Tough decisions looming on fisheries

Mere hours after sweeping into a majority government, Kathy Dunderdale said Wednesday she is prepared to crack down on one of the most difficult — and sensitive — issues in Newfoundland and Labrador: overcapacity in the fishery.

"I think the time has come when we really have to wrestle with the tough issues, particularly with the fishery," Dunderdale said in an interview with CBC News.

Structural problems in the fishery — namely, too many people chasing too few fish, and enough processing capacity in the province to more than handle the world's crab catch several times over — have been identified for years.

However, no meaningful action has yet been taken.

Dunderdale suggested Wednesday that government is preparing to move, and is prepared for the flack that will inevitably fly.

"We have overcapacity. We have structural problems in the fishery. Everybody is more than aware and have been for a very long time what the issues are," she said.

"The solutions are not easy [to] come by, and when they are arrived at, they're usually difficult."

Dunderdale said any solution will require the involvement of different levels of government, union officials, fishermen and processing companies, although she said vested interests need to be set aside.

"To get all of those parties at the table, focused, agendas set to one side, to do what's right and important for this industry has been difficult and elusive," she said.

"But I think the time has come in our history where we can't afford that indulgence anymore. We need to sit together and find solutions that work."