Regarding provincial Fisheries Minister Gerry Byrne’s attack on the Atlantic Salmon Federation ("ASF is swimming against the tide,") I have to say I am also “not from here.” I mean that if I am narrow-minded, it is in a different way to the way he is.
However, I do have a position on the right-to-retention when it comes to salmon fishing. I believe that we should not retain any at present. We cannot say for sure that retaining none would save our wild salmon, but the science shows we need to do all we can, so it might help.
Mr. Byrne successfully moved from the federal to the local political scene and knows which side his bread is buttered on, so his emphasis is understandable. Thinking locally is ecologically, usually, a strength, but in this case, it’s a baited pit with steep and slippery sides, and there is not a lot at the bottom.
Joan Scott
St. John’s
