[Sust-mar] Praise Queen Victoria for our right to fish

[Christopher Majka]

Hi folks,

Are you an angler? Perhaps take part in the commercial fishery?  
Perhaps an aboriginal fisher? If so you may be interested in the  
following story:

	Praise Queen Victoria for our right to fish
	http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Praise+Queen+Victoria+right+fish/6669043/story.html

Our right to catch fish goes back to 1215 AD and the Magna Carta. The  
public fishery is one of England’s great legacies to the English- 
speaking people of the world. Magna Carta is why, unlike forests,  
minerals and land, the people of Canada own the fishery, not the  
government. Why is this suddenly of interest? Hidden inside the Harper  
Conservatives' budget bill are changes that will terminate the  
public's right to fish. As Phil Eidsvik, a commercial fisherman and  
former executive director of the British Columbia Fisheries Survival  
Coalition, writes:

"If the budget bill becomes law, the fisheries minister will be able  
to take fish from the public fishery and give it to his friends  
through so-called fishery agreements. The budget bill even lets the  
minister finance his department with the people's fish. Crafty use of  
fishery management agreements may even close certain waters to anyone  
but the friends of the minister."

If you're concerned, read this article -- and then contact your Member  
of Parliament.

Best wishes,

Chris


Christopher Majka
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 2G5
c.majka at ns.sympatico.ca

"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Winston Churchill