Publications

Creating New Wealth from the Sea Vol. II

Creating New Wealth from the Sea

Policy alternatives for an economically and socially sustainable Canadian fishery

Volume II, March 1997

Introduction

The fishing industry has been in the news a lot of late and the news hasn't been good. The disastrous collapse of Atlantic groundfish stocks and the wild fluctuations in key salmon runs on the West Coast have brought massive unemployment, government bailouts, and frightening visions of ecological catastrophe. The media often depicts the fisheries as a ``basket case,'' an industry with too many people, too few resources, and a management system that doesn't work.

Most damaging of all is the claim that the fishing industry as a whole is so badly structured and so mis-managed that its net contribution to the Canadian economy is negative. In other words, Canada would be better off with no fishery at all!

It's time to set the record straight.

The fishing industry is a vibrant , dynamic and vital contributor to the Canadian economy. Far from being a drain on the public purse and an economic backwater, the fishing industry is on the cutting edge of Canada's export-oriented economy.

In fact, in the midst of crisis the Canadian fishing industry has been growing. By developing new products, by opening up new markets, by innovating and diversifying, the fishing industry has demonstrated its resilience in the face of hard times.

Above all, the fishing industry has shown that it is a source of renewable wealth for the people of Canada. As professional fish harvesters we want to bring to Canadians our views on how this wealth should be nurtured, managed and shared.

Ours are not the views of the big fishing companies and vested corporate interests. We speak for people who earn their living on the water and who understand the true economic, social and ecological value of the fishing industry.

As professional fish harvesters we share a strong commitment to building an economically viable and ecologically sustainable fishery, and we want to promote workable alternatives for the management of our industry over the long-term.Such ideas grossly misrepresent the reality of the fisheries today. Professional fish harvesters want Canadians to consider other views on the economic value and social significance of the fishing industry. We have a strong commitment to building an economically viable and ecologically sustainable fishery, and we want to promote workable alternatives for the management of our industry over the long-term.

In this report we present the ideas and aspirations of professional fish harvesters in Canada. It is our decisions every day on the water that determine how well fish stocks are managed and what their economic and social value will be, now and in future.

We feel it's time we were listened to.

François Poulin
President

Part I

The fisheries in the 1990's

"Mention the words ‘Canada' and ‘fish' in the same sentence, and many people immediately come up with a third word: ‘crisis'. Canada, goes the logic, is out of fish.

Well, logic itself can be something of a slippery fish. Consider this: Last year, Canada exported some C$2.8 billion worth of seafood. That's not only a 12% increase over 1993, but an all-time record. Not bad for a country that has no fish."

-Canada at the crossroads, Seafood Leader, May/June 1995, pp 36-37

Separating fact from fiction

The popular image of our fisheries is that of a permanent national disaster.

The tragic groundfish moratorium on the Atlantic coast, and the wild fluctuations in key Pacific salmon runs, have created the impression that Canada's fisheries are in perpetual crisis. The country's right wing think-tanks and large offshore fish companies have even gone so far as to say that the fisheries are now more of a fiscal drain on the country than anything else.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Not only did Canada set a record for fisheries exports in 1994 it beat this record again it 1995 when fisheries exports broke the $3 billion for the first time in history!

Contrary to public perception, the fishery did not collapse in the early 1990's with the groundfish moratorium. Quite the opposite. Although the landed value of the Atlantic fishery dipped slightly after the moratorium it recovered to a record $1.12 billion in 1994, an all time high. In 1995 landings reached an even higher $1.32 billion. (see Exhibit 1).

Although the British Columbia commercial fisheries did extremely well in 1994 they did very poorly in 1995 and 1996 because of particularly low cyclical returns of key salmon runs. However, the combined value of landings for commercial fisheries on both coasts reached $1.70 billion in 1994, four percent higher than the previous record year of 1987. On the strength of the Atlantic fishery this record setting trend continued in 1995 with $1.72 billion in landed value. (see Exhibit 1)

While the landed value of the Pacific fisheries dropped sharply in 1995 because of poor salmon runs, the Atlantic fishery continued to set new records largely on the strength of the landed value for snow crab and other shellfish.

Snow crab and other shellfish lead the way

The increasing volume and value of shellfish is the main reason why the landed value and exports of Canada's commercial fisheries are setting records despite the collapse of the Atlantic groundfish fishery and the low returns of key B.C. salmon runs.

The landed value of Atlantic shellfish rose from about $500 million in 1989 to $1.11 billion in 1994 and stayed at this level again in 1995. This increase in landed value more than offset the losses from groundfish and also cushioned the drop in BC salmon landings beginning in 1995.

The primary reason for the increase was a surge in both the value and volume of Atlantic snow crab landings. Snow crab landed value went from about $109 million in 1993 to $270 million in 1994, and then to $413 million in 1995!

A wide range of other Atlantic shellfish species also experienced significant increases in landed values from 1993 to 1995:

lobster landed value jumped by $98 million
shrimp landed value increased by $56 million;
a host of other species, including clams, sea urchins and other crab, also increased their landed value dramatically in 1994 and again in 1995.

It wasn't all good news

This optimistic portrayal of the fisheries should not obscure the impact which the decline in the groundfish industry in Atlantic Canada and the precipitous drops in B.C. salmon landings have had on both individuals and whole communities.

According to the British Colombia Job Protection Commission's report on the BC salmon fishery:

"The projected commercial catch in 1995 and 1996 combined is the lowest two-year catch since the late 1950s. Fleet revenues in 1996 will be an estimated $103 million, up slightly from $85 million in 1995. However, revenues will be less than half the average earnings from the early 1990s and, even more striking only about one-third of average (inflation adjusted) fleet earnings during the 1970s and 1980s."

- Fishing for answers, Coastal Communities and the BC Salmon Fishery. (September, 1996)

In Atlantic Canada the 1992 groundfish moratorium devastated many groundfish dependent communities that had relied on this fishery for hundreds of years and the impact of the moratorium was most severe in Newfoundland.

When the value of groundfish landings in Atlantic Canada peaked in 1987 at about $515 million, Newfoundland accounted for $215 million, or about 42% of the total. Two years after the moratorium, groundfish landings in Atlantic Canada fell to about $117 million. But Newfoundland's share dropped by 93% to roughly $14 million. By comparison, Nova Scotia's share of landed value from groundfish declined by about 60% to $93 million during the same period.

The decline of fisheries processing in Atlantic Canada

While the overall landed value of the Atlantic fishery continued to improve in the 1990s the increases did not necessarily accrue to communities and individuals previously involved in the groundfishery. This is mainly due to the loss of value added production from the processing of groundfish.

Simply put shellfish require less processing than groundfish and, consequently, provide less employment and other related economic spin-offs. The "degree of value added" for groundfish (i.e., the Processing Only to Landed Value ratio), in fact, was almost three times that for shellfish during the 1989-1994 period.

The statistics speak for themselves.

The processing value of the Atlantic fisheries, excluding the value of landings, dropped by 17% from about $1.2 billion in 1989 to just under $1 billion in 1992 (see Exhibit #2). Processing recovered to just over $1 billion in 1993 but projections indicate that it may have dropped to $840 million in 1994. If this is borne out, the value of fisheries processing in the Atlantic provinces in 1994 will have declined by about $360 million, or 30%, from the 1989 level. Once again, the majority of the decline in processing value added and the resulting employment and spin-offs was experienced in Newfoundland. Employment in the fish products industry in Newfoundland plummeted from 10,000 jobs in 1989 to 4,800 jobs in 1993, a drop of 53%. Over the same period wages and salaries fell from $188 million to $95 million, a decline of 49%. The value of groundfish landings and processing continued to fall in Newfoundland in 1994 underscoring the devastation that the moratorium has had on the island's economy.

While the value of landings rebounded from the loss of groundfish thanks to strong shellfish prices, the value of processing continued to slip and, in 1994, was projected to be surpassed by the landed value of the Atlantic fishery (see Exhibit #3).

The Pacific Fishery

The value of processing in British Columbia did not follow the same trends as the Atlantic fishery. B.C. processing value declined somewhat in 1991 and 1992 but recovered strongly in 1993 and 1994. The value of B.C. processing hit $478 million in 1994, just 2% less than the record level of $489 million achieved in 1989.

The strong performance of processing value in the B.C. fishery had a positive effect on the total value of the Pacific fishery. After falling from roughly $930 million in 1989 to $740 million in 1991 and it increased steadily to over $1 billion in 1994. (see Exhibit #4)

Since the groundfish moratorium in Atlantic Canada the processing value of the fishery has been dropping largely because the high value shellfish species that are generating record landed values require less processing than groundfish.

While the value of landings in the Atlantic fishery has rebounded from the loss of groundfish - thanks to strong shellfish prices - the value of processing has slipped. In 1989 the Landed Value of the Atlantic Fishery was 21% less than the value added by the Processing sector, each sector was virtually even in 1992 and for the first time the landed value exceeded the Processing value in 1994.

Click chart for enlarged view

The strong performance of the processing sector had a positive effect on the total value of the Pacific fishery up until 1994. After falling from roughly $930 million in 1989 to $740 million in 1991 the total value of the Pacific fishery increased steadily to over $1 billion in 1994.

Part II

Canada in the new global fisheries market

The most remarkable aspect of the fishing industry during the 1990's is that, despite the ups and downs of specific fisheries, the total value of the fishery remained highly stable at around $3 billion (see Exhibit #5). This fact runs counter to the commonly held perception of a fishery in deep crisis.

This success is because the Canadian fishery is in the midst of extraordinary change. Over the last few years we have been witnessing an historic shift: the emergence of our industry as a major player in the new global fisheries market place. Over the space of a very few years globalization has brought dramatic changes in the diversification of the our fisheries. Change in terms of the number of species harvested, the products produced, and where and how these are marketed. These changes are the main reasons why the overall value of Canadian fisheries has remained stable despite steep downturns in some major species.

Species Diversification

The number of species harvested has increased dramatically in the last number of years. Until the 1980's, Canada produced large volumes of relatively few species. Cod dominated the value of offshore production on the Atlantic coast while lobsters accounted for much of the value of the inshore fishery and canned salmon accounted for the greatest portion of the Pacific fishery's value until the late 1970's.

This situation shifted radically in the 1990's. Species such as snow crab and shrimp now make major contributions to the value of fisheries although they were only of minor importance ten years ago. Other species such as sea urchins and surf clams, that were not commercially exploited until recently, have emerged as important contributors to the value of fisheries. A large number of species such as tuna and herring fished for roe now contribute significantly to the value of inshore fisheries in the Atlantic provinces.

Atlantic Canadian fishers and processors are also actively developing fisheries for at least nine other species that were not fished commercially in the past: sea urchins, sharks, monkfish, silver hake, skate, lumpfish, offshore clams, dogfish, rockweed, silversides, whelks, fucesellia, eels, spider crabs, rock crabs, red crabs, toad crabs and Jonah crabs.

Despite the ups and downs of specific fisheries the combined overall value of Pacific and Atlantic commercial fisheries remained highly stable from 1989 to 1994 at around $3 billion.

Seafood Leader magazine gives an example of how previously marginal species like clams, shrimp and skate have added new vitality to the Canadian fisheries.

"Five years ago there was virtually no fishery in Newfoundland for Stimpson's surf clams. Last year, though, that fishery produced more than C$25 million worth of exports, due to a successful promotion in Japan for the clam's foot (hokkigai), now a staple in sushi bars."

"The little northern shrimp, Pandalus borealis, is also getting to be a pretty big deal. Newfoundland boats, dodging the icepack in the Davis Strait between Greenland and Labrador, now land more than 25,000 tons of shrimp a year compared to just 11,000 tons five years ago."

"Skate and monkfish also have considerable potential. ... More than 30 boats are now fishing skate for about six processors. If the market can be developed, skate catches off Newfoundland could range as high as 120,000 tons."

(Canada at the crossroads, Seafood Leader, May/June 1995, p.42)

Product Diversification

The number and variety of products produced from species harvested on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts has also increased dramatically. Herring roe, for instance, was unknown on the Atlantic Coast in the early 1980's but became an important component of the value of the Atlantic Coast in the late 1980's and 1990's.

Value enhancing products are now the focus of seafood processors who used to concentrate on producing relatively low valued products such as cod blocks and canned salmon. The skinless, boneless, exact weight portion products under development in the Pacific salmon and halibut fisheries are prime examples of this phenomenon.

Products produced from fisheries also extend beyond seafood. Fish and other marine organisms have become an important contributor to the emergence the bio-technology industry in Canada. Marine biotechnology research is focusing on extracting fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biologics and other valuable compounds from marine organisms such as fish, shellfish, crustaceans, seaweeds, micro algae and marine micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi.

Global Marketing

Processors on both coasts now acquire fish supplies from many countries and market products to every corner of the globe. Processors are emerging as global seafood traders with the contacts and market knowledge required succeed as major players in international seafood trade.

Some 20,000 tons of Russian cod and 25,000 tons of Headed and Gutted groundfish were imported, processed and re-exported by processors in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in 1994^.Data produced by Statistics Canada indicate that the value of fish imported into Atlantic Canada and re-exported to other countries in 1994 was $83 million. This was up from approximately $46 million in 1993 and $10 million in 1992.

This change of focus was described by the heads of two major fish processing companies in Atlantic Canada as follows.

"‘We've changed our corporate strategy from being vertically integrated to being a multi-dimensional seafood company,' says Vic Young (FPI)."

… "‘We're not a cod house anymore,' says Jerry Ward, president of Connors Bros. Inc., the Boston-based frozen division of the Canadian company. ‘We've diversified our supply base to not be totally dependent on Atlantic Canadian fish. You'll never survive handling just one species. Those days are over.'

In the process of diversifying, the company got out of processing altogether and focused on international marketing of a dozen or so eastern Canadian species, primarily cod, redfish, flounder, snow crab and shrimp."

(Seafood Business, November/December, 1993, pp.62, 64)

Improved Technology and Communications

Improved technology and communications, growth in international demand, and the increasing international experience of Canadian fishers and processors are some of the reasons for this fundamental shift for Canadian fisheries

The revolution in communications has opened up markets all over the globe. New avenues of communication are available and the cost of communicating and traveling across vast distances has decreased dramatically. As a result, Canadian producers and marketers are aware of demand for fish species and products in foreign markets and foreign buyers are aware of Canada's supplies of these species. Furthermore, the ability to conduct transactions between the Canadians and foreigners has risen dramatically in recent years as the cost of completing these transactions has plummeted.

Advances in information technology are not the only reason for the expansion of Canadian products into distant markets. Technological change related to processing, freezing, cold storage and transportation has increased the ability of Canadian industry to supply high valued products to foreign markets cheaply and in a timely manner. High valued frozen, fresh and even live products are now supplied to foreign markets in all parts of the world.

Growth in Seafood Demand by Foreign Markets in Developing and Developed Countries

Per capita consumption of seafood in many emerging markets is very high compared to that in North America and Europe. In the past, the Canadian fishing industry was either unaware of foreign market potential or unable to provide products required in a timely, cost-effective way. The ability of consumers in foreign countries to pay for imported seafood was limited as well.

All of these factors have changed dramatically in recent years. While consumers in many developing countries still can't pay for imported seafood, rapid development in some key fish eating nations, notably in Asia, has greatly increased the purchasing power of consumers for imported seafood products. An interesting feature of the demand for seafood in these markets is that the greatest demand often exists for species that are not consumed in North America or Europe. Species which had little or no value prior to the emergence of these markets suddenly have become extremely valuable.

The earliest and most dramatic example of this phenomenon is the emergence of Japan as a major market for Canadian seafood. Japanese demand for products such as sockeye salmon, snow crab, herring roe and sea urchins has resulted in these products becoming major contributors to the value of fisheries.

The Knowledge and Contacts of Canadian Fishers and Processors

Canadian fishers and processors were able to take advantage of the emergence of these new markets because the export focus of our industry maximized the exposure of the Canadian industry to foreign markets. The opening up of the Japanese market, first to the Pacific industry and then to that on the Atlantic Coast, was the leading edge of the current revolution in fish production and marketing in Canada. The experience with Japan familiarized Canadians with the demands and exacting specifications of foreign markets. The increase in international sophistication and the contacts acquired through dealing with the Japanese catapulted Canadian producers into the global arena. Canadian fishers and processors became aware of the tremendous demand for unfamiliar and exotic species and products. The Canadian industry also became aware that many of these species were abundant in our waters but were not fished due to a lack of markets.

The Significance of Globalization for Fisheries

The globalization of the fishing industry in Canada began in earnest in the 1980's and accelerated in the 1990's. In the long run it will likely overshadow the declines and collapses in catches of individual species. The trauma, dislocation and financial pain resulting the collapse of the cod fishery has been severe and should never be minimized. Likewise, the downturn in salmon catches in the Pacific Region is a serious blow to fishing communities all along the coast. Nonetheless, the globalization of fisheries has enabled the Canadian fishery to maintain its overall value in the face of the largest decline in catches in Canadian history.

"Globalization of the fisheries may ultimately prove to be the most profoundly significant and constructive consequence of the groundfish crisis in Atlantic Canada. ... Responding to a groundfish crisis unequaled in its history, Atlantic Canada has found opportunities in aquaculture, value-added processing, underutilized species, global sourcing and in down-sizing toward greater efficiency."

(Seafood Business, Nov/Dec 1993 VOL. 12 No. 7, p. 74)

The continued success of the Canadian industry in the global market place of the 1990's and the future of many coastal communities critically depends on its ability to identify new markets and deliver high quality products in a timely and cost-effective manner. This in turn depends on knowledgeable and professional fishers and processors with the sophistication and skill required to compete effectively on a global scale. Technology driven globalization of fish production and marketing is acting as a development catalyst for rural communities on both coats of Canada. In an age when information technology and global marketing are primary determinants of economic development, the modern fishery is a driving force in the dissemination of technology and information to rural communities. The stimulus to development resulting from this phenomenon could extend beyond the fishery.

The profile of today's fish harvester is a far cry from the traditional image of the uneducated, part-time fisher living in an isolated community and surviving for a large part of the year on Unemployment Insurance. It is consistent, however, with the new breed of fisher that has emerged on both coasts. These individuals pursue their occupation on a full-time, professional basis. They are up to date on the latest technology and on events occurring in far flung corners of the world. This sophisticated group of business oriented individuals is leading their communities into an age of information and technology based development. Government policy, however, will be required to ensure that the benefits of globalization accrue these professional fishers and their coastal communities to the maximum degree possible.

Part III

Fisheries Management - The Harvester's Perspective

The Management System in Crisis

Despite the fact that Canada's commercial fisheries continue to generate record levels of wealth the fisheries management system, built up since Canada extended its fisheries jurisdiction to 200 nautical miles in 1977, has failed in its basic mandate to conserve the stocks and to achieve optimal levels of employment. On the West coast the DFO has been unrelenting in its push to reduce the small-boat salmon fleet in the face of wildly fluctuating salmon returns, and on the East coast virtually the entire groundfish industry is shut down and some 40,000 people are out of work. At the same time the DFO is facing severe budget cuts and is being asked to do a much better job with much less resources. These combined crises -- stock collapses and budget cuts -- demand a fundamental rethinking of the structure of the DFO, its mandate and its relationships with industry. Proposals for basic changes in the Fisheries Act and in the structure and operations of the DFO are now being put forward by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. New rules are being set out to govern who will be allowed to own licences and go fishing, and important management responsibilities are being shifted to industry groups. Harvesters are being asked to carry an ever heavier share of the costs of managing their industry.

Given the scale and rapidity of these changes, it is important that Canadians have the opportunity to consider the views of fish harvesters about the future of the fishery. Whatever the management system, it is the fisher on the water who, in the final analysis, makes the decisions that most impact on the fish stocks and the fishing economy. No management regime will work unless fishers understand and support it, and that, in turn, requires that they have a significant say in its design and operations.

As professional fish harvesters we would like to put forward our thoughts on what needs to change so that we can correct the errors of the past and build a management system that works.

Top-down Structures

The existing system is very hierarchical, with overall policy determined at the top and fed down through the system. Local industry groups are consulted on policy and management issues, but the senior DFO managers at the Regional level and in Ottawa make all the decisions. There has been very little "transparency" in decision-making, with major policy initiatives often seeming to come from nowhere and without warning.

Political Influence

Final decisions on issues like quota allocations and licencing have often been made in the Minister's office after intense lobbying by processors, fishers and provincial governments. People in the industry are used to going the political route to protect their particular self-interests, rather than pursuing fair, open and rational decisions about what is best for the fish stocks and for the wider industry.

Reliance on Coercion

It is also part of the management culture to rely on threats and penalties to get fishers to conform to conservation rules. Because fishers are usually not part of the decision-making, and therefore feel little ownership over the management regime, their attitude is often one of wanting to beat whatever system is put in place. The system responds by trying to catch and punish them. There is insufficient effort to involve fishers in setting the rules so that it becomes in their own interests to cooperate with managers and with each other.

Three Solitudes - Fishers, Managers and Scientists

Canada has invested huge amounts of money and expertise in building up one of the most advanced fisheries science systems in the world. However, the system works in splendid isolation from fishers. As a consequence DFO scientists have not benefited from the specialized knowledge fishers have about different species, their life cycles and inter-relationships. Nor have fishers benefited from the technical skills of the scientists. As a result there is a history of mistrust and of indifference to each other's endeavors. Fisheries managers have failed to bring harvesters and scientists together to collaborate on improving the management system.

These few points give a general picture of fisheries management as something that is done to fishers, not by them or with them. Because the industry has been characterized by competition and conflict among different sectors and interest groups, fisheries managers have taken on roles as referees, police officers, arbitrators and final judges. Sometimes they act almost as colonial overlords, handing out benefits to an influential few and treating others with indifference.

The most important thing to say about this approach to management is that it has failed to fulfill the DFO's basic mandate for conservation and sustainability. Even if we wanted to maintain the existing system, we would have to face the reality that government is simply not willing to spend the amounts of money needed to manage the fishery from above, and to coerce everyone into obeying the rules.

Radically new approaches are therefore needed, and indeed, underpin the proposed changes to the Fisheries Act. In the following sections we will set out the views of professional fish harvesters on what that system should look like starting with the key policy issues.

The purpose of Canadian fisheries management

The first issue that must be clarified is why we manage our fisheries resources. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has recently set out a new and very simple statement of purpose for fisheries management in Canada:

To conserve Canada's fishery resources and to assure sustainable utilization.

While professional fish harvesters support the basic conservation and sustainable use objectives of the DFO we feel they ignore the critical socio-economic dimensions that must be part of a national fisheries policy. We must go further than conservation and sustainable use and emphasize the economic and social development potential of the fishery. We would add the two following objectives to give our fisheries management a sense of broader social purpose:

Optimal levels of employment and income generation within the limits of resource sustainability.
The support and continuing development of communities in coastal and inland fishing areas.

The following are the steps which fish harvesters across Canada believe will be required for our fisheries management system to achieve its purpose:

The rigourous protection and active renewal of currently endangered fish stocks;
The identification and implementation of sustainable harvesting approaches, erring always on the side of conservation;
The re-orientation of scientific research, fisheries regulations and harvesting practices towards the management of fish stocks on the basis of inter-species relationships and dependencies;
The encouragement of viable, self-sufficient, multi-species fishing enterprises owned and operated by professional fish harvesters;
The optimization of employment and income generation in the fisheries, within the limits of sustainable resource utilization.
The support and development of coastal and inland communities which rely on fishing activities.

An implementation strategy

Professional fish harvesters believe that the objectives described above should govern the overall fisheries management system in Canada. Successful implementation will require a strategy based on a number of specific changes in policies and management practices.

Industry Professionalisation and Effective Organization

The fish harvesting industry is characterized by very uneven levels of producer organization, and by very different types of organizations. Too many fishers are not actively involved in any professional groups, and too many of the existing organizations have no stable finances and no formal recognition by governments and other industry sectors.

The DFO is promoting new approaches to fisheries management that require harvesters to be represented by stable organizations with skilled and knowledgeable staff and sufficient resources to communicate with, and provide full services to, their members. If industry is to be expected to play a much greater role in policy formulation and day-to-day management, and if fishers are to be expected to pay much more heavily for management services, it is essential that every effort be made to professionalize the harvesting sector.

The initiative to set up a professionalization and certification program for fish harvesters was begun by fisher organizations in the early 1990s and has been driven and sustained by fisher leaders through the Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters ever since. On June 18, 1996, after extensive consultations at the community level, the government of Newfoundland became the first province to adopted legislation to certify professional fish harvesters. Considerable progress on professionalization is also being made in Québec, the Maritimes and British Columbia, as the country's major fisher organizations work to establish a national system of certification standards.

Provincial governments have a responsibility to support these organizational efforts, and to recognize and work with legitimate organizations where they exist, to put in place the legislative mechanisms for certification of organizations and industry-wide dues collection. Without a solid professional organizational base for fish harvesters plans for co-management and partnership or other initiatives that will transfer new responsibilities to fishers will simply not be feasible.

Effective income stabilization

By its very nature fish harvesting is a high risk occupation with sharp variations in income levels from season to season and from year to year. Professional harvesters are largely self-sufficient, and make positive contributions to local and regional economies. However, most are self-employed, and few generate sufficient revenues to purchase commercial income insurance or to sustain themselves through a lengthy downturn in catch levels. As in some other industries, there is a clear need for a broadly based income security program geared to the specific dynamics of the fish harvesting sector.

Professional fish harvesters support the principles and strategies for income stabilization, and specifically for the reform of the fisher's unemployment insurance system, that are put forward by the Task Force on Incomes and Adjustment in the Atlantic Fisheries (the "Cashin Task Force").

New Partnerships - Fishers and Scientists

Fish harvesters welcome the new interest among fisheries scientists in working with industry to develop better stock assessment methods and data collection. Fishers also look forward to expanded opportunities to learn about scientific theories and methods through specialized training activities and new publications designed for industry use. Fishers, however, are not prepared to accept a secondary role in science as inexpensive data technicians while the analysis of information and research strategies are decided by others. As professional fish harvesters we want to be full partners in the development of the scientifically managed fishery of the future.

True partnership between fisheries scientists and professional fish harvesters will require:

that formal structures be developed for on-going fish harvester participation in the setting of priorities for new research, the interpretation of scientific findings, and the formulation of scientific advice;
that new efforts are made to distribute scientific findings to fisher organizations and fishing communities through electronic bulletin boards, specialized reports and newsletters, and other media;
that fishers, through their professional organizations, are employed and trained as data gatherers and scientific observers.

Recognition of the Role of Women

Women have long been essential contributors to the fisheries as partners in their husbands' enterprises, often taking charge of book-keeping, finances and correspondence, and maintaining the home and family. In recent years, however, many women have been going to sea as crew members or as independent licence holders and vessel operators.

The Council feels that the important contributions of women as enterprise partners must be recognized, and that the changing roles of women in the fishery need to be taken into account more fully in the new management policies and processes. In particular, efforts must be made to expand the participation of women in fisher organizations.

Fairness in the Capacity Reduction Process

Fish harvesters recognize that there is over-capacity in some fleet sectors, and that the goal of long-term sustainability may require conversion of some vessels to different fisheries and different gear types. Harvesters believe, however, that they should not carry the entire financial burden for capacity reduction and conversion.

In most cases fishers invested in new vessels and gear because DFO management plans encouraged such investments. The federal government made licences and quotas available, and provincial governments gave out boat loans and dispensed processing and export licences. When these policies were based on serious over-estimates of available fish stocks, the owner-operator should not be left holding the bag alone.

Professional fish harvesters insist on the principle that responsibility for past management mistakes must be shared among all participants in the management system (even if most fishers have usually had little real say). They therefore look to governments for effective, ongoing support for fleet down-sizing and conversion programs.

Effective Adjustment for Fishers, their Families and Communities

The current groundfish shutdown, and the restructuring of the harvesting sector in B.C., mean that some fishers will not be part of the fishery of the future. There is therefore a need for effective adjustment programs to help such people find other sources of employment, and to cushion the shock of the loss of income following the fisheries closure.

The Council strongly supports the provision of income supports and adjustment programs for displaced fishers, including training, relocation assistance and community economic development. Such programs are essential if the fishery is to make the transition to greater economic viability and self-sufficiency.

Key Management Policies

Having identified goals and a strategy for rebuilding the fisheries management system, the following are the essential elements of a renewed policy framework for fisheries management:

Limited entry licencing

Professional harvesters support the limited entry licencing system and wish to see it extended to all commercially harvested species. Limited entry licencing is essential to the achievement of two core objectives in fisheries management:

stock conservation, through the limitation of fishing enterprises and harvesting effort;
the development of a professional fishery.

In fact, the design and operation of a professional harvesting sector depend upon a limited entry licencing system.

Adjacency and Historical Attachment

With the gradual reopening of the groundfish fishery there is potential for conflict and competition among individuals, fleet sectors and fishing communities. Similar issues will arise on the West coast as the salmon fishery first contracts and then eventually expands. As a basic policy, such conflicts should wherever possible be resolved through the application of principles of adjacency and historical attachment: i.e., the people/communities nearest to the particular fishery, and/or who have utilized the stock to the greatest extent, should have priority rights of access. Where there are multiple users, the division of the quota should again be according to historical catch levels.

Separation of Access and Technology Issues

As the groundfish and salmon fisheries are opened up again, there will also be renewed debates about the most appropriate harvesting technologies to achieve conservation and economic efficiency goals. Professional fish harvesters believe that access to reopened fisheries should be determined on the basis of historical utilization and adjacency, and not on the basis of gear types.

Gear impact issues should be resolved through scientific research and the analysis of the ecological benefits and costs of each harvesting method. The harvesters should be heavily involved in this work to ensure that they understand, trust and support the findings. If it is determined that certain gear types should not be used in a particular fishery in future, this should not affect the access rights of the fishers who previously used that gear type. If they have a right of access to new quotas based on adjacency and historical attachment, they should be able to go fishing, with approved gear types.

This policy should help to reduce conflicts over access, and promote conversion of vessels and gear to better fishing practices. Fishers who invested heavily in previous management policies would not be punished by the transition to a conservation-based management system.

Renewed viability for the multi-species fisher

The proliferation of species harvested in the Canadian fisheries has significant implications for the viability of multi-species fishers and for fisheries policy affecting the operation of their enterprises. Fishers now have the opportunity to catch a wide range of species at various times of the year. Whereas the previously narrow species market base dictated fishing as a part-time profession or encouraged specialization in the past, this reality is not relevant in the 1990's. Our fisheries are capable of sustaining full-time fishers if licensing and management policies that support and enhance the multi-species approach are enacted.

Professional fish harvesters also support the policy objective of diversification of fishing operations as part of the professionalization process. Harvesters with alternative fishing opportunities will be less dependent on the ups and downs of particular stocks, and better able to support conservation of each particular stock. Multiple species fishing will lengthen the fishing season and help the fisher to utilize more fully and efficiently their investments in vessels and gear.

While diversification will not work for all fishers and all fleet sectors, the Council supports this policy and will actively promote its widest possible application.

Fleet Separation based on Owner-Operators

The policy of fleet separation basically has to do with separating the ownership of fishing vessels from the ownership of fish processing and marketing facilities. On the East coast this policy has protected the independent owner-operator in the inshore and midshore sectors, much as certain policies in the agriculture industry protect the family farm. Fleet separation has limited the vertical integration of the fishery and has served to promote optimal employment levels and the survival of many smaller fishing communities.

On the West coast the fleet separation policy was largely ignored by the DFO particularly in the salmon fishery and an alarming concentration of harvesting capacity is now in the hands of two large processors.

On both coasts, some of the larger independent harvesters may now want to modify the fleet separation policy to accommodate their own investments in processing and marketing operations. Similarly, there are some inshore operators who want to link their licences to local processors to gain access to capital or to be treated more as regular employees. As well, there are some fisheries where the fleet separation policy is not in effect for particular historical reasons.

However, professional fish harvesters strongly support the policy of fleet separation and are determined to see it extended in the fishery of the future. We want to see strict conditions established for granting exceptions to the policy, and closer monitoring of relationships between processors and the fishers who depend upon them for sales of fish and for credit.

Partnerships and the Professional Fish Harvesters Organizations

As stated above, the Council believes that renewal of the fisheries management system requires stronger, more stable, and (in some areas) more broadly based professional organizations to represent fish harvesters in decision-making and program implementation. The DFO must therefore work with harvester organizations to establish clear and consistent criteria to define the types of organizations which can legitimately participate in fisheries management programs and processes.

The Council is very concerned about the potential for serious divisions within existing harvester organizations because of the DFO's seemingly arbitrary selection of fisher groups for partnership arrangements to manage particular fisheries. Such fisheries management agreements should either directly involve legitimate harvester organizations as partners, or should be developed in collaboration with, and with the approval of these organizations.

Failure to include legitimate fisher organizations in the development of such partnerships could seriously undermine the abilities of these organizations to carry out other important fisheries management roles and responsibilities.

Limits on Concentration of Ownership of Licences and Quotas

Some fishing fleets or sectors have adopted Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) management systems whereby individual quotas can be bought and sold among the participants. ITQ regimes mean that a few wealthy individuals could potentially buy up all the quota, leaving many fishers out of the industry, and many communities without local fleets and fish to process in local plants.

Similarly, the introduction of the DFO's Core Fishery and the restriction of licence transfers to members of the Core, may mean that the bigger operators will be able to buy up multiple licences by paying the biggest prices, leaving other individuals and communities without access to the fishery.

Fishers want to see restrictions on the licences or quota shares that can be bought up by individual participants. The DFO must work closely with the broad based professional fisher organizations in each region to develop policies and guidelines to limit concentration of ownership of licences and quota shares in particular fisheries.

The Fishery: A Public Resource and a National Industry

The Council urges Canadians to take an interest in the fishing industry and to support its continued management as a strategic public resource. Like forests and wildlife, fish are a renewable resource whose management and exploitation can be privatized to varying degrees, but which ultimately must remain in public hands to assure long-term conservation and protection.

No private organization, particularly those who are involved in the fishery for the purpose of making profits, should be vested with the final and permanent responsibility to manage such vulnerable natural resources. Access to fish resources can be given to private companies or industry groups, but always on a time-limited basis and always with the option for government to take back control if contractual obligations for conservation and proper management are not fulfilled. Moreover, government must monitor the fulfillment of such contractual requirements on an ongoing basis.

The Federal Government as the Primary Manager

On the Atlantic Coast, many fish stocks migrate though the coastal waters of up to five provinces, and are harvested by inshore, offshore, and sometimes foreign fleets. The management system has to manage these stocks as an interdependent bio-mass, and must coordinate and harmonize the activities of all harvesters, if widely shared goals of conservation and sustainability are to be achieved. As well, on both coasts there is competition with fishers from other nations that requires intervention by government at the highest levels.

In short, fish stocks are a national resource that require a national management system, one that is sufficiently flexible and decentralized to deal with local circumstances and to allow for local level participation by industry stakeholders. Under existing constitutional arrangements, professional fish harvesters support the continued role of the federal government as the ultimate protector and manager of fisheries resources. Fishers do not want to see these responsibilities privatized on a permanent basis, nor do they want to see the "Balkanization" of the fisheries through greatly expanded provincial control.

Sovereignty in the Coastal Zone

The fisheries are a strategic national industry. Many areas of Canada's vast coastline are populated solely because of the fishing industry. Without the fisheries there would be no-one there to assert national sovereignty and to provide surveillance over the marine environment.

Without a population base along the coasts, and developed fish harvesting capabilities, Canada would have difficulty maintaining its exclusive economic zone and its rights to manage and utilize all the resources in the zone. The International Law of the Sea specifies that if a coastal state chooses not to harvest its marine resources, or does not have the capacity to do so, other nations can lay claim to those resources. Without a developed domestic fishery and a competent fisheries management system, the costs of surveillance and enforcement in the EEZ will not be justified. We will return to the pre-1977 era when foreign fleets pillaged our ocean resources while coastal communities stood by, powerless to intervene.

Without a commitment by the national government to maintain a population base in the coastal zone, and to protect the national interest in the fishery, our hold over our territorial waters will weaken and our national sovereignty will be greatly diminished. Equally diminished will be our status in the world community as a protector and nurturer of the global marine environment.

The Way of Life in Fisheries Communities

Many of our First Nation fishing communities on both coasts were vital commercial and cultural centres long before European settlement. In Newfoundland, people have been living in outport communities since the 17th century. Around the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy there are numerous French-speaking communities that have retained their unique language and culture through the economic sustenance from the fisheries.

Just to say names like Lunenburg, Prince Rupert, Cap-aux-Meules, Gaspé, Louisbourg, the Fraser River, Bonavista, the Queen Charlottes, Grand Manan, Alert Bay, Nain, Shippagan, and Souris, is to evoke the role of the fisheries in the history of Canada, and the central place of the fisheries in the image of Canada around the world. Fishing regions are often places of great physical beauty and unique ecological value. The industry's social and economic infrastructure also support important tourist destinations such as museums, recreational fishing centres and natural parks.

Most importantly, the fishery supports a way of life that is unique and valuable in its own right. Fishing people are adapted to isolated and rugged environments, to long winters, fierce storms and dangerous seas. They have learned to live rich and satisfying lives in close knit communities, now reaching out to the wider world through the most advanced communications technologies.

The harvesters are, ultimately and inevitably, the guardians of coastal zone resources. Through their professionalization programs fish harvesters are going back to school to learn about marine biology and oceanography, safety at sea, fisheries management methods, and responsible fishing practices. In many places they are working closely with the DFO to develop better stock assessment techniques and to measure the environmental impacts of alternative gear types. In short, fish harvesters and their communities are changing with the fishery, are actively learning the lessons of the past, and are expanding their horizons to incorporate new knowledge and new responsibilities.

The fishery is a vital national asset, and the people who live and work in the fishery are the natural managers and protectors of that asset. Canada must maintain and develop the fisheries as an essential component of the national economy, as a means of maintaining sovereignty over our lands and seas, and as a valuable contributor to our national identity and cultural heritage.

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