GUEST EDITORIAL

Thus far there's been just one fisheries minister with the guts to put the theory to the test.
In 1997, John Efford opened the door to allow crab landed in this province to be bought by buyers from other parts of Atlantic Canada, and shipped out to their plants for processing.
It was Efford's way of ending a stalemate that was developing in that year's crab fishery - with fishermen complaining of being strangled by low prices and processors saying they couldn't pay what their Atlantic Canadian counterparts were paying.
In that particular season, the difference between what Newfoundland fishers were getting per pound of crab and what Nova Scotia fishers were getting, was as high as 50 cents.
On a total quota of 100,000 pounds of catch, the difference was significant.
In June of that year, Efford decided to temporarily lift the restrictions on the export of unprocessed crab from the province.
For 30 days, fishers who had been unable to reach a deal with Newfoundland processors were able to sell their catch to Nova Scotia buyers, and get the Nova Scotia price.
Back then, as now, there was great debate about the wisdom of Efford's decision.
The Opposition Progressive Conservatives fretted about the loss of jobs in fish plants if local catches were shipped out.
Current day fisheries ministers - members of the Conservative government - have been using that argument over the past several years to justify the closed-shop policy for sales of shellfish.
Fishers are hemmed in by a regulation that stymies competition and forces them to settle for whatever the provincial processors are willing to pay.
Prior to his move last week to another portfolio, fisheries minister Tom Hedderson said he was unwilling to lift the export restriction and see work leave the province.
"To open it up could be more devastating than it is right now," Hedderson told the Northern Pen. He was responding to the challenge posed by Ren Genge of Anchor Point. The owner of the dragger B and B Mariner, said the survival of the inshore fleet hinged on the ability of fishers to get the best price, through open competition, for their catch.
Hedderson contended the challenges in this year's fishery - and the low prices for shrimp and crab - had a lot to do with the downturn in the economy.
"So my response to anyone asking for change right now is let's make sure it's not just a knee-jerk reaction to the detriment of the industry."
Hedderson was wrong in thinking this was a knee-jerk, spur-of-the-moment thought.
The frustration of fishermen was long-standing and led to Efford's 1997 decision, not only to drop the export restriction but to add eight crab licenses to the mix.
His intent was to ensure healthy competition.
The frustration of fishers continues today.
In the world of better communications, and mass media like the Internet to keep them in tune with fish markets on a daily basis, they still see their peers in other provinces collecting more revenue on a boatload of crab and other fish.
Besides, Hedderson's theory is wrong.
John Efford proved it in 1997.
Because, in the end, despite the predictions of the naysayers and the Opposition, not a lot of crab went out of the province.
Faced with new competition for the catch, processors in this province were quickly able to match the Nova Scotia prices.
Eliminating the export restriction will not necessarily mean truckloads of raw material heading across the Gulf.
What it will do, though, is ensure competition and fair prices for the harvesters, as well as more stability for plant workers.
Because if fishers here can't get a price that matches at least what other Atlantic Canadian fishers are getting, there is a chance - as happened this year in the shrimp fishery this year - they might not be able to fish at all.
And nobody prospers under that scenario.

Barbara Dean-Simmons
The Packet
editor@thepacket.ca