WHEREAS Canada through its Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has failed its obligation under the Newfoundland Act to protect and encourage NL fisheries, and to ensure its long-term sustainability. Since the 1992 moratorium, we have lost 72,000 people and over 20,000 jobs;

 

WHEREAS harvesting of our marine environment resources is our basic public right, fundamental to the social, cultural and economic development of our province and our heritage;

 

WHEREAS the MOU process is inadequate to address the barriers of our fishing industry for a sustainable future, our rural communities, rights, culture, and economic development. Urgent action is required to prevent the fishing industry and rural Newfoundland and Labrador from dying;

 

Whereupon the undersigned, your Petitioners, humbly pray and call upon the House of Assembly to request the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador government to enact legislation for a Sustainable Fisheries Act to:

 

1) Protect our fish stocks and ensure the privilege to harvest fish is granted first and foremost to residents for the providence of their families and their communities;

2) Officially recognize the important historic, social, cultural, and economic significance of the ground fisheries to communities and residents of our province;

3) Create a Citizens Council on Fisheries, representative of local and relevant stakeholders focused on sustainable fisheries and coastal communities of Newfoundland and Labrador.

4) Adopt the adjacency rights for historical coastal areas with the exclusive right within, and preferential rights outside of the 12-mile limit, including the 3-mile above high water mark for the purposes of traditional fishing;

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