Search Results for: owner-operator policy

SEA-NL up and running as ‘distinct voice’ of skippers, licensed inshore owner-operators

Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) elected its first executive during a founding convention earlier this month, and the Board’s first order of business was to hire an Executive Director.

“Licensed inshore harvesters finally have an organization to serve as their distinct voice, and their voice alone,” says Jason Sullivan, a Bay Bulls fisherman who was elected SEA-NL President during the virtual convention.

Other members of the SEA-NL executive include: Bruce Layman of Carbonear, Secretary-Treasurer; Preston Grandy of Garnish, Captain Under 40’ Fleet; and Kenneth Courtney of Francois, Captain Over 40’ Fleet.

As well, Merv Wiseman, an outspoken advocate for fishing vessel safety/search and rescue, will serve on the board in an ex-officio capacity.

SEA-NL’s new Board met recently, and its first order of business was to hire Ryan Cleary to serve as Executive Director. Cleary, who along with Wiseman spent months organizing SEA-NL, also led the FISH-NL union movement, served as a Member of Parliament, and is a career journalist.

During SEA-NL’s convention eight resolutions were passed by the membership to help guide the organization in terms of policy.

Resolutions included: changing DFO policy so that non-core groundfish licenses can be sold/transferred; increased search and rescue for Labrador; allowing for more price reconsiderations under the province’s panel system of fish pricing; a ban on bottom-trawling for cod in 3Ps; the adoption of the adjacency principle; a standard fishing vessel-length policy for Atlantic Canada; a no-discard policy for this province’s herring fishery; and a change to allow for hook and line in marine protected areas.

Find the resolutions here: https://www.sea-nl.ca/convention2021

Contact: Ryan Cleary
709 682 4862
[email protected]
sea-nl.ca

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of herring dumped last week due to backward DFO policy

Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) condemns the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) policy that allowed for the dumping of hundreds of thousands of pounds of herring last week alone.

“Any DFO policy that allows for the dumping of fish is a backward policy that must end immediately,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s interim Executive Director. “Fishermen should be permitted to land the herring they catch, with the total amount subtracted from the overall quota.”

Herring fishermen here in the province say hundreds of thousands of pounds were dumped last week alone as the result of federal policy that sets the small-fish tolerance at 20%. The minimum herring size in Newfoundland and Labrador is 9.75 inches or 24.76 cm.

When a seiner catches herring, samples must be taken to measure for small-fish tolerance, and if more than 20% is found to be under the minimum size the fish must be released.

Only owner-operators say the sampling process kills herring by damaging its scales. An estimated 300,000/lbs of herring were dumped in one haul alone last week off the northeast coast. (See attached picture.)

The minimum herring length in the Maritimes is 18 cm (6.76 cm shorter than this province), with a 25% small-fish tolerance. Herring landings in the Maritimes by gillnet are not subject to quota or allocations.

DFO changed the small-fish tolerance in one area of this province last week to 30% from 20% for the over 65 purse-sceine fleet in the Gulf (fishing zone 4R). Fishermen in this province say the tolerance should be the same for all waters off the province.

Only the change in small-fish tolerance will still result in fish being dumped. Countries like Iceland do not allow the discarding of fish.

Contact Ryan Cleary 682 4862

Ryan Cleary
SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc.
709 682 4862

DFO Policy Puts Harvester Lives and Livelihoods at Risk

ST. JOHN’S, NL – A new ‘weak rope’ gear policy being implemented in Newfoundland and Labrador will have negative implications for fish harvesters in this province, including risks to safety, an unknown cost burden, and significant potential for increased environmental waste. FFAW-Unifor is calling on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to listen to the concerns of fish harvesters to understand why this policy should not be implemented in this province.

Weak rope measures are being implemented with the goal of preventing right whale entanglements. While these entanglements may be a concern for fisheries in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, there has never been a right whale entanglement in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery. Most concerning, DFO has provided no evidence that this gear is safe or effective for the fishery in this province.

“DFO themselves have acknowledged that right whales are not an issue in Newfoundland and Labrador waters, and yet they are unilaterally imposing this policy on our province despite the glaring concerns they have failed to address,” says Robert Keenan, FFAW-Unifor Secretary Treasurer.

There is no evidence that weak rope can serve as effective fishing equipment and will not break apart under the normal strain of a catch combined with the tide, potentially adding more environmental waste through ‘ghost gear’.

“We have repeatedly asked DFO for proof. Can harvesters in NL use this gear to fish effectively? Have there been tests done in the Maritimes? What would the cost be? Why is this necessary for NL? Not a single one of these questions has been answered by the Department,” Keenan says.

Currently, weak rope will be required for the vast majority of gear starting in January 2023. The only consultations scheduled with harvesters are in late November and early December where three virtual sessions are scheduled to provide information and receive feedback from more than 3000 fishing enterprises in Newfoundland and Labrador.

“Fish harvesters in this province deserve a better consultation process than a few zoom meetings. Despite a nearly fully vaccinated province and the ability to implement safe procedures for in-person meetings, DFO is still using COVID-19 as an excuse to completely abandon the consultation process,” Keenan says.

Harvesters in NL have already undertaken gear modifications to mark rope to prevent entanglements. Additional modifications for weak links will be a significant cost burden to the owner-operator fish harvester. Not only do fish harvesters incur the loss of gear, they must also incur the expense of weak link mechanisms for all fleets of gear, and potentially each and every lobster trap.

“The death of one right whale could have a disastrous impact on seafood exports to the United States. Fish harvesters know this and will gladly take all reasonable steps to protect the species and their livelihoods but implementing this policy without any due diligence is entirely unreasonable,” concludes Keenan.

For media inquiries, please contact Courtney Glode at [email protected] or call/text 709-743-4445.

Courtney Glode
FFAW-Unifor Communications
709-743-4445

SEA-NL up and running as ‘distinct’ voice of owner-operators; membership sign-up has begun

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Friday, June 11th, 2021

The Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc. (SEA-NL) has been formed to serve as the distinct voice of the province’s more than 3,000 licensed, commercial inshore fish harvesters — with membership signup officially starting today.

“It’s high time independent owner-operators were recognized as a distinct group within the Newfoundland and Labrador fishery, with a say on all decisions that impact their enterprises,” says Ryan Cleary, organizer and interim Executive Director.

Since the plan to create SEA-NL was announced in mid-April, organizers Cleary and Merv Wiseman, well-known around the province as a search-and-rescue advocate, have created a non-profit company, and built a website (sea-nl.ca) containing membership and registration information.

The plan is for SEA-NL to hold a convention in the fall to formally adopt bylaws, an organizational structure, and to elect a board of directors made up solely of independent, inshore owner-operators from all fishing zones around the province.

An office will be opened and temporary staff hired as soon as membership/funding allows. Owner-operators who join SEA-NL will eventually be offered breaks on benefits including fuel, fishing gear, etc. that would come with negotiated group purchases.

In turn, SEA-NL will represent the interests of owner-operators in terms of fishery policy, and industry, government, and media relations, as well as overall communications.

“Owner-operators run the enterprises upon which the inshore fishery is built, and should see SEA-NL as an opportunity to take a direct lead in the industry moving forward,” says Wiseman, who has extensive leadership/organizing experience.

Cleary, a former federal Member of Parliament, led the FISH-NL union (2016-2019) in an unsuccessful attempt to break inshore harvesters away from the FFAW-Unifor, which represents all sectors within the province’s fishery.

Unlike FISH-NL, SEA-NL will represent the interests of licensed owner-operators only (not crew), and as an association won’t need permission from the province’s Labour Relations Board to organize. SEA-NL will not be in a position to negotiate fish prices, although it will be well-positioned to influence their outcome, and other industry/government policy and fish management practices.

SEA-NL’s primary mission will be to support fish harvesters, advocate for healthy fisheries, and strengthen fishing communities.

Contact Ryan Cleary: 682-4862

Fisheries and Oceans standing committee question why owner-operator system can’t work in B.C.

Young West Coast fishers made the trek to Ottawa, two in gumboots, to testify and advocate for change in British Columbia’s fisheries management system, causing an immediate ripple effect. Federal policymakers who are amending the Fisheries Act, or Bill C-68, have submitted a motion to study owner-operator fleets after listening to the independent fishers who want the policy enforced on the West Coast. In B.C., fishers lease quotas from owners who have purchased the fishing rights. Multinational companies, or foreign investors, can own quota and licenses on the West Coast, but not on the East Coast of Canada. >click to read<18:31

Owning the Owner Operator Policy

I read a blog post this week and the first paragraph rang so true to me: how most media stories would lead you to believe that the fishery is on its last legs and a dying industry when the opposite is in fact the case.  What really caught my interest though was that there is a movement in the United States that if new fishing licences are issued, that they be to owner operators. At a time when Canada’s commitment to owner operator fisheries seems to be seriously in question, it’s interesting to see other countries advocating and moving in that direction. Owner operator fisheries means simply that the person who owns the boat and license is the one on the water fishing. While the official policy jargon in Canada will tell you that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans supports owner operator fisheries, the reality of policy decisions over the past two decades that I’ve been in the fishery have resulted in quite the opposite: management has moved towards individual transferable quotas (ITQ’s) which ultimately result in consolidation of access to the resource for a few (mainly) corporate interests who then hire people to fish. Read the story here. 10:16

Ottawa distances itself from N.S. senator on fishery – Conservative Senator Stephen Greene wrote of “immoral” fleet separation policy

CBCNews – Federal Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield has reaffirmed so-called fleet separation, distancing the federal government from a letter written by a Nova Scotia Conservative Senator that questioned the Atlantic fisheries policy. Early in 2012, the Conservatives issued a white paper on the future of Canada’s commercial fishery that omitted fleet separation, which ensures companies that catch seafood cannot also process it. The future of another policy called owner-operator, which requires fishermen to own the boats that catch fish, was also up in the air. continued

DFO investigates fishing licences for outside control

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, Aug. 29th, 2023 –  Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) encourages inshore owner-operators who have lost control of their commercial licences or fishing enterprise to contact Fisheries and Oceans, which is actively investigating several cases.

“If you are not in control of your boat or licences then contact DFO and have it looked into and made right,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.

“By law, licensed inshore harvesters must be independent — solely in control of their enterprises, licences, and catches — and if you are not then SEA-NL encourages you to take control.”

In June, SEA-NL wrote then-DFO Minister Joyce Murray to request an investigation into the case of an inshore owner-operator who had lost control of his multi-million-dollar fishing enterprise to a fish processor.

The enterprise included boat, gear, and licences (including snow crab), and the fishermen in question and his family were left without a dime, or a clue as to how it happened.

DFO launched an investigation, and has been investigating similar cases. The department’s Conservation and Protection division released this email for licence holders to contact them directly: NL-TN.Licences@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

DFO’s owner-operator policy requires licence holders to fish the licence themselves, and reap the rewards. The rationale is to promote small-scale fishermen, and to prevent large companies from accumulating multiple licences.

Only companies have been accumulating inshore licences or controlling enterprising through financial agreements.

DFO has been circulating a random but mandatory questionnaire in recent months to commercial licence holders to learn of any and all financial arrangements that may jeopardize the owner-operator principle.

The three-page “eligibility assessment questionnaire” asks the license holder to disclose any and all financial agreements tied to commercial fishing licences. Those agreements can be informal, verbal, or handshake in nature.

In 2021 a former president of the FFAW said the majority of some fishing fleets in this province are illegally owned by fish processing companies.

Ryan Cleary, Executive Director
SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc.
709 682 4862
SEA-NL.ca

Owner Operator/Fleet Separation Policies: Measures to prevent corporate takeover of Atlantic inshore fleets go into law

Wednesday, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans published amended Atlantic Fishery regulations that include the so-called owner-operator and fleet-separation policies. The owner-operator policy requires the eligible holder of a fishing licence to be the beneficiary of the licence, and fleet separation prevents processing companies and buyers from also holding fishing licences. “It’s a great day for the inshore fishery and we’re super happy with the results of this announcement,” >click to read<14:16 To read more about this, >click here<

Minister Jordan strengthens protections for inshore commercial fish harvesters on East Coast – Under the authorities granted by the modernized Fisheries Act, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has amended the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985 and the Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations to clarify the rules governing inshore licences and create new enforceable requirements. >click to read<

Wilkinson Celebrates new Fisheries Act Measures for Preserving the Independence of the Inshore Fleet

Ensuring that the benefits of the fishery remain in local communities,,, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, announced that measures that will ensure that key policies relating to owner-operator and fleet-separation policies are being enshrined in regulation under the new Fisheries Act. The owner-operator policy requires fish harvesters to fish their licences personally so that those who actively fish, receive the benefits from their licences. The fleet-separation policy maintains a separation between the fishing and fish processing sectors.  Maintaining the independence of small-boat owner-operators and implementing a fair licensing regime will help protect middle-class jobs and ensure the long-term sustainability of the fishery. >click to read< 16:46

Rules around fishing licences, cabinet ministers ‘frustrating’ for PC MLA

PC MLA Sidney MacEwen said he watched nine of his colleagues sworn in as cabinet ministers in Georgetown yesterday with mixed emotions. MacEwen believes he and fellow PC MLA Colin LaVie faced an unfair — though perhaps not insurmountable — obstacle barring their way from cabinet: the two are fishermen. P.E.I.’s Conflict of Interest Act requires cabinet ministers put their business holdings in a blind trust. MacEwen said he spoke to P.E.I.’s conflict of interest commissioner and was told he would be in compliance if he put the corporation under which he owns his lobster licence into a blind trust. The problem, MacEwen said, is with DFO’s owner-operator policy, which dictates the person who owns a fishing licence has to be the one who fishes under it. >click to read<12:13

Alleging disability discrimination, lobster fisherman taking DFO to Federal Court

Longtime Nova Scotia lobster fisher Dana Robinson was hoping to pass on his fishing licence to his grandchildren. Robinson bought the licence to fish in Area 35 on the Bay of Fundy in 1998, more than 20 years after he began fishing at the age of 16. Today, chronic circulation problems in his legs necessitating a number of surgeries have left him medically unable to withstand the physical toll of being out on the vessel,,, But due to a federal owner-operator policy, the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has informed Robinson that if he can’t fish the licence himself, he must sell it. And even though Robinson estimates he could get around $3 million for the licence, he’s not interested. >click to read<11:43

Bill C-60: Reviewing the Fisheries Act – B.C. North Coast residents to Ottawa: ‘We can’t make a living fishing’

Lax Kw’alaams Band Mayor John Helin called for more consultation as he painted a grim picture,,,“In my community we have a fleet of 70-80 gillnetters that can’t make a living,,, Prince Rupert resident, Chelsey Ellis,,, Ellis grew up on the East Coast, where she’s seen the benefits of the owner-operator policy for fish harvesters. In her statement, she said this is not the same in British Columbia, where there has been a steady increase of licenses and quota being transferred from fishermen and away from coastal communities.>click to read<15:44

Commentary on Controling Agreements: DFO meddling destabilizes fishermen

I’ve held my own lobster licence since 1973 and it is nonsense to suggest I am anything but an “independent” fisherman. Yet the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is reviewing my licence under the “owner-operator policy.” Under this policy, the owner of a lobster licence is supposed to be independent (as I am) and to benefit most from his licence (as I do). DFO seems to suspect that I am in a so-called “controlling agreement” with Yarmouth Sea Products Ltd. click here to read the story 08:43

Controlling Agreement? Labrador fisherman Kirby Elson is ending his legal challenge filed with the Federal Court

Nova Scotia fish harvester Susan Beaton is breathing a little easier now that a legal challenge that could have overturned the rules protecting the independence of Atlantic Canada’s inshore fishery appears to be over. “I think it’s very good news, at least for those of us who care about the owner-operator policy,” said Beaton, who is from Antigonish. The federal government’s owner-operator policy stipulates the main benefits of inshore fishing licences must go to the licence holders. Kirby Elson, a fisherman from Cartwright N.L., a small fishing town in Labrador, had launched a legal challenge, appealing a decision by the federal fisheries minister to take away his commercial fishing licences. But the case ended quietly and abruptly this week when Elson notified his lawyers Jan. 10 that he wanted to “immediately withdraw from this litigation,” according to documents filed with the Federal Court. Elson had refused to obey a DFO requirement that he exit a so-called “controlling agreement” with two Newfoundland and Labrador fish processors. Read the story here 19:31

DFO cracking down on deals that flout rules to keep inshore fishery in local hands

dfocrestTwo Maritime fishermen have lost their fishing licences following a Department of Fisheries and Oceans investigation into the use of so-called controlling agreements in the past year. They haven’t released the names or location of the fishermen. “We’ve concluded five cases. Of those cases, two were in agreements that were contrary to our policy,” said Morley Knight, DFO’s Maritimes regional manager. The department said other licence reviews are ongoing as it ramps up efforts to combat controlling agreements — the side deals where a fisherman hands control and use of a licence to a third party, usually a company. The agreements are seen as an end-run around policies to keep the inshore fishery in local hands, like the owner-operator policy that fishing licenses are held only by owner-operators, and fleet separation, which prevents companies from being both harvester and processor. Read the rest here 09:13

DFO cracks down on secret fishing licence deals

dfocrestCanada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans says it’s cracking down on so-called “controlling agreements” that result in fishermen holding a fishing licence in name only. Morley Knight, the department’s manager for the Maritimes, said five licence-compliance reviews have been completed in the region and other cases are ongoing. Controlling agreements allow individuals or corporations other than the licence holder to secretly control the use of the licence.  They allow companies to get around DFO’s owner-operator policy, which is meant to ensure the independence of Atlantic Canada’s inshore fishery. Read the rest here 08:11

Nathan Cullen wants changes to the fisheries system in the North West of Canada

61840princerupertNathanCullenParliamentaryphotoThe fisheries system in the North West of Canada needs an overhaul. That was the message from the Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP, Nathan Cullen, last week when he spoke with media. An incident between a few fishermen and Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) officers on Aug. 2 has increased tensions in the area, and Canfisco Oceanview plant saw an increased presence of officers. Frustration is mounting over the changing regulations and restrictive fishing methods, and allowing certain user groups to fish down the coast, a DFO spokesperson stated two weeks ago.,,  His answer is to sit down with DFO and the fisheries minister and reform the fishery. Some of the changes he’d like to see already exist on the East Coast. One example he gave was the owner-operator policy in the Atlantic, where commercial fishing licences are held by an individual or the licence holders’s company. Read the story here 20:26

FFAW Calls for Drastic Changes to Provincial Processing Licensing Amid Harvester Protests in St. John’s

March 14, 2024

ST. JOHN’S, NL – FFAW-Unifor is calling on the provincial government to listen to protesting fish harvesters by lifting all processing caps in the province, grant new processing licenses, and remove restrictions on outside buyers. The FFAW is also looking for a commitment from the provincial government to undertake an independent review of the province’s processing licensing policy.

“Fish harvesters in our province have been disadvantaged long enough. The situation has gotten so severe in recent years that a very large number are now facing imminent bankruptcy due to the cartel-like environment processing companies enjoy here in Newfoundland and Labrador,” explains Greg Pretty, FFAW-Unifor. “When fish harvesters cannot find a buyer for their catch – we have a serious problem. This province cannot have a thriving fishery if fish harvesters are not succeeding, and the current wall of opposition they face makes success unattainable,” Pretty says.

“In recent years, fish harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador have been faced with strict weekly limits, unfounded deductions, plants that chose not process certain species, and others who refused to purchase from certain harvesters. All of which amounts to a very toxic business relationship for both harvesters and plant workers,” says lead protestor, John Efford. “More competition and market access for harvesters is needed. We want free enterprise,” Efford says.

“The business environment in our province is anti-harvester – plain and simple,” says FFAW-Unifor Secretary-Treasurer Jason Spingle. “There is no accountability for processing companies. People are losing their enterprises, and our Union will not just stand by and watch that happen,” Spingle says.

While thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians benefit from seasonal processing work, the bulk of companies brought in Temporary Foreign Workers rather than focus on improving work for those who live in the province.

“Every single processing job in this province is important. Our entire province benefits the most when the work stays here. Unfortunately, the privilege bestowed on processing companies is being abused, existing licenses are underutilized, and we do not have the capacity needed to process what is being brought in each season. The system must change if we have any hope of a future for the owner-operator fishery in our province,” Pretty concludes.

Inquiries:

Courtney Glode (she/her)
Director of Public Affairs

FFAW-Unifor
T: 709-576-7276

M: 709-743-4445
368 Hamilton Ave.

St. John’s NL A1E 1K2

[email protected]

www.ffaw.ca

Conservation must trump profit; SEA-NL calls on DFO to close window on high-grading in crab fishery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 15 2023 – Seaward Enterprises Associations of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has called on the federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans to take immediate action to close a window that’s been opened by processors/buyers to allow for high-grading in the snow crab fishery.

“Conservation must trump profit, which is obviously not the case with the processing sector that is out to scrape every last cent from the inshore fleet at the expense of the future health of the stock,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.

For years there has been an industry-managed two-price system for snow crab in Newfoundland and Labrador — with a higher price paid for crab with a greater than four-inch carapace (currently $2.25/lb), and lower price for smaller, but still legal-sized crab ($1.90/lb).

The price system included a 20% tolerance — allowing an enterprise to be compensated with the higher price for the first 20% of smaller crab — and was specifically designed to reduce high-grading.

High-grading is the “intentional release of legal-size crab in order to retain crab of a higher quality and/or larger size and therefore of greater value.”

DFO has long supported the system. In fact, the 20% tolerance is specifically mentioned in the department’s Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP) for snow crab in the NL region: “This tolerance is aimed at reducing the incentive to high-grade.”

However, since the end of the crab tie-up in mid-May fish processors and buyers in the province — represented by the Association of Seafood Producers — have unilaterally eliminated the 20% tolerance.

Owner-operators themselves say the incentive to high-grade — especially in light of the severe drop in market price since 2022 — has obviously increased, and is, in fact, taking place on a widespread basis.

SEA-NL wrote federal Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray this week urging her to take immediate action.

“It’s clear the industry-managed snow-crab pricing system — more specifically, the 20% tolerance — must be made hard-and-fast DFO policy for the sake of the long-term health of the stock,” Cleary said.

Ryan Cleary, Executive Director
SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc.
709 682 4862
SEA-NL.ca

SEA-NL elects new President, first woman leader of fisheries organization in province’s history

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, Feb. 27th, 2023, Fortune-based inshore enterprise owner Pamela Patten has been elected President of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL), believed to be the first woman to lead a fisheries organization in the province’s history.

“As a woman I will obviously bring a slightly different perspective to the table, but my role will be to unite owner-operators around the province regardless of fleet or gender,” says Patten, who runs the Bradley Venture, a 39’11 longliner that primarily fishes snow crab and lobster.

Patten, a mother of four, has been an enterprise owner for 11 years, and a fisher person for 22. She was elected President during SEA-NL’s AGM this past Saturday, Feb. 25th in Gander, and replaces Bay Bulls enterprise owner Jason Sullivan.

During the AGM SEA-NL passed five policy resolutions, including a call for Ottawa to lift the moratorium on Atlantic mackerel in 2023, and set a quota at least equal to the U.S. quota for the same stock; for the feds to provide a detailed action plan within six months to deal with seal populations throughout Canada; for the Prime Minister to take a stronger stand against foreign overfishing; and for the Government of Canada  to order an independent external review of DFO science/management in the NL Region.

SEA-NL is a professional, non-profit association that serves as the distinct voice of licensed, independent, inshore owner-operator fish harvesters in the province.

Contact: Ryan Cleary

Ryan Cleary, Executive Director
SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc.
709 682 4862
SEA-NL.ca

Science fishery or FFAW quota, DFO refusal to release catch data from sentinel fisheries raises conflict of interest concerns

Wednesday, Oct. 19th 2022 – Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) accuses Fisheries and Oceans of treating the FFAW-run, science-based sentinel cod fisheries like a commercial quota in refusing to release catch data — raises serious conflict of interest concerns.

“DFO says on one hand the sentinel fisheries are for science, but on the other hand refuses to release details under federal Treasury Board guidelines for the release of commercial catch information,” says Ryan Cleary, SEA-NL’s Executive Director.

“DFO seems to be saying the FFAW has a cod quota, which raises serious questions of conflict of interest between the union and inshore owner-operators.”

The sentinel or test cod fisheries in waters around the province have been run by the FFAW-Unifor under contract to Ottawa since the mid-1990s as a means for fishermen to keep an eye on adjacent cod stocks in the absence of commercial fisheries.

But DFO has refused to release the amount of cod caught in this year’s sentinel fisheries under a federal policy known as the the “rule of 5”, which states there must be a minimum of five enterprise owners and five buyers involved for catch information to be released.

While dozens of inshore enterprises take part in the sentinel cod fisheries every year, DFO says there are fewer than five buyers for sentinel-caught cod in 2022, the first year the department has refused to release the sentinel catch.

In 2021, 70 tonnes of cod were caught in the sentinel fisheries, although the tonnage reached as high as 263 tonnes in 2015.

Sentinel fisheries contracts were worth more than $1.1 million in 2017 to the FFAW, which also keeps the money from the sale of the cod.

Conflict of interest concerns have been raised about where the union sells the cod, the price per pound, and how the price is negotiated considering the FFAW’s role as bargaining agent for the inshore fleet, unionized plant workers where cod is processed, and workers aboard offshore trawlers that fish cod off the south coast.

Ryan Cleary, Executive Director
SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc.
709 682 4862
SEA-NL.ca

Days of chopping off fishing boats over; DFO to increase maximum inshore vessel length to 49’11

“The days of chopping off boats are over. This is a massive victory for inshore harvesters in what is now the under 40’ fleet,” says Jason Sullivan, President of SEA-NL, and Bay Bulls-based inshore owner-operator. “We have fought DFO in this province and the FFAW for years to be treated the same as the rest of Atlantic Canada in terms of vessel length, and today we finally have a victory that puts the safety and lives of inshore harvesters first.” The news was announced this morning by Avalon MP Ken McDonald, chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, who, along with SEA-NL and FISH-NL before it, fought for years to change the vessel-length policy. >click to read< 10:53

Days of chopping off fishing boats over; DFO to increase maximum inshore vessel length to 49’11

Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) welcomes a decision by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to increase the maximum length of inshore fishing vessels in the province’s inshore fleet to 49’11, bringing them in line with the Maritimes.

“The days of chopping off boats are over. This is a massive victory for inshore harvesters in what is now the under 40’ fleet,” says Jason Sullivan,  President of SEA-NL, and Bay Bulls-based inshore owner-operator.

“We have fought DFO in this province and the FFAW for years to be treated the same as the rest of Atlantic Canada in terms of vessel length, and today we finally have a victory that puts the safety and lives of inshore harvesters first.”

The news was announced this morning by Avalon MP Ken McDonald, chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, who, along with SEA-NL and FISH-NL before it, fought for years to change the vessel-length policy. He said the policy change will take effect in early 2023.

Earlier this year DFO held a string of virtual outreach meetings around the province to hear directly from inshore harvesters about issues impacting their fleets, with the question of fishing-vessel length front and centre on the agenda.

The vast majority of owner-operators spoke in favour of extending the maximum length of inshore boats to 49’11 from 39’11 to fall in line with inshore fleets in the rest of Atlantic Canada. Vessel lengths range from less than 50’ in DFO’s Maritime and Quebec regions to less than 45’ in the Gulf region.

Owner-operators in this province who purchase used, over 40’ fishing vessels from elsewhere in Atlantic Canada have been forced to cut them in length at huge expense, often giving the vessels an “ugly” snub-nose appearance, and making them square to the water. The practice doesn’t impact a vessel’s carrying capacity, and often raises stability questions.

Owner-operators said their No. 1 reason for wanting the change is safety at sea in light of changing climatic conditions.

“This is all about safety, and increasing vessel length will ensure that harvesters are safer on the water,” said Merv Wiseman, an outspoken advocate for fishing-vessel safety and member of SEA-NL’s executive board.

“We know the FFAW will be disappointed with the decision since they worked for decades to prevent it from happening.”

Restricting inshore boats to less than 40’ also didn’t make sense in that while DFO regulates vessel length, the department doesn’t regulate vessel width — and vessels that were built 16-feet wide in the early 1990s are built up to 28-feet wide today. Newer under 40′ vessels today have greater capacity than older 65 footers.

Contact Ryan Cleary: 682 4862

SEA-NL launches petition to change status of non-core groundfish licenses

SEA-NL has launched a petition urging the House of Commons to change the status of non-core groundfish licenses in this province so they can be sold or handed down. “Non-core license holders are treated like second-class fishermen,” says Jason Sullivan, President of SEA-NL, the distinct voice of the province’s licensed owner-operators. “That must end based on safety-at-sea, and fairness.” DFO’s licensing policy for Newfoundland and Labrador states that non-core groundfish licenses are not eligible for reissuance, meaning they die with the inshore owner-operators who hold them. >click to read<, and sign the petition 11:55

SEA-NL launches petition urging Ottawa to change status of non-core groundfish licenses

03/04/2022 – Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) has launched a petition urging the House of Commons to change the status of non-core groundfish licenses in this province so they can be sold or handed down.

“Non-core license holders are treated like second-class fishermen,” says Jason Sullivan, President of SEA-NL, the distinct voice of the province’s licensed owner-operators. “That must end based on safety-at-sea, and fairness.”

DFO’s licensing policy for Newfoundland and Labrador states that non-core groundfish licenses are not eligible for reissuance, meaning they die with the inshore owner-operators who hold them.

DFO brought in the non-core policy in the 1990s after the collapse of the commercial cod fisheries to reduce the number of fishermen.

The policy has been effective: the 3,311 licensed fishermen in the province at the end of 2020 (including 492 non-core) represented an 83% decline from 1992 when there were more than 20,000 licensed harvesters in the province.

However, the non-core policy unfairly targeted many fishermen who — despite having a historical attachment to the fishery — held other jobs, and did not/could not depend on the fishery as their primary or sole source of income.

Many worked on fishing boats whereby money from a fish sale was put in a single fisherman’s name so they couldn’t prove attachment to the fishery, with little support, financial or otherwise, to appeal their non-core designation.

Inshore harvesters don’t have pension plans, and often use money from the sale of their licences to fund retirement. That can’t happen with non-core licence holders, many of whom have deteriorating health, but continue to work despite the risks.

Those risks are amplified because their non-core status restricts their boat length to 28 feet at a time when the East Coast climate is becoming increasingly unpredictable in fisheries that extend later into the fall.

The federal court recently ordered the federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans to reconsider a decision not to allow certain lobster licenses in the Maritimes to be sold or handed down.

SEA-NL wrote the minister in January to ask that she reconsider similar non-core groundfish licenses in this province at the same time.

The petition can be found on the Parliament of Canada website, and is based on a resolution passed in early February at SEA-NL’s founding convention. The petition is open to all Canadians to sign, and will be presented by Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame Conservative MP Clifford Small.

Find the petition here: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3862

Contact: Jason Sullivan 709 363 7088

Ryan Cleary, Executive Director
SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc.
709 682 4862
SEA-NL.ca

Overwhelming support for extending length of inshore fishing boats – SEA-NL

The province’s inshore owner-operator fish harvesters overwhelmingly support extending the maximum length of fishing boats in their fleet for safety reasons, and to fall in line with the rest of Atlantic Canada. “The message from the inshore fleet is clear that the days of chopping off boats are over,” says Jason Sullivan, President of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, the distinct voice of the province’s licensed, owner-operators. “Fisheries and Oceans has gotten the message loud and clear that the policy must change.” >click to read< 10:32

Overwhelming support for extending length of inshore fishing boats: SEA-NL

March 3rd, 2022

The province’s inshore owner-operator fish harvesters overwhelmingly support extending the maximum length of fishing boats in their fleet for safety reasons, and to fall in line with the rest of Atlantic Canada.

“The message from the inshore fleet is clear that the days of chopping off boats are over,” says Jason Sullivan, President of Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, the distinct voice of the province’s licensed, owner-operators. “Fisheries and Oceans has gotten the message loud and clear that the policy must change.”

DFO recently held a string of seven virtual outreach meetings around the province to hear directly from inshore harvesters about issues impacting their fleets, with the question of fishing-vessel length front-and-centre on the agenda.

The vast majority of the owner-operators spoke in favour of extending the maximum length of inshore boats to 49’11 from 39’11 to fall in line with inshore fleets in the rest of Atlantic Canada. Vessel lengths range from less than 50’ in DFO’s Maritime and Quebec regions to less than 45’ in the Gulf region.

Owner-operators in this province who purchase used, over 40’ fishing vessels from elsewhere in Atlantic Canada are forced to cut them in length at huge expense, often giving the vessels an “ugly” snub-nose appearance, and making them square to the water. The practice doesn’t impact a vessel’s carrying capacity, and often raises stability questions.

Owner-operators said their No. 1 reason for wanting the change is safety at sea in light of changing climatic conditions.

“Transport Canada and DFO preach safety, so now please let us practice safety,” said Sullivan, echoing sentiments expressed at the meetings.

Restricting inshore boats to less than 40’ also doesn’t make sense in that while DFO regulates vessel length, the department doesn’t regulate vessel width — and vessels that were built 16-feet wide in the early 1990s are built up to 28-feet wide today. Newer under 40′ vessels today have greater capacity than older 65 footers.

DFO officials said surveys will be e-mailed in the coming days to the province’s roughly 2,800 owner-operators (including 600 in the over 40’ fleet) for their final word on vessel length, but an official acknowledged the message from owner-operators was clear that change is necessary.

Contact: Jason Sullivan 363 7088

Ryan Cleary
SEA-NL
Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc.
709 682 4862

It’s Full Steam Ahead! SEA-NL founding convention is scheduled for Nov. 18-19th in Gander

Friday, Oct. 15th, 2021

Seaward Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) — a new group formed to represent the province’s more than 3,000 licensed, independent owner-operator fish harvesters — has scheduled its founding convention for Nov. 18-19th at Gander’s Quality Hotel.

“It’s full-steam ahead for SEA-NL,” says Ryan Cleary, interim-Executive Director. “Enterprise owners will finally get their own distinct voice in the industry they drive, and, ultimately, achieve a direct say in all decisions that impact their enterprises.”

The plan to create SEA-NL was announced in mid-April by organizers Cleary and Merv Wiseman, well-known around the province as an advocate for search and rescue and wild fisheries.

In May, SEA-NL was registered as a non-profit company, and in June the website (sea-nl.ca) was launched and member sign-up began.

During the upcoming November convention a constitution will be adopted, and a board of directors elected made up solely of independent owner-operators from all fishing zones around the province. A draft constitution and structure for the SEA-NL executive will be unveiled in the coming days. Owner-operators will be able to attend the convention either in-person or virtually.

“Owner-operators run the enterprises upon which the inshore fishery is built, and should see SEA-NL as an opportunity to take a direct lead in the industry moving forward,” said Wiseman, who has extensive leadership/organizing experience.

SEA-NL’s primary goals will be to support independent owner-operators, advocate for healthy fisheries, and strengthen fishing communities.

“Owner-operators are realizing how much power they have when they come together,” said Cleary, a former Member of Parliament who led the FISH-NL union (2016-2019).  “No government, no union, no companies can stop them.”

SEA-NL will not be in a position to negotiate fish prices, although it will be well-positioned to influence their outcome, and other industry/government policy and fish management practices.

Contact Ryan Cleary: 682-4862

Launch of SEA-NL.

New voice for fish harvesters; SEA-NL to represent independent owner-operators

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Thursday, April 15th, 2021

A new group — the Seafood Enterprises Association of Newfoundland and Labrador (SEA-NL) — is being formed to serve as the independent voice of the province’s more than 3,000 licensed commercial inshore fish harvesters.

“Owner-operators are a distinct group within the province’s fishing industry, and it’s high time they were recognized as such,” says Ryan Cleary, an inshore fisheries advocate, and one of the organizers.

“The fish harvesters of Newfoundland and Labrador must realize how much power they would have if they came together,” said Cleary. “No government, no union, no companies could stop them. Owner-operators should be leading their own industry, and a strong organization with a collective voice like SEA-NL could achieve that goal.”

Cleary, a former federal Member of Parliament, led the FISH-NL union (2016-2019) in an attempt to break all inshore harvesters away from the FFAW-Unifor, which represents competing sectors within the province’s fishery. The experience and insights gained from that battle — as well as the time spent since working as an inshore fishery consultant — highlight the critical need to establish an independent voice for licensed harvesters.

SEA-NL will represent the interests of licensed owner-operators only, and as an association won’t need permission from the province’s Labour Relations Board  to organize and incorporate. SEA-NL will not be in a position to negotiate fish prices, although that would be an eventual goal.

“SEA-NL’s primary mission will be to support fish harvesters, advocate for healthy fisheries, and strengthen fishing communities,” said Merv Wiseman, another organizer.

A one-time inshore fisherman himself, Wiseman has been an outspoken advocate for search and rescue and fishing vessel safety in the province, with extensive leadership/organizing experience in the province’s agriculture and fur-breeding industries.

Benefits of SEA-NL would include: a distinct voice for owner-operators; membership votes on policy; breaks on insurance, fuel, fishing gear, etc. that would come with bulk purchases; freedom from conflicts of interest with other industry sectors, governments, and members; and a transparent and accountable organization.

SEA-NL would also gather information from DFO/government departments and then communicate regulations, industry news, and other important information to the membership. The association would represent the interests of owner-operators in terms of public policy, and industry, government and media relations.

“Owner-operators owe it to themselves to join the new association,” said Wiseman. “The leadership structure in the fishery today clearly isn’t working — not for fish harvesters, not for fish stocks, and certainly not for our province’s fishing communities.”

Over the coming days SEA-NL plans to incorporate as a not-for-profit corporation, and undertake consultations/sign-ups with owner-operators around the province. From there, SEA-NL will set up a volunteer board of directors representing over/under 40’ fleets in fishing zones around the province, set membership fees, and establish an office with enabling staff.

For more information please contact Ryan Cleary: 709 682 4862