Lobster levy still not a done deal says fisheries minister

Nova Scotia's fisheries minister is clarifying a statement he made about a proposed lobster marketing levy.

Keith Colwell said Thursday that buyers on the southwestern shore have agreed to pay a fee, although the structure and amount is yet to be determined.

But in a news release issued Friday, Colwell says there is still no consensus on the establishment of the fee.

Colwell says more discussions about the levy are needed.

The P.E.I. Fishermen's Association is optimistic the one cent per pound levy will go ahead as planned in that province.

The money will be used for marketing and Island fishermen voted in favour of the levy last fall.

The executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association, Ian MacPherson, says last fall everything was falling into place and only cabinet approval was needed, but then the provincial election was called.

MacPherson says the Island levy can go ahead regardless of what happens in the other Maritime provinces.