Province Unhooks From Fish Marketing Agency

Province Unhooks From Fish Marketing Agency

Tuesday, August 04, 2009 at 12:56

 

 

Saskatchewan commercial fishers can now move ahead with plans to build their own fish plant.

 

For years, they have been lobbying the provincial government to opt out of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation.

 

The provincial government has now signed a letter stating just that, says Lennard Morin, president of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Fisheries Limited.

 

“This is definitely good news for the fishermen in the province. I mean, we now have a letter, in writing, signed by a cabinet minister, saying they’re withdrawing from the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. That’s what the fishermen have been waiting for for years and years,” Morin says.

 

Morin says his organization’s next step is to work on their proposal to build a fish plant in Prince Albert.

 

He hopes to have a tender out by next spring, and the plant operational by fall 2010.

 

He says this would save fishers money because they will not have to transport their catch out of province.

 

The transport time can increase the chance of spoilage.