Tag Archives: Ecotrust Canada

Advocates say B.C. needs a fisheries minister

Each year, about 196,000 tonnes of seafood, everything from salmon to scallops, is harvested off the B.C. coast. But unlike its East Coast counterparts, the province doesn’t have a fisheries minister. In the past several decades, the province has seen tumbling salmon populations, an increasingly inequitable distribution of the fisheries’ economic benefits and a drop in local processing capacity. All have eaten away at coastal communities, and the province’s ability to feed itself from the sea, a situation that advocates say calls for a minister dedicated to the portfolio. >click to read< 18:38

NEFMC will vote Sept. 30 on changing requirements for groundfish monitoring, fishermen have mixed responses

Commercial fisherman Randy Cushman walks on top of his boat where he measures fish in front of electronic monitoring cameras, pictured to the right. Cushman is among a handful of New England fishermen who use electronic monitoring instead of a traditional human observer to track what they catch and discard.  The New England Fisheries Management Council (NEFMC) is scheduled to vote on changes to its groundfish management plan at a virtual meeting Sept. 30, culminating four years of research. “If we’re going to have accurate stock assessments, we need 100 percent coverage under this management system,” said Cushman. But, the prospect of increased monitoring concerns Terry Alexander, a fisherman who represents Maine on the NEFMC and operates his 62-foot boat out of Massachusetts. >click to read< 10:57

Offshore ‘slipper skippers’ and local monopolies target of new fishing industry study

If you have ever purchased fish at Fisherman’s Wharf, there’s a 50/50 chance the bulk of your money will make its way into the pockets of an investor, who may not even be able to pinpoint Steveston on a map. Such investors, both foreign and domestic, own government-issued quotas and licenses and lease them to fishers for a cut of the catch. Because profit margins for fishers are already razer thin, the extra costs of the quotas and licenses means young, new and independent fishers find it difficult to get a foothold in the industry. This regulatory system is being called into question by Fleetwood Port Kells Liberal MP Ken Hardie. Fishers have long complained about the ownership structure of licences and individual transferable quotas (ITQs), or catch shares,,>click to read< 20:08

Caught Up in Catch Shares – Economic, social and cultural effects of privatizing public fisheries resources

Since the 1980s, BC’s commercial fleet has shrunk by 60%. The number of fishermen is down by 70%. Licence and vessel ownership has shifted from individuals to companies; from rural to urban areas. “Armchair fishermen” pocket as much as 75% of fisheries’ landed value, money that should be going to the fishermen who earn it. Once-vibrant coastal communities are in steep declines, as hundreds of millions of dollars are drawn out from the coast by quota leasing. Read the rest here 10:26

A cautionary tale about ITQ fisheries

Individual transferable quotas (ITQs) are being promoted as a panacea for global fisheries. However, analysis of BC fisheries raises serious questions about this new economic approach. Read more@ecotrust  13:08

Commercial fishing is a strong thread in the social fabric, – Understanding Values in Canada’s North Pacific

Commercial fishing is a strong thread in the social fabric that has held BC’s coastal communities together for generations. The industry’s impact is typically boiled down to dollars and cents, leaving the wider societal impacts poorly documented and largely underrepresented in fisheries policy and marine planning. Yet these values are no less important to the people who make their livings on the sea. more@ecotrustca 12:26