IT’S ELECTION TIME: Talking to Candidates About the Challenges Facing the Fishing Industry
It is election time here in Canada, and there is a lot of anxiety, tension and concern in the fishing industry. The UFCA wants to use this period to inform and persuade candidates from all political parties about our issues. That way, whomever is sent to Ottawa will understand our concerns and know the facts.
The best thing you can do for the commercial fishery in the coming weeks is to help keep the situation calm, and find time to talk to your local candidate about your livelihood and the importance of a unified conservation scheme to preserve the fishery for generations to come. Here are a few talking points that you may find useful at the door:
1. We Support Reconciliation. Fishermen and our coastal communities support inclusion of the indigenous peoples in commercial fisheries. Reconciliation and inclusion are important values.
2. We Need Unified Conservation. What we can not support is an unregulated fishery. There must be a unified conservation regime that governs all fisheries, and that preserves this resource for future generations.
3. The Federal Government Must Provide Oversight and Enforcement. The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed the rights of indigenous peoples to fish commercially but also affirmed the obligation of the federal government to manage all commercial fisheries. Management includes more than regulation – they have to enforce the rules they make.
4. There Has Been 20 Years of Support for Indigenous Fishers. For over twenty years the federal government has been ensuring significant commercial communal access for Indigenous peoples, including by buying a number of commercial licenses and making them available to Indigenous fishers.
5. The New “Treaty” Fishery Breaks the Rules and Damages the Fishery. The self-declared indigenous “treaty” fishery, that has been prevalent in the news in recent weeks, is being conducted outside the federal conservation regime. It ignores the science of seasons, and regional allocations. This fishery endangers the longevity of this resource.
6. The Potlotek “Understanding” Allows New Access to Fully Subscribed LFAs. The Understanding reached by the federal government and Potlotek is also deeply problematic; it allows mobility between five LFAs. There were no “banked” licenses in LFA 29 where Potlotek resides, or in the immediately adjacent LFAs 28 and 30. The Understanding allowed Potlotek to use banked licenses from two other LFAs in these three fully subscribed LFAs. This results in a substantial increase in fishing effort beyond the scientifically set levels in these LFAs, and compromises the integrity of the conservation regime. The Minister promised no new access in March, and then granted new access (using LFA mobility in this understanding) in June.
7. In Summary. Unauthorized fishing through the “treaty fishery” and any fishing outside an integrated fisheries management plan, is a threat to the health of commercial renewable resources. To learn the lesson of the Cod, we need to regulate, as one, for the greater good of the environment and all Canadians, indigenous and non-indigenous alike.
When we speak with one committed, balanced voice, we can find cooperative solutions that ensure harvesting and sustainability for all. Tell your local candidates that fisheries conservation matters to our communities. Send them to Ottawa with the facts.