Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach Joins Calls to Limit Foreign Ownership of Commercial Fishing Licenses on West Coast

A pair of NDP MPs are calling for Ottawa to end the transfer of commercial fishing licenses in Pacific waters to foreign owners.

Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Taylor Bachrach and Fisheries critic Lisa Marie Barron made the request, echoing a petition which closed last week.

Launched by the United Fisherman and Allied Workers’ Union, the petition calls for a ban on the transfer of licenses and quotas to foreign owners.

Canada does not currently limit the foreign ownership of commercial licenses and quotas, nor does it track citizenship when they change hands.

According to the Union and the MPs, this displaces Canadian operations, damaging their economic viability, and domestic food security.

Bachrach and Barron have now penned a letter to Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray, making the same demands as the petition.

They say that doing so will also help protect wild salmon and the communities that rely on them.