Chaired by Ken McDonald, the Commons Committee heard hour upon hour of testimony during the near one month period of January 30th to February 20th of this year, exploring many of the issues that have been raised in the past related to the West Coast fishery and the need to improve conditions for those who make their living from it.
We made note of some of the work of the committee back in February, highlighting the contributions of some of the participants from the North Coast industry in the proceedings at the time.
With the review now complete and the report delivered, the recommendations seem to have captured some of the spirit and frustration that was found from the testimony during that period.
Among the 20 recommendations, a number of important elements for those from the North Coast who participated have made it onto the final list.
The call to address concerns related to transferable fishing quotas is addressed as part of Recommendation Two, with a call that no future sales of quotas be delivered to non-Canadian fishers.
Towards the theme of quota licence concentration, Tasha Sutcliffe, a Vice President with ecotrust Canada made note of the labyrinth of listings that make for the listings of quota holders, making it hard to determine the level of concentration.
Back-end trust agreements and other mechanisms that hide the true beneficial ownership. There are multiple subsidiaries of listed companies that are nearly impossible to link up, and there are fishermen attached to licences and quota who have no real ownership and certainly are not getting the value of those assets.
When it comes to a review of some of the licensing arrangements, one recommendation of the report includes a request that DFO permit the separation of stacked or "married" licences for sale be divested to facilitate existing harvesters and new entrants in the industry to become owner-operators
Another recommendation, number four, observes on the transparency of quota licence ownership and transactions and brought a call for an easily accessible and readable public data base be created to identify buyer, seller and the sale/leasing prices.
A key item of note for the Prince Rupert area has been the call for a level playing field between the way DFO approaches the East and West Coast fisheries and Recommendation Six explored that long standing concern, with the commentary of UFAWU-CAW leader Joy Thorkelon making for an important portion of the narrative to that recommendation.
"Our fishermen's earnings are trending down while the FFAW (Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union of Newfoundland and Labrador) fishermen's' incomes are increasing. Part of that difference is the added costs our fishermen bear. Some 80% of the landed value in ITQ fisheries is taken out of the B.C. Fishermen's pockets; that income remains in the pockets of our brother and sister fish harvesters on the East Coast. A community difference is also evident: BC, rural coastal communities' processing capacity is diminishing, while in Atlantic Canada, significant processing capacity resides in rural areas"
That commentary served to help form the terms of Recommendation Number Six, that to develop a comparative analysis of the East and West coast fisheries in regard to regulations, taking the view of devising a policy that would level the playing field for Independent British Columbia fishers.
The list of recommendations also include a call for DFO to take on discussions with the Province of British Columbia to explore the establishment of a model for a loan board to support harvesters' intent on purchasing licences and/or quota to maintain or modernize existing vessels or purchase new ones.
The report also makes note of of the need for DFO and the Province to develop strategies to expand value added fish processing for adjacent coastal communities.
A review of some of the International models for the fishery brought a contribution from the North Coast's, Des Nobels, who made note of the principles in place in Alaska.
[Alaska has a] very strict owner-operator principle and fleet separation with a real mind to community-based fisheries management structures that involve communities and fishermen locally. This very strong stewardship component is driven by that, as well as by the fishers who live in those regions. They have a real feeling for the fish and for the place and they understand it. You don't see that in absentee landlords in the ITQ structures, for the most part.
Recommendations to deliver a more equitable split in representation on advisory boards, develop new policies through engagement with stakeholders are also found among the twenty recommendations.
The current level of engagement with the fishery on the West Coast was another key moment of testimony from Joy Thorkelson who made note of need for improvement in the DFO approach.
“DFO Pacific is consulting with fewer and fewer active fishermen. They consult with quota owners and licence-holders, who increasingly do not fish.”
As well, the transition strategies should take account of the recommendations, needs, rights and capacities of First Nations and the framework for reconciliation.
The Conclusion to the 54 page report makes note of the challenges, highlights some of the failures of DFO Policy and notes that the "status quo" is not economically and socially sustainable, calling on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to facilitate, foster and implement grassroots initiatives for change , noting that a "made in British Columbia" approach is required.
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| The Conclusion to the Commons Standing Committee on the West Coast Fishery report (click to enlarge) |
The Committee has requested that the government provide for a comprehensive response to their report no later than June 15th of this year.
The full report and the twenty recommendations can be explored in detail here.
For more items of note related to the North Coast fishery see our archive page here.
To return to the most recent blog posting of the day, click here.
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