Canadian Government Offering to Buy Back Commercial Fishing Licenses
Fisheries and Oceans Canada has put out notice of $123 million earmarked to buy back Pacific salmon commercial fishing licenses from harvesters who want out of the industry. The effort would also help protect dwindling stocks of the fish.
The funds are part of a nearly $650 million Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative announced by the government agency last year. The Canadian Press news agency reported in mid-December that 1,300 licenses would be eligible to participate in a deal that would purchase the licenses at market rate, then remove them from circulation.
While there is no way to know how many license owners will participate, the federal agency’s goal is to substantially reduce the size of the fleet. DFO plans multiple rounds of commercial license retirement, with the first round ...