Feds' FPI offer worth consideration: Rideout

Newfoundland and Labrador's fisheries minister says the province is willing accept something less than full ownership of Fishery Products International's quotas.

Tom Rideout says he cannot disclose details of a new federal offer that could end a standoff over the future of St. John's-based FPI, which has reached tentative deals to sell its Newfoundland-based assets.

"[But] if we weren't prepared to consider something else, we wouldn't be talking," Rideout told CBC News.

"We'd have the line drawn in the sand and that would be the end of it."

Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said Monday that he also cannot discuss the proposal, but said the offer is being taken very seriously.

Sources said that under this latest proposal which Ottawa brought forward last Tuesday FPI's groundfish quotas would become the property of a new holding company set up by Ocean Choice International, one of the purchasing companies, and the provincial government.

Ocean Choice is seeking to buy five plants and an offloading facility, as well as FPI's lucrative offshore shrimp and scallop quotas.

Nova Scotia's High Liner Foods has a tentative deal to buy a secondary processing plant and FPI's profitable U.S. marketing division.

Sources tell CBC News that proposal sets new conditions. For example, Ocean Choice would not be allowed to do any groundfish processing at sea, and would have to land all of its groundfish in Newfoundland and process it at local fish plants.

That condition is something that Ocean Choice, which had agreed to Newfoundland and Labrador's demand to control groundfish quotas, has already promised to do.

The conditions of any forthcoming deal would be enforced by a panel that consists of representatives of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, Ocean Choice and the federal and provincial governments.

If Ocean Choice breaks any of those conditions, the federal fisheries minister could decide to trigger a non-compliance clause.

If that happens, Ocean Choice could lose control of the holding company that owns the quotas, something that would give the provincial government say over who would catch and process those quotas.

That authority could last for up to two years or until the federal minister transfers those quotas to another company.

The Newfoundland and Labrador government had insisted on controlling the quotas for the security of communities that depend on FPI's operations.

The proposal is designed to give the provincial government a greater level of comfort over what could happen to FPI's quotas. At the same time, the proposal keeps direct ownership in the hands of private industry and does not limit Ottawa's authority.