By Kellah Lavoie

Extension of agreement leaves Northern Saskatchewan fishing for answers

Mar 22, 2011 | 6:18 AM

A one-year extension of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Agreement (FFMA) has people wondering what will come next.

The agreement was originally supposed to end on Apr. 1, but after stakeholders – fishermen, MLA’s and those in the industry – approached the government asking for more time, the government decided to extend it until Apr. 1, 2012.

Ken Cheveldayoff, minister of First Nations and Métis Relations with the provincial government, said this will give the market an additional year to prepare before the government steps aside.

“This decision will provide fishers and existing businesses in the sector more time to explore new partnerships and value-adding opportunities that will be possible in the future,” he said.

Now, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC) will continue to buy all the fish that comes out of lakes from commercial fishermen for the next year.

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The Saskatchewan Co-operative Fisheries Ltd. (SCFL) is not sure what their next step will be.

Lennard Morin, SCFL board member, said they were hoping the provincial government was going to assist them in building a new fish plant in Prince Albert. They asked the government for $2 million for the project, and in turn would opt out of the FFMA.

He said so far, there is no money coming.

“They could have just destroyed the fishing industry for the fishermen,” Morin said.

It is something Buckley Belanger, MLA for Athabasca, agrees with.

“When they say we are getting rid of FFMA … there was no corresponding commitment towards that processing plant in Prince Albert. So what they, in essence, done, was they said, ‘Ok there is no fish plant money, but we’re getting rid of FFMA,’” he said, adding he will know the government’s agenda when the budget comes out later this week.

He said if they do not have any money set aside for the commercial fishermen, the government would be “leaving them out in the cold.”

Cheveldayoff said funding a new plant was never in the plans.

“The government has been very clear that we will not invest in a new fish processing plant in Saskatchewan, it will be up to them to approach the private sector to do that,” he said.

It’s something Morin is not looking forward to. It would cause the SCFL to lose power.

“If we look at outside investors, than the SCFL board, they would not have the majority of board members at the table, maybe they would have two or three board members, so the majority would be from the outside of the SCFL and that would be the investors themselves,” he said.

Belanger said the marking is important to Northern Saskatchewan. One fisherman can have three or four helpers – it ends up being a paycheque for five families. The rest of community also benefits through sales and fish buyers.

He said it is an $8.5 million industry for the province and that “getting rid of the FFMA was always contingent on getting a fish processing plant.”

“At least we have a year to figure things out and we don’t have to throw everybody out, in limbo,” he said, explaining all the fishermen want to do is fish and get the top dollar for what they reel in.

The SCFL is meeting Tuesday to decide what to do next.

klavoie@panow.com