Gail Shea still pushing 'imperative' lobster levy in Nova Scotia

Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea is continuing to promote the idea of a Maritime-wide lobster levy, even though momentum in Nova Scotia appears to have stalled.

"I can't change how people react in that area," Shea said Monday at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax.

She was referring to a unanimous vote of lobster buyers from southwestern Nova Scotia last month rejecting the Maritime wide levy.

The levy proposal would raise millions to promote a generic Canadian-branded lobster by charging one cent per pound from fishermen and one cent from buyers.

Shea says she met recently with the industry and Nova Scotia fisheries Minister Keith Colwell and the issue is implementation.

The provincial government is holding meetings across Nova Scotia to discuss the levy. But after the Feb. 18 rejection vote in Yarmouth, Keith Colwell waffled on the levysaying he isn't wedded to the idea of a one cent per pound deduction.

Shea is undeterred.

With lobster catches and prices both uniformly good this year now is the time to proceed she says.

"With the new trade agreements there are new markets opening up around the world and we need to get into those markets and it is imperative that this industry does have this levy and markets Canadian lobster," she said.

With Nova Scotia waffling, it's not clear how the levy would work.

Shea said Monday that making the deduction a condition of a lobster licence would be complicated but did not rule out the idea.