Halibut - The Hammer Falls

[BigIron]

In a recent letter (of which I only have a PDF copy - anyone that can enlighten me on how to post??) Fisheries Minister Gail Shea responds to the SFAB regarding the halibut situation.

In its' contents:

- The Fisheries Minister formally rejects the consensus proposal for a compensated transfer of halibut allocation between the commercial and recreational sectors put forward last year by the two harvest sectors, First Nations and the Province of BC. It says that since the proposal “poses difficult financial and legal risks for the department” “the existing allocation framework will remain with an 88:12 sharing arrangement and provisions for agreed adjustments.”

- No explanation for "“provisions for agreed adjustments.” While this may be taken to mean that the Recreational Sector can continue to lease quota from the commercial sector, the only source of revenue to accomplish that will soon be exhausted and is unlikely to provide enough halibut to allow a full recreational season, even with a continuation of restrictions similar to those imposed last year.

- Government has decided that the private property rights it has given commercial quota holders take precedence over recreational access, even though each pound of recreationally caught halibut brings far more social and economic value to the coastal economy.

- The letter concludes by asking the SFAB to “renew our efforts toward finding an acceptable approach”. But they have closed the door to any further discussion regarding adjustment of the current quota "sharing".

- The letter makes clear that the department has abandoned any hope of finding a long term solution to the current allocation dilemma. The Minister is either unable or unwilling to exercise what we are told repeatedly is her absolute discretion with respect to allocation.

So there it is. No long term solution, status quo rules the day (no real surprise I guess). Given the Department's complete lack of willingness last season to procure additional quota at cost (as laid out by Formal Agreement), this cannot spell anything but bad news for those who like to sportfish for halibut.

As noted above, I would welcome any advice as to just how to post the pdf letter. In the interim, any that request a copy of that is free to Email me.

Nog

[BigIron]

Figured it out...

[~SteadyGirl~]

Is hallibut fishing really a long term issue? I am suprised there is still any viability to the canadian fisheries. Worrying about quotas seems a bit redundant when there are no substancial numbers of halibut to catch in the first place

[BigIron]

Originally Posted by ~SteadyGirl~

Is hallibut fishing really a long term issue? I am suprised there is still any viability to the canadian fisheries. Worrying about quotas seems a bit redundant when there are no substancial numbers of halibut to catch in the first place

Woah! Easy there Gal!
Dunno just where you dug up that "there are no substantial numbers of halibut to catch in the first place" line?? In fact the halibut populations off our West Coast aren't doing too bad at all. Kinda reflected in the 7.5 Million Pounds set as a "conservative" quota by the International Halibut Commission. They, in fact, are doing MUCH better than most other targeted species. Substantial numbers? You Betcha there is!

The real (and perhaps underlying) issue here isn't focused so much on the health of the population (which as stated is in pretty good shape). Rather the gist is this:
- A few years back now Fed Fish (and the Gov of the day - subsequently supported by the next elected) decided in their lack of wisdom to freely hand over (that's right, no cost to those who benefited) Eighty-Eight Percent of the allowable catch (TAC) over to commercial interests, while allowing a mere twelve percent of that to reside with the recreational fleet. What this was in fact was a free transfer of Public Resources from the public sector into the hands of Commercial Enterprise. That's right, the halibut belonged to ALL Canadians. But with this freebie transfer, the resource was demoted to a Commodity, which rapidly became a very valuable one at that! That drew the interest of Big Business, which of course escalated the value of the commodity even higher.

Jump forward to today, and the recreational sector is having difficulty in adhering to it's 12% (let's not go into the amount of over-run originating from US ports for the moment). So, there has been a focused effort to try and attain a more even share of the quota for the sport fleet. That was shot down in flames by our current Minister via the above letter.

When the deal that favoured the commercial interests was struck, DFO promised there would be NO shut down of the rec fleet as a consequence. As in the way of most Federal promises, that was tossed out with the bath water last year, and we continue to live under an active closure now well past the historic sport fleet opening. Another promise was that, in the case of potential over-runs, DFO would act as a clearing house of sorts by procuring additional quota from the commercial fleet with funding provided by the Sport Fishing Community. Another broken promise. Last year when it became obvious that there would likely be an over-run, DFO was directed to do just that. They refused, and reacted by closing the sport fishery early. Two broken promises in one fell swoop. Ah, but it is DFO after all...

The value of sport caught halibut GREATLY outweighs that of commercially caught. But DFO refuses to acknowledge the biggest bang for the buck lies in that direction, choosing instead to cater to the huge interests that now control this once publicly owned commodity. You will note in the letter above the Department's concern over "financial and legal risks" associated with altering the status quo of the quota. They made promises to the commercial fleet they are not willing to break, whereas the same cannot be said for the recreational sector. That, and the commercial interests are now so large the Government itself runs in fear from their angst.

Is halibut fishing really a long term issue? I don't know where you live, but strongly suggest you might want to visit a few of the coastal towns in BC. You'll find it enlightening methinks. Based upon promises of access, there have sprung up a great number of lodges, guides and businesses focused on catering to the sport fishing interest. That came about pretty well as the downturn in commercial fishing was threatening to devastate many of those small communities, and was in fact a life-saving Godsend to their survival. Many of these communities will now suffer greatly as a consequence of DFO's bumbling. The places I frequent and live in are amongst those. Port Alberni, Bamfield, Ucluelet, Tofino and so many more are now largely based on tourism, that in turn largely based on sport fishing. I myself am a guide, and this act very much threatens my livelihood. At what cost? So that a handful of Fat-Cat armchair quota holders garner even more padding to their already bulging wallets. Long term issue? Ask me again when they start rolling up the businesses, the lodges, the guides and eventually the streets in many of those communities that base so much on sport fishing for their basic survival. Personally, Yes. VERY long term in that I, at 50, will likely have to find a new line of work.

All in all a rather sad situation. One brought to life by grievous political mistakes of the past, and continued by the complete lack of both common sense and spine in our existing government.

So no Steady, the halibut populations are not in trouble. This is a matter of allocation, FAIR allocation that is. And yes, this erroneous decision will have long lasting and far reaching consequences.

Iron

[BigIron]

Latest:

February 22, 2009

The Honourable Gail Shea
Minister, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6

Honourable Minister;

I am writing you today to express my deep concern and confusion over your February 12th decision delivered to the SFAB regarding the 2009 Halibut fishery.

Frankly Minister I am at a loss to understand how you could so totally ignore the facts in this matter. As I had noted to you in previous correspondence regarding our meeting in January, I, and the others attending actually believed you comprehended the information we gave you on this issue.

We, the representatives for the recreational sector, have bent over backwards in an attempt to reach the type of management regime your predecessors and now it appear you, demanded. We spent countless days in travel and meetings with your officials and representatives, we thought, from the commercial sector coming to a number of mutual agreements for the management of the Halibut fishery. In every instance, after the agreement was reached, the commercial sector breached or ignored that agreement. Now your government has spent over a year, reviewing the latest proposal that we jointly put forward and the commercial sector has again breached, and after a year, you reject it out of hand.

To say this is unsatisfactory would be the understatement of the century. Your playing Pontius Pilot with this issue will not resolve it and I can assure you will amount to nothing more than throwing gasoline on the flames.

At a time when your government is making continuous claims about your concerns over losing jobs in Canada and the need to keep our economy stable and growing, you make a decision that will ensure the loss of hundreds of jobs in the recreational fishing industry in 2009. Moreover we will see losses in the millions of dollars to the British Columbian and Canadian economies because of your decision.

The amount of Halibut needed to maintain a viable and vibrant recreational fishery amounts to far less than the commercial sector will leave in the water in 2009. A transfer of this amount would cost the commercial sector nothing but would, as noted, have saved hundreds of jobs in the recreational industry as well as create an infusion of tens of millions of dollars into our economy. This is hardly living up to your duty to achieve the highest possible return to the people of Canada for the use of their fishery resource.

Either your staff failed to tell you or you have chosen to ignore the fact that at the recent meetings of the International Pacific Halibut Commission the processing industry advised the Commission that they currently have in storage some 10 million pounds of Halibut from last years harvest. That is more than all of the 2008 B.C. allocation and over 30% more than the total 2009 harvest. Every indication was given that commercial halibut prices were going to be but a shadow of what they were in 2008. In fact the processors made it clear that they cannot even sell their current stock even at ex-vessel prices, never mind at wholesale prices.

Yet you chose to allocate this valuable public resource to the lowest possible use for 2009.

Moreover you continue to support the practice of giving this resource to a major portion of the commercial quota holders who do not even fish for them. Of the 435 holders of commercial Halibut quota in 2008, only 168 actually fished for Halibut. The majority Halibut quota holders, 267 take this resource that was gifted to them by the government and sit on the beach while they collect rent for a Canadian resource from the few who are actually willing to go to sea and fish. All fish allocated to and caught by recreational fishers are taken by the anglers themselves not by third parties..

Madam Minister you are perpetrating a farce and supporting the lowest possible benefit to Canadians for the use of their resource. I ask you to immediately reverse your position and provide for the 2009 recreational Halibut fishery to proceed as it should and create an atmosphere and a basis for development of a rational long term management plan.

Yours in conservation.


Bill Otway
P.O. Box 326
Merritt, B.C.
V1K 1B8

Cc Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Cc Randy Kamp
Cc Hon Stockwell Day
Cc Lawrance MacCauley
Cc Peter Stoffer
Cc Gary Breitkreuz
Hon Gerry St. Germain
Cc Harry Lali
Cc Premier Gordon Campbell
Cc Carol James
Cc Bill Bennett
Cc Kevin Kruger
Cc Robin Austin
Cc Ralph Sultan
Cc Dan Cody
Cc Members of the B.C. Wildlife Federation and the SFAB

I agree rather strongly with Bill on this one, and will be firing off a few letters of support. Those that feel the same should rightly consider doing the same.

Cheers,
Nog