The Fisheries for Communities Gathering - A Proceedings Report (2018)

The Gathering provided many informative presentations and fruitful discussions among attendees, which are captured in the report, and from which the following outcomes were achieved:

Consensus on the need for Pacific region fisheries policy reform

There was a unified recognition that the current policy is not working to sustain fisheries and fishing communities for current and future generations, and policy reform is urgently needed.

Consensus on the request to be made to the federal Minister for a policy review

The Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard, needs to perform an independent review of BC commercial fisheries licensing policy, built on a fully transparent and truly inclusive process, to:

Ensure fisheries licensing policy in the Pacific region supports independent fish harvesters, First Nations, and the revival of rural fishing communities, and
Determine how “social, economic, and cultural” objectives are to be achieved in Pacific region fisheries.

There was also agreement in the room that the law, policy and regulations need to ensure that ecological integrity is restored and maintained.

Agreement on the need for guiding principles for policy reform

Ensure social, cultural, economic and ecological wellbeing for fish harvesters, First Nations, and rural coastal communities
Establish local, decentralized, and inclusive governance and fisheries management, and more local, transparent ownership of fisheries access
Protect the independence of active fishermen
Rebuild and protect fish stocks for current and future generations
Prioritize First Nations reconciliation
Quantify – tell the “truth” – of the real cost of the privatization of fisheries
Build a healthy fishing industry that can support the next generation of harvesters – particularly youth – and enable older fish harvesters to retire, with dignity
Provide fairness for impacted parties in any licensing transition

These principles can also be seen as the foundation for the vision for BC fisheries, as they reflect the outcomes that participants want to see from policy reform, not just the guiding themes for the reform process.

Attendees also called for official recognition of the negative impacts that have arisen from the current policy, an immediate stop to current policy practices related to license and quota sales to non-fishing entities, and, the need for urgency – a review should be done within 6 months.