Turbot quota allocation process fair, says Nunavut board
The Nunavut Wildlife Management Board is defending the way it divides the turbot fishery quota following complaints from the Arctic Fishery Alliance that its request for extra quota was turned down for no good reason.
Michael D'Eca, legal counsel for the board, said the NWMB uses a solid policy to make recommendations.
"We bend over backwards to have an open and transparent process, a process where decisions are made in a transparent manner,” he said. “Justification is required for all NWMB decisions."
The wildlife management board adopted an allocation policy for commercial marine fisheries in 2007.
It established a committee of five people to make recommendations.
D'Eca said the people who study requests from companies are impartial and fair.
"Demand exceeds supply in the fishery adjacent to Nunavut, so more often than not applicants can be disappointed because they don't get as much allocation as they applied for," he said.
D’Eca said if anybody disagrees with the board's recommendations, they can try to go directly to the federal fisheries minister, who makes the ultimate decision on quotas.
