Derek Butler opened his address to the Rotary Club of St. John’s weekly luncheon by noting the recent political upheaval in the Middle East, before wryly noting, “I’m optimistic that we will see substantial political reform and change in the Middle East, sadly, perhaps, before we’ll see it in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery.”

The fishery is broken, Butler told the crowd, citing a litany of fights over pricing and quotas, occupied government offices — including the recent occupation of DFO offices in Corner Brook — and $700,000 spent on a memorandum of understanding that Butler called “dead on arrival.”

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