are not allowed to fish, and fish are not being restored by our leaders.
Every thing he says addresses events of the fisheries failure and not one insight on any of there causes! Foreigners, and seals, are destroying NL’s fishery, our Industry is allowing it to be run into oblivion and gov's have no will to make the necessary changes in policies that is needed to save it.
Mr Simms takes the same position of gov's & Industry have taken in the present MOU (Mummernundrum of Uncertainty), restructure and down size, shut down more jobs and communities. The MOU is about money for the well to do, and to hell with the resource itself and the helpless coastal people.
There’s nothing in the MOU to indicate that the authorities are backing us coastal people, they are instead riding our backs into the ground.
Mr Simms is not responsible for the fisheries, but his comments expressed here and on his talk show, are in line with those of the leaders of our fishery, that have allowed our fishery to be destroyed. Randy should not be the scape goat here for what has happen to our fishery. He openly expresses himself in a way, which many in NL painfully know is not what has happen to the fishery, what should be done to fix it, and what it really means to our coastal seafaring people.
I think it must be understood that people who’s lives are not directly involved in the fishery cannot understand it fully and we should not be surprised that they do not say the right thing. To this point it is the fishers and coastal people (and others in our province who understand the real situation and value of our heritage) who are trying to hang on to our culture and coastal way of life.
We in NL must persevere in this....we must lead the way for others, show them that our oceans bounty is a treasure that must be protected and returned to us.... because it is the source of the undaunted spirit and magnificent coastal way of life of our people of the sea.
Dr Phil Earle
Post a Comment