P.E.I. lobster fishermen to vote on marketing board
Vote will coincide with lobster levy vote
P.E.I. lobster fishermen voting next month on whether to introduce a marketing levy on their catches will also vote on whether to create a marketing board.
The board would be necessary to make the levy mandatory.
"Under the Natural Products Act, to be able to collect a mandatory levy you would need to have a marketing board in place," said Ian MacPherson, executive director of the P.E.I. Fishermen's Association.
A vote for a one-cent-a-pound levy to improve marketing and hopefully raise the end price was already planned. The idea is the money would go to the Lobster Council of Canada, which is based in Halifax.
MacPherson said the idea of a local marketing board isn't a move away from that plan.
"There would be direction to the board on where to allocate those funds, so it could be allocated to other things, but it doesn't mean that the full amount wouldn't be going to the [Lobster Council of Canada]," he said.
MacPherson said the vote is planned for the week of Oct. 13, after fall lobster fishing ends.