Neil LeClair says he is extremely frustrated by what he calls 'the unilateral decision made by federal departments with no advance consultation or planning', reports CBC News.
"It's unprecedented. We've never seen this before," said Mr LeClair. "In my opinion, they'd better have a really good reason to back it up when they did this to the industry on such short notice. There better be some really good reasoning behind it."
Environment Canada instituted a temporary maritime-wide ban on shellfish harvesting on 31 August over concerns about run-off from heavy rain over the past two weeks.
Mr LeClair said shellfish harvesting areas have never closed in the past because of run-off concerns.
He told CBC News that it is unacceptable that the ban was imposed without discussions involving provincial governments and the industry.
Shellfish Ban Frustrates PEI Fisheries Minister
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, CANADA - P.E.I.'s minister of fisheries and aquaculture is voicing concern over the ban on harvesting maritime shellfish.
