Jennifer Rice brings Fishery notes from weekend conference to Legislature discussion

North Coast MLA Jennifer had a few comments to the Legislature
on Monday, speaking to themes related to the Fishing industry in BC

North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice provided a snapshot of a Friday conference on fishing issues back to the Legislature for Monday morning, speaking to some of the themes that made for the Community Fishery conference in Vancouver.

The discussion on the day was motion of support for the Agriculture Industry and for her contribution Ms. Rice praised the work of Agriculture Minister Lana Popham who also has responsibility over fishery issues in the province.

Ms. Rice recounted the impact that the recent budget will bring to the Agriculture industry as BC looks to support Agriculture through a range of commitments and programs, she also reviewed the impact of last years Wildfire season on the agriculture industry and what measures the province and federal government have taken.

On Fishery, she noted that her constituency is one which has a strong attachment to fishing and aquaculture and how the province is lagging behind Alaska and the Canadian Maritimes when it comes to taking advantage of the landed value or financial benefits of the industry in B.C.

"Commercial fishing, or fishing and shell fish aquaculture and aquaculture is a huge part of the economy for my constituents, but we're lagging behind compared to our Alaska neighbours to the North and to the maritimes to the east when it comes to generating or capturing the actual landed value, or the financial benefit of a robust fishing industry" -- North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice speaking on fishery themes in the Legislature on Monday

Quickly running out of her allotted time to speak, she managed to highlight for the Legislature that the British Columbia industry is one which at the moment is catching less fish, and getting less value.

You can review the text of her comments from the Legislature Hansard starting shortly after 11AM

The video of her comments of Monday morning can be found below:




For more items of note related to the BC Fishery see our archive page here.


A look at the work of the North Coast MLA in Victoria is available here, while a larger overview of the BC political scene can be found on our political blog D'Arcy McGee.


Cross posted from the North Coast Review