Inshore Scallop - Maritimes Region

8. SHARED STEWARDSHIP

The Advisory Committees provide a forum for the industry to provide recommendations on management measures and to address operational fisheries management issues. These committees are used by the industry to bring forward specific issues and concerns for discussion by the sectors. Working Groups are used to focus on a particular issue.

The representation of individual fleet interests at the advisory committee meetings has been strengthened through the development of associations to represent the fleet licence holders. The Full Bay Scallop Association represents 85% of Full Bay licences, the Mid Bay is represented by three associations (Fundy North Fisherman’s Association, Grand Manan Fisherman’s Association and Alma Fisherman’s Association) and the Upper Bay fleet by the Upper Bay fisherman’s Association. The industry and DFO continue to use the collaborative planning structures such as advisory committees and working groups to increase industry participation in the decision making process.

The inshore scallop fishery participates in a third party monitoring program. All fleets are required to hail out, hail in, have landings verified at dockside and submit logbooks.

In conjunction with DFO Science and the support of Fisheries Management the Bay of Fundy fleets initiated a port sampling program to determine catch profiles and manage percentages of small scallops ( <11g) in the catch. Although this program stopped several years ago, a monthly sampling program was initiated for a period of time with the industry providing the vessel and crew for the collection of information for DFO.

The Full Bay fleet and eligible East of Baccaro licence holders collaborated in a 3 year Joint Project Agreements (JPA) with DFO and NRC to conduct seas bed mapping which as mentioned earlier in this plan assists in minimizing benthic impact. Since 2001 these fleets have worked in partnership with DFO to conduct the stock assessment surveys in SFA 29 West.

In 2012 the Fisheries Act was amended, granting the Minister the authority to allocate fish or fishing gear/equipment for the purpose of financing scientific or fisheries management activities (Section 10) which is commonly referred to as “Use of Fish” through a Collaborative Agreement (“Joint Project Agreement”). This legislative amendment provides DFO with another means to partner with stakeholders and Aboriginal groups to achieved shared objectives.

Since 2013, the industry has used Fisheries Act Section 10 “Use of Fish” to fund the SFA 29 West stock assessment survey. A specific amount of the approved TAC is reserved for Use of Fish. Based on their percentage share of the quota, licence holders that indicate they want to participate pay a set fee per pound for their share of that reserved quota amount. The funds are collected by the two associations and submitted to DFO for the Science assessment survey. The appropriate amount of quota is allocated to the participating licence holders.

In 2014 the Full Bay Fleet conducted a scallop abundance survey in the unfished area of SFA 29 West and a report will be provided to DFO for review and comment. The industry will be presenting the results of the survey at a SFA 29 West advisory committee meeting.

Inshore Scallop fleet representatives participate fully in the RAP processes.

9. COMPLIANCE MANAGEMENT PLAN

9.1 Conservation and Protection Program Description

The management of Canadian fisheries requires an integrated approach to monitoring, control and surveillance that involves the deployment of fishery officers to air, sea and land patrols; observer coverage on fishing vessels; dockside monitoring; and remote electronic monitoring.

Conservation and Protection activities are designed to ensure compliance with the legislation, policies and fishing plans relating to the conservation and sustainable use of the resource. The C&P National Compliance Framework describes a three pillar approach to the sustainability of this and other fisheries. The pillars are respectively, Education/Shared Stewardship: Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS); and Major Case Management. The full framework is available upon request.

9.2 Regional Compliance Program Delivery

Compliance in the Inshore Scallop fishery is achieved through the application of the Fisheries Act, the Fishery (General) Regulations and the Atlantic Fishery Regulations by Fishery Officers.

The following offers a general description of compliance activities carried out by C&P in the Inshore Scallop Fishery.

• C&P has recently adopted an “intelligence-led” approach to compliance monitoring in all fisheries. Information will be continuously gathered and assessed to determine trends in compliance issues and assessed regularly.
• Land-based Fishery Officers conduct:
  • dockside checks of landings and weigh-outs
  • licence checks
  • overt and covert patrols to ensure compliance during both open and closed seasons
  • and utilize program vessels to conduct at-sea boardings.
• C&P staff carries out investigations into reports of large scale fraud and collusion. This may involve interaction with other federal, provincial and municipal government agencies.
• During sea patrols, Fishery Officers conduct vessel inspections to check inshore scallop gear and catch.
• Dedicated Midshore Fisheries Patrol Vessels (MSPV’s) became operational in 2014. These provide a resource that increases DFO’s capacity to conduct patrols in these areas. Tasking is based on MCS priorities and intelligence-led enforcement.
• C&P Detachment Supervisors prepare a work plan each year in which they allocate human, material and fiscal resources and establish priorities, amongst which are included in the Inshore Scallop Fishery.
• Much of the Inshore Scallop Fleet is subject to a VMS requirement. C&P staff assesses compliance and investigate anomalies. The VMS system also aides C&P in more effective resource utilisation.
• C&P assures quality control in Dockside Monitoring Program (DMP) through dockside checks and investigation of incidents related to dockside observer performance and regular audits of the Dockside Monitoring Companies (DMC’s). C&P usually resolves irregularities in collaboration with dockside monitoring companies but reserves the right to recommend revocation of designation in serious cases of unprofessional or incompetent observer conduct.
• C&P (in consultation with Resource Management) reserves the right to request at-sea observer coverage where circumstances dictate. In the past, observer coverage has been used in sensitive fishing areas or to address catch reporting anomalies. There has been frequent observer coverage in Scallop Fishing Area 29 in recent years (coverage increased significantly in 2009 as part of a by-catch study).
• C&P’s role in respect to at-sea observers is similar dockside monitoring. The observers are employed by a third party; however, C&P is responsible for quality control and data analysis. The same options exist for resolution of irregularities as for dockside observers.
• Routine aerial patrols and patrols based on intelligence-led enforcement occur in the areas covered by this plan. This is an effective means of ensuring compliance with seasonal and area closures as well as investigating reports of illegal activity.

9.3 Consultation

Shared stewardship and education are achieved in the inshore scallop fishery through a renewed emphasis on the importance of C&P communication with the community at large including:

• Presentations to client/stakeholder groups, including school visits or community programs.
• Informal interaction with all parties involved in the fishery on the wharf, during patrols or in the community to promote conservation.
• C&P may participate in enforcement advisory meetings with industry to determine expectations in relation to monitoring, control and surveillance activities.
• C&P engages in internal DFO consultation with Resource Management and other DFO branches through post season analysis and other committees to assess the effectiveness of enforcement activities and to develop recommendations for the upcoming season.
• Ongoing discussions with the industry occur on a regular basis at dockside as well as through ad hoc enforcement advisory committee meetings and changes to plans get implemented as required.

9.4 Compliance Performance

For Maritimes Region overall, Fishery Officers spend approximately 4% of their time in the Inshore Scallop fishery. However, for detachments where the level of inshore scallop activity is high in relation to other fisheries, this percentage is proportionally higher.

Fishery Officers also record other activities including the violations they detect. A summary of officer time, violations and observer coverage for 2009-2013 appears in Appendix 13.

9.5 Current Compliance Issues

The attached statistics, together with information from officers suggest compliance deficiencies. In particular, the frequency of attempts to circumvent catch reporting requirements, misreporting catch in the vessel monitoring document and the hail to DMC, and landing more scallops than reported. A number of instances where vessels fished in closed areas remain a serious concern. A number of the illegal offload cases involved instances where the licence holder had submitted a “non-offload” hail yet catch was removed from the hold upon arrival in port. Other cases involved attempts to offload catch before a dockside observer arrived or after they left. The closed area violations were diverse in nature but indicate that too many participants in this fishery are still willing to risk fishing in a closed area or during a close time.

Whereas many of the VMS issues were the result of electronic system problems and easily resolved, there were a number of cases where VMS stopped responding in close proximity to closed areas. This is a concern to C&P as it may be masking illegal activity in closed areas. Although licensing issues were also prominent in the list of violations, many of those involved unregistered crewmembers and were otherwise of lesser severity than reporting (Hail) or area violations.

The number of violations detected in 2013 is up considerably from 2012, though C&P’s statistics continue to indicate relatively infrequent convictions and low fine levels primarily because of an increase in numbers of warnings issued for violations of lesser severity, coupled with an increase in plea bargaining in favor of more severe violations. While C&P is prepared to seek higher impact penalties through targeted enforcement, court action is still costly in terms of officer time and money. The industry participants have a key role in supporting compliance promotion and enforcement activities. C&P will continue to engage stakeholders to identify strategies that will increase the deterrence of illegal activities, including industry impact statements to support increased fines and penalties.

9.6 Compliance Strategy

Annual work plans were already mentioned in the section on compliance program delivery. The following table summarizes the challenges in this fishery and strategies to address them as described by C&P detachment supervisors.

10. Evaluation, Monitoring and Plan Enhancement

To ensure information contained in this IFMP remains current and the objectives, strategies, and tactics within it remain appropriate, a performance review will be conducted annually and the plan will updated and enhanced as necessary as a living document. The review will include an assessment internal to DFO, as well as an industry working group drawn from Advisory Committee members to assist in the review of the plan. Any plan enhancements will be summarized annually as a separate appendix in this IFMP.

Current IFMP enhancements might include the requirement for additional information regarding the impact of the fishery on the habitat and by-catch in the fishery. As more information is available, it will be discussed through the advisory process by DFO and stakeholders, and integrated into the IFMP as appropriate.

The following table outlines the timetable for evaluation and monitoring so as to ensure the fishery is meeting the objectives outlined in Section 6. The Plan Enhancement column specifies areas of research, data limitations and policy development that will be improved upon to make further advances and improvements to the IFMP.

11. FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

11.1 Industry and/or Other Stakeholders

The inshore scallop fishery participants are responsible to pay the costs for licence fees, at-sea observer coverage, Dockside Monitoring Program, Vessel Monitoring System. The industry also pays for their own travel costs to consultative and advisory meetings. In the past few years the industry has contributed some funding for enhanced stock assessment surveys and other fishery sampling and data collection.

The industry fishing SFA 29 West of 65 30 pays the same fees as above but also contributes funding and in-kind for the annual science stock assessment survey for that area. Since 2013 this has been accomplished through a collaborative Agreement and Section 10 Use of Fish.

Recreational scallop fishery participants are responsible to pay licence fees.

11.2 Fisheries and Oceans Canada

DFO Branches involved with the fishery include Fisheries Management (Resource Management, Aboriginal Fisheries and Conservation and Protection) Policy and Economics, Oceans, and Science. Science allocates considerable resources for the inshore scallop fisheries which include personnel (indeterminate and seasonal staff), who are responsible for conducting stock surveys, analysis, data entry and sampling and provision of advice. C&P task their resources based on established enforcement priorities and ongoing fishing activity in the area.

12. SAFETY AT SEA

Vessel owners and masters have a duty to ensure the safety of their crew and vessel. Adherence to safety regulations and good practices by owners, masters and crew of fishing vessels will help save lives, protect the vessel from damage and protect the environment. All fishing vessels must be in a seaworthy condition and maintained as required by Transport Canada (TC), and other applicable agencies. Vessels subject to inspection should ensure that the certificate of inspection is valid for the area of intended operation.

In the federal government, responsibility for shipping, navigation, and vessel safety regulations and inspections lies with Transport Canada (TC); emergency response with the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) and DFO has responsibility for management of the fisheries resources while ensuring that safety at Sea is considered. DFO (Fisheries and Aquaculture Management (FAM) and CCG) and TC have an MOU to formalize cooperation and to establish, maintain and promote a safe culture within the fishing industry.

Before leaving on a voyage the owner, master or operator must ensure that the fishing vessel is capable of safely making the passage. Critical factors for a safe voyage include the seaworthiness of the vessel, vessel stability, having the required safety equipment in good working order, crew training, and knowledge of current and forecasted weather conditions.

Useful publications include Transport Canada Publication TP 10038 ‘Small Fishing Vessel Safety Manual’ which can be obtained from TC or printed from their website: https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/tp-tp10038-menu-548.htm

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