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‘Emergency brake’ for commercial fi sheries.....Pages
Harvest reduction strategy cuts out almost 60 per cent of commercial catch, includes talks with First Nations
By Mike Youds Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor
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DFO says it is moving swiftly to close 60 per cent of commercial salmon fi sheries on the B.C. coast while consulting with First Nations on changes to communalcommercial licences as part of an all-out initiative to reverse steep declines of Pacifi c salmon. Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan announced the harvest-based conservation measures Tuesday, June 29 as an initial step towards longer-term reductions in fi shing pressure on threatened salmon stocks. New data from the North Pacifi c Anadromous Fish Commission shows the global catch of Pacifi c salmon in 2020 was the lowest since 1982, the department said. The majority of B.C. stocks have been in decline — some by as much as 90 percent — with the exception of some pink and chum stocks. “We are pulling the emergency brake to give these salmon populations the best chance of survival,” Jordan stated in a news release. “The decisions to implement new long-term closures and permanently removed eff ort from the commercial salmon fi shery were not easy, as they impact people, communities and livelihoods. But with fewer and fewer returning every year — disappearing before our eyes — we have to act now.” During a technical briefi ng that accompanied the announcement, DFO Pacifi c Region offi cials left no room for doubting the gravity of the situation or its primary cause: Climate change. Globally, the last six years have been the hottest recorded, they noted coincidentally on a day when Lytton in the Fraser Canyon reached the warmest temperature ever in Canada, 49.5 C, and major wildfi res erupted in the B.C. Interior and North. Conclusions in the latest State of the Salmon report, produced annually by DFO Pacifi c Region scientists, was used as justifi cation for the sweeping harvest transformation measures. “Warmer air temperatures combined with other factors are contributing to river temperatures that are increasingly too warm for salmon in summer months,” the report states. “There are rivers where we see temperature exceeding 18-20 C in summer months, and for migrating adult salmon this can cause them to die before reaching their spawning grounds. Even if they do … migrating in these stressful conditions can also decrease the quality of the off spring they produce.” Marine conditions don’t help, since the oceans have absorbed 90 per cent of the earth’s excess heat. An extreme heat wave in the Pacifi c that has come to be known as “the Blob” since it was fi rst documented in 2013 remains a factor in 2021. Salmon stocks may take several generations to stabilize and rebuild, resulting in profound impacts on harvesters, Jordan noted in launching DFO’s latest commercial buy-out strategy, the Pacifi c Salmon Commercial Transition Program. The voluntary salmon licence retirement program off ers harvesters the option to retire their licences for fair market value. Their goal is to radically downsize the West Coast commercial salmon fi shing fl eet. Seventy-nine of a 138 commercial fi sheries overall will be closed indefi nitely. In response to PSSI, the commercial fi shing industry has reminded DFO that it
Photos by Melissa Renwick Elmer Frank (above) uses a crane to lift his catch up to his truck near the Fourth Street dock in Tofi no on July 23, 2020, as Terry Crosina (below) pours fresh ice on their catch before it’s brought to Ucluelet for sale.
~ Judith Sayers, NTC president
is responsible to harvesters as well as to salmon. “There is no evidence of overfi shing by the commercial fl eet,” states the UFAWU-Unifor, the union representing commercial harvesters. “Rather, it is current policies combined with a lack of salmon that have created a crisis.” Beyond the closures, fi sheries that remain open may be able to proceed, but only on the basis of in-season test fi sheries if numbers warrant and if risk to stocks of concern is considered low. Incidental catches of endangered stocks in mixed-stock fi sheries is a guiding concern. Consultations with First Nations and commercial harvesters on long-term conservation measures will be held prior to the 2022 fi shing season, the department stated. For First Nations communal-commercial harvesters, DFO repeated its promise to meaningfully consult on options to shift to more selective fi shing gear or, where available, to licences for other non-salmon species. There will be no impact of fi shing the department classifi es as food, social and ceremonial. “These mitigation measures allow for continued economic opportunity agreements under the communal-commercial licence, while helping reduce interactions with at-risk stocks. Indigenous partners, harvesting groups and stakeholders have been calling for change,” DFO stated. The department said it would be engaging immediately with First Nations, harvesters, industry members and partners across the Pacifi c region on the impacts of the commercial closures and the collaborative development of the mitigation program. DFO said it intends to adopt a modernized commercial salmon management system as part of the Harvest Transformation pillar under the Pacifi c Salmon Strategic Initiative (PSSI). Jordan unveiled the $647-million initiative in early June, calling it the largest, most transformative investment ever made to save wild salmon. PSSI’s Senior Director Sarah Murdoch gave an initial presentation to the Council of Ha’wiih Forum on Fisheries in early June. First Nations should be part of the planning for the fund from day one, not consulted with once plans have already been made, the Ha’wiih stressed. The initiatives come, coincidentally, after DFO’s decision to not appeal the Ahousaht et al case on commercial fi shery infringement. After more than two years of deliberation in the court saga, B.C. Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Five Nations (Ahousaht, Ehattesaht, Hesquiaht, Mowachaht/Muchalaht and Tla-o-qui-aht), concluding that DFO had infringed on their right to a commercial fi shery as proven in B.C. Supreme Court in 2009 – while overturning a previous ruling that narrowed the nations’ rights. “We call on the DFO to come to the table immediately and begin dialogue with these Five Nations to determine suffi cient allocations,” said Judith Sayers, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council president. “It is past time to do so. Our fi shermen have waited long enough to pursue their livelihood and the court has defi nitively ruled on this right. It is a sad refl ection on Canada that they fought the Nuuchah-nulth in court for 18 years instead of negotiating.” NTC said it also expects DFO to negotiate fully and fairly with the Maa-nulth Nations — which have a “me too” clause in their fi nal agreement regarding the results of this case — and with four Nuuchah-nulth nations forced to withdraw from the court case due to overlapping territories.
DFO harvest reduction measures are expected to hit coastal First Nations hard by choking one of their few local industries
By Mike Youds Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor
Vic Amos, a west coast Vancouver Island commercial troller since the 1970s, hasn’t been fi shing yet this season. “No, we’re not fi shing yet, but we’re hoping,” Amos said when Ha-Shilth-Sa called him for comment on a plan to close 60 per cent of commercial salmon fi sheries and scale down B.C.’s commercial fi shing fl eet, already a shadow of its former self. As one of only three remaining Nuuchah-nulth commercial fi shermen on the west coast of the Island, Amos is not so optimistic about long-term prospects for small-boat, family-run commercial fi shing. “We may be the last,” he said. The Hesquiaht First Nation fi sherman has seen buy-back programs come and go through the years with one consistent outcome: Steadily declining participation in the west coast commercial fi shing sector and opportunity shifting to recreational fi shing and fi sh farming. “It always seems like there’s a bigger picture,” he said. “The decisions to implement new longterm closures and permanently remove eff ort from the commercial salmon fi shery were not easy as they impact people, communities and livelihoods,” Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan said on June 29. “But with fewer and fewer returning every year — disappearing before our eyes — we have to act now.” As part of the Pacifi c Salmon Strategic Initiative (PSSI), a “commercial transition program” will be launched this fall
Photo by Holly Stocking Commercial fi shing boats tied up at Fisherman’s Warf in Port Alberni on July 15, after federal closures were announced. allowing licence holders a chance to exit the industry with the promise of fair market value for licences. The measures imply commercial fi shing takes the lion’s share of salmon, but that’s simply not the case, Amos said. “There are some runs in trouble, but I would say the government’s doing a very poor job of managing the fi shery,” Amos said. “It isn’t overfi shing. The small amount of people participating is not a problem.” Harvesters, many of whom had geared and crewed in preparation for the 2021 season, were not consulted or notifi ed in advance of the fi shery closures, said UFAWU-Unifor. The union represents about 5,000 commercial fi shers in B.C. About 60 per cent are Indigenous. “These closures will devastate salmon, harvesters and coastal communities alike,” the union said in a news release. “The only gain will be the political favour of those who’ve been fooled into thinking this is the answer to the salmon crisis.” It’s not the fi rst time the commercial fi shing industry has been at the forefront of sacrifi ces, said Dave Rolston, Tseshaht First Nation fi sheries manager. “We didn’t know how dramatic the reduction was going to be, but I think we all knew it was coming,” he said. Those who fi sh the Fraser stocks will feel the brunt of the closures, but the impact will be widespread, he expects. Of 200 First Nations in coastal B.C., about half have a strong fi sheries component in various forms. As well, the commercial fi shing sector is a key economic driver at major landing areas. “These are all going to impact any First Nation that has any stake in a commercial fi shery,” Rolston said. “Overall it’s going to have a big impact and yet we really don’t know how big it’s going to be.” The season was already shaping up to be another dismal one with a forecast Somass sockeye return of 350,000, one of few exceptions on the south coast. Based on test fi shing, the forecast was adjusted upward to 500,000. Now, due to a relentless heat wave, that fi gure may have to be readjusted. Sockeye are holding off , waiting for cooler water before entering the river. Eric Angel, Uu-a-thluk fi sheries program manager, attributes the buy-back and closures to the same top-down, paternalistic management style that has long hindered Nuu-chah-nulth hopes of rebuilding west coast fi sheries. “It’s going to create tension,” he said, reciting Einstein’s Parable of Quantum Insanity: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting diff erent results. There have been fi ve West Coast commercial buy-back plans since the 1970s. The most recent, the Miffl in Plan, halved B.C.’s commercial fl eet 20 years ago. “If a buy-back program were the solution they could have solved this years ago,” Angel said. What is missing among DFO initiatives announced so far is any further measures
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to restrict the recreational catch after chinook closures imposed two years ago. “They’re not pulling the hatchery lever to help fi sh. It’s to help the sports fi shery, so at the end of the day, commercial fi shing is being used as a scapegoat in this and that includes First Nations,” Angel said. “There’s no accountability to those who suff er the most.” Harvest limits can help but so can habitat recovery, he contends. “DFO ceded the terrestrial side of the resource to the province years ago and the province has a free hand to do what it wants,” Angel said. “Old-growth forest is not separate from salmon but part of a very rich and complex ecosystem. We know that mowing down the forest is bad for salmon.” Habitat recovery here and there only makes a dent in the problem, he added. “Not to say you can’t do restoration work that’s benefi cial, but the single best thing you can do for salmon habitat is not destroy any more of it,” he said. Funding that could be channeled for habitat restoration will go to the buyback program as an aging workforce of commercial fi shers leave the industry, the union says. Amos recalls what a Supreme Court judge heard in 2009 before affi rming the rights of fi ve Nuu-chah-nulth Five Nations to fi sh and sell species in their territorial waters. The judge was told there were 8,000 people who counted themselves as Nuu-chah-nulth. And how many earn a living from fi shing? Three he was told. “That gives you an idea of how disastrous all these buy backs have been,” Amos said. Wickanninish, Cliff Atleo, lead negotiator for Ahousaht First Nation, called it a “wishy-washy announcement” with unclear implications. He awaits more details on the federal government’s position, possibly coming at a meeting with DFO negotiators in mid July. What was clear was April’s B.C. Court of Appeal ruling, in eff ect telling DFO to remedy the problems created by consistently infringing on the right to harvest and sell fi sh. “What we said after the court case was don’t take anything off the table,” Atleo said. What they need to do instead is enhance initiatives on the table through measures that support reconciliation, he said.
