Fisheries management decision-making
Purpose
To provide an introductory overview of:
- Canada’s fisheries resources
- the fisheries decision-making process
DFO manages over 200 fisheries on three coasts
Description
DFO manages more than 200 fisheries on Canada’s three coasts. Stocks include: Snow Crab, Surfclam and Scallops, Lobster, Mackerel, Shrimp, Arctic Char, Herring, Albacore Tuna, Pacific Salmon, and Pacific hake.
In 2017, the value of commercial landing for groundfish totaled approximately $400 million, $190 million for Pelagic, $3.2 billion for shellfish, and $15 million for other stocks. [See Excel table for exact numbers.]
Description
Type of Fisheries | Landing Value |
---|---|
Groundfish | 402,539,000 |
Pelagics | 190,208,000 |
Shellfish | 3,189,059,000 |
Other | 15,651,000 |
- Three types of fisheries: commercial; recreational; and Indigenous food, social and ceremonial (FSC)
- Some fisheries operate in a specific season, while others are year-round
Mandate
The Government of Canada has federal jurisdiction over coastal and inland fisheries, and the Fisheries Act gives the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard authority over fish harvesting decisions. As Minister, you have the authority to determine:
How much is fished
- Through the annual total allowable catch (TAC)
Who gets to fish
- By granting access to harvest or use fisheries resources, authorized through a permit or licence
- By determining allocation – the amount or share of the resource (e.g., individual and/or fleet) distributed among those with access
When
- the times and seasons for fishing
How stocks can be fished
- through management measures and harvesting plans to ensure conservation of resource (e.g., gear type and quantity, monitoring and reporting requirements)
Provinces have responsibility for fish processing and have been delegated responsibility for most inland and freshwater fisheries
International responsibilities
The Department also has international fisheries responsibilities – more than 20 per cent of Canada’s fish stocks are managed in cooperation with international counterparts, either through bilateral or multilateral arrangements (see Annex)
Seven regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs); Numerous bilateral agreements; and, Observer / cooperating non- contracting party to others
Impacts on Canadians
Fisheries management decisions have a range of impacts on coastal communities and Canadians as a whole. These include:
Commercial
Enabling continued prosperity from fish and seafood while supporting a stable and sustainable fishing industry
Environmental
Ensuring sustainable resource management and conservation objectives grounded in science
Indigenous and Cultural
Advancing reconciliation, supporting Indigenous and Treaty Rights, and working towards collaborative management
Recreational
Promoting stewardship, public awareness about conservation, and generating important socio-economic benefits for coastal communities
Ministerial decisions for fisheries management
Decisions must adhere to the following principles:- Conservation
- Legally-binding agreements
- Indigenous and Treaty Rights
- Orderly Management
In practice, many decisions (e.g., management actions, TAC, quota transfers, opening and closures) are sub-delegated to regional authorities (i.e., Regional Directors General). However, Ministerial decisions are required for:
- New fishing licences
- New or deviation from existing policy
- Discrepancy in science advice and TAC recommendation
- Multi-regional fishery
- Land Claims Management Board decisions/recommendations
- Objectives for key international fisheries negotiations
Decision-making is informed by:
Science advice
Peer reviewed science advice on stock status, TAC, and other conservation measures
Socio-economic considerations
Analysis of short- and long-term impacts of fisheries decisions on the fishing industry and reliant communities
Fishery policies
Sustainable Fisheries Framework (see Annex) which includes the precautionary approach
Stakeholder consultations
A broad set of advisory processes involving, Indigenous partners (co-managers), fishing industry participants, the provinces, and relationships with commercial, recreational, and environmental groups
Indigenous and cultural considerations
Indigenous knowledge offered voluntarily, and impacts on coastal
Annual fisheries management cycle
DFO exercises authority over domestic fishing activity and harvest levels
1. Planning
- Implementation planning for changes to the fishery
- Identification of science needs
- Harvesting plan review and
- Review of the effectiveness of fishery measures and enforcement against objectives
- Quota
2. Consultative Process
- Science advice
- Consultative process with Indigenous partners and other stakeholder groups
3. Pre-season Preparations
- Licence conditions, quota allocations, TAC decisions, notice to fishers, etc.
4. Fishing season
- Fisheries opening & closing
- Quota monitoring & management
- Compliance & enforcement
5. Post-season review
- Review of the effectiveness of fishery measures and enforcement against objectives
- Quota reconciliation
Sample Timelines
Description
Fisheries management decisions are on an annual basis, with different timelines for different stocks:
- For Pacific Herring Commercial Roe, consultations on the overall management approach and ministerial decisions (e.g., harvest levels) are made in late fall. Notice to harvesters are issued between January and February the following year, before the fishery opens in March. A post season assessment is carried out in May, and science advice for the next season is provided by the Department in September/October.
- For Snow Crab, consultations (including North Atlantic Right Whale Roundtables) take place in late fall, with ministerial decisions sought on measures to protect NARW in addition to snow crab harvest levels and allocations. Notice to harvesters are issued between January/February, before the fishery opens in March/April. A post season assessment is carried out in the summer, and science advice for the next season is provided by the Department in September/October.
- For Atlantic commercial fisheries in general, a typical season begins with science advice in November/December, consultations in January/February, and ministerial decisions on management measures and notice to harvesters in March/April, before fisheries open in Spring. Fisheries close towards the end of summer, and is followed by post season assessments.
*IFMP = Integrated Fisheries Management
Partners and stakeholders
- Longstanding and extensive fisheries advisory processes for the major fisheries through which input is sought:
- Indigenous groups, Industry (harvesters and processors), and provinces generally attend these sessions
- Environmental and conservation groups participate on the west coast and are becoming more active on the east coast
- Smaller working groups to collaborate on specific projects
- In addition to formal processes, partners and stakeholders are regularly connected to regional DFO officials, and frequently contact the Minister’s office directly on fisheries issues
Indigenous and treaty related fishing rights
- The Department has legal obligations to Indigenous groups under the Constitution and court decisions: Marshall, Sparrow, Ahousaht
- There are unique fisheries management decision processes for Land Claims Groups outlined in legally-binding agreements.
- Some Indigenous groups may require separate meetings on a subject matter, outside the advisory process
- Many Indigenous groups are seeking an increased decision-making role in commercial fisheries, and pressing for access/allocation and/or funding to enhance commercial fishing opportunities
Annex – Sustainable Fisheries Framework
The Sustainable Fisheries Framework (SFF) is the foundation for an ecosystem approach to fisheries, which aims to consider the impacts of fishing on all components of the aquatic environment. The SFF consists of various policies and tools:
- Precautionary Approach Framework (includes the development of Rebuilding Plans)
- Specific Policies (e.g., sensitive benthic areas; new fisheries for forage species; by-catch)
- Sustainable Fisheries Survey
- Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs)
- The SFF continues to evolve as new legislation, policies, and tools are created.
- New fish stock provisions in the Fisheries Act will create obligations to document the decision-making process for prescribed fish stocks, and if needed, to publish the culture and/or socio-economic rationale for taking certain decisions
Annex – Precautionary Approach
- Taking cautious decisions to avoid serious harm to the resource in the absence of scientific information or when scientific information is uncertain, unreliable or inadequate
Limit Reference Point (LRP)
- The threshold below which a total level of harvest could result in serious harm to the stock
- Typically the trigger for rebuilding plans
Upper Stock Reference Point (USR)
- The threshold below which removals must be progressively reduced in order to avoid reaching the LRP
Description
The PA framework is presented as a plot with three possible status zones for a fish stock: critical, cautious, and healthy, with status stock on the x-axis and removal rate on the y-axis. The LRP marks the intersection between the critical and cautious zone, while the USR marks the intersection between the cautious and healthy zone. The Removal Reference (in the healthy zone) is the maximum acceptable removal rate for the stock.
Annex – Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs)
- Development and implementation of IFMPs represent the process through which decisions are managed
- IFMPs document:
- Planning cycle
- Fishery objectives
- Management decisions and measures
- Opening times, size and retention limits, and gear restrictions
- Enforcement and control measures
- At-sea observation, dockside monitoring and catch reporting
- Indigenous participation and departmental obligations through Land Claims
- IFMP objectives: established for all major fisheries, evergreen (some in Pacific Region are annual or multi-year), made public and accessible*
*increasingly online as committed in response to the 2016 Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Audit
Annex – International fisheries management
- A broad range of economically-significant fish stocks are managed through international arrangements. These provide forums for cooperation on enforcement and science, and in many cases, agreement on fisheries management decisions, including Canadian shares of a fishery
- Canada is a member of seven regional fisheries management organizations (see maps next slide)
- We are also a member of numerous bilateral agreements
- Pacific Salmon Commission (PSC) – Canada-US
- International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) – Canada-US
- Pacific Hake Treaty – Canada-US
- Pacific Albacore Tuna Treaty – Canada-US
- Procès-verbal (PV) – Canada-France
- Georges Bank Stocks (non-binding arrangement) – Canada-US
- And an observer / cooperating non-contracting party to others
- North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission (NAMMCO)
- International Whaling Commission (IWC)
- North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC)
- Canada, with other signatories, is leading on implementation of the multi-lateral agreement for the prevention of unregulated high seas fisheries in the central Arctic Ocean
Annex – Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs)
Deep Sea RFMOs
- North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO)
- Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO)
- North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC)
- North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC)
Tuna RFMOs
- North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC)
- Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC)
- Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)
- International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)
Annex – Types and locations of species
Pelagic Fish (caught near surface)
- Herring
- Mackerel
- Tuna
Groundfish (caught near ocean floor)
- Halibut
- Atlantic Cod
- Haddock
Shellfish (caught on ocean floor)
- Snow Crab
- Lobster
- Shrimp
Annex - Main fishing gear types
Fixed gear
- Stationary while fishing
- Untended for a period of time after it is set
Trap or Pot
- Individual, or a string of up to 50, cages with a funnel-like opening that are set on the seafloor to capture shellfish or groundfish
- Hauled using a vertical line made visible on the surface by attaching one or more buoys
Gillnets
- Create a wall of nearly invisible netting that entangle fish by their gills
- May be anchored or set adrift (Canadian gillnets are always anchored)
Longlines
- Composed of a long main line with smaller baited lines extending from it
- Mainline may be anchored or set adrift
Mobile gear
- Actively moving while fishing
- Attached to a fishing vessel and tended
Seine Nets
- Composed of a wall of nearly invisible netting which is mobile while fishing
- Canadian fisheries use primarily and purse seines, which can be closed to prevent fish from escaping while being hauled up
Trawl or Dredge
- Dragged behind a vessel to capture fish and shellfish
- A dredge is composed of a metal basket which is hauled along the seafloor to capture bottom-dwellers
- A trawl is composed of synthetic
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