Canada and France have reached a deal to try to end a long-simmering dispute over halibut fishing on Canada's Atlantic coast.
In exchange for a three per cent share of the Canadian quota, French fishing vessels will fish outside Canadian waters and agree to have their catch monitored.
Sylvie Lapointe, president of the Atlantic Groundfish Council, a group that represents owners of fishing vessels larger than 30 metres in the Atlantic region, called it a "reasonable" and "long-overdue" agreement.
"It's a fair agreement but it's taken us a long time to get here, so it's good to actually have a conclusion to the negotiations," said Lapointe, who noted talks started in 2016. "Of course, we always would want a lower percentage, but these are negotiations and compromises have to take place."
