I'm very optimistic about the current state of the Canadian fishing industry even though the past decade has been difficult. With the decline of groundfish stocks on the east coast and salmon stocks on the west coast, our industry has gone through enormous changes. But it has emerged as a more rationalized and more competitive business sector. It has shown great versatility and has adapted well to changes in the resource base, shifting to more abundant and valuable species such as shellfish on the Atlantic coast.
In fact, since 1990, despite a 30% drop in catch levels, the overall value of Canada's fisheries reached $2.8 billion (CDN), an increase of about 65 %. In addition, Canada's exports of fish and seafood products have been steadily increasing in recent years, reaching an all-time high of $4.2 billion (CDN) in 2001. This includes a significant increase in exports of aquaculture products.
Even with the difficulties of the past decade, Canada's fishing industry has shown resilience and strength, and I am optimistic about the future of this sector.
What would you say is the future for the local based fishing economies?
Many coastal communities in Canada were hit hard by the decline in some species, but the government is working hard to ensure that they continue to survive and is encouraging greater diversification of these economies. There is no doubt that these communities need to be less dependent on the fishery in the future and that this transition has been, and will continue to be, difficult.
However, there are also many communities that have prospered as a result of the shift in resource base, and the increase in catch levels of other species since the early 1990s. Our job is to ensure the sustainable management of the fisheries resources upon which they depend to give these communities a solid economic base for the future.
The growth in Canada's aquaculture sector also provides much needed jobs for our fish plants and an increase in economic prosperity to many communities.
Local inshore fishing is in decline, will you turn your attentions to a distant water fleet?
The Canadian fishing fleet is still overwhelmingly made up of smaller inshore vessels and there is no intent to develop a distant water fleet. In fact, it is wrong to consign the inshore fleet to an economic graveyard for, while the groundfish resource has declined, the growing harvest of shellfish has filled the gap by creating benefits and jobs. For example, statistics from Newfoundland, home of our largest inshore fleet, show that income for this fleet has more than doubled, with average annual revenues for boats under 35' going from about $19,000 in the late 1980s, to over $38,000 in 2002.
As long as our management decisions are based on conservation considerations and scientific advice, we believe that our inshore fleets and coastal communities can continue to prosper. Unfortunately, however, not all fish stocks upon which our communities depend are completely within our control. Transboundary stocks, for example, are managed in cooperation with other nations that fish them and their commitment to conservation is vitally important for the survival of our communities.
Our recent efforts to address non-compliance with conservation measures and overfishing of shrimp stocks in NAFO Division 3L, by closing our ports to the Faroese and Estonian fishing fleets, have an impact on our communities as well. This, however, underlines our commitment to conservation and the fact that we will not tolerate persistent violations of conservation measures that have been adopted to protect and rebuild fish stocks. Responsible fisheries management requires the same commitment from all fishing nations. The preservation of fisheries resources is important not just for coastal communities in Canada, but also for coastal communities worldwide.
How many people are working in the industry compared to 20 years ago?
Over the past 20 years, employment in Canada's fishing industry has steadily declined, largely as a result of a successful effort to reduce capacity in our fisheries and pressure on our stocks.
Following the decline of groundfish stocks on the east coast and salmon stocks on the west coast in the early 1990s, the Canadian government introduced several programs to rationalize the industry and help diversify local economies. As a result, Canada's fishing fleets have been reduced by approximately 33 per cent on the Atlantic coast and 26 per cent on the Pacific coast compared to the late 1980s.
Overall, the numbers of fishers have gone from about 86,000 in 1988 to about 56,000 currently working in the industry. On the Pacific coast, we saw the numbers of registered fishers drop by almost 58% compared to 28% on the Atlantic coast. Employment in the processing sector has seen an overall decline of about 10% since the late 1980s, with the Pacific coast experiencing a drop of almost 30%.
How important will fish farming be to the industry and how would you evaluate this sector on a worldwide scale?
Over the past decade, the contribution of fish farming, or aquaculture, to world fisheries production has been growing steadily. It now accounts for one-third of all the fish that end up on our plates. With global demand increasing and natural stocks already at or over their peak capture potential, aquaculture is going to play a bigger and bigger role in meeting the world's future food needs.
Aquaculture is one part of the seafood production sector. It is complementary to the wild fishery. We think aquaculture activities, such as the rearing of aquatic organisms for marine and freshwater enhancement and live holding in sea pens, add value to the wild fishery and present opportunities for better integration within the seafood production sector.
What are your views on deep-sea fishing and is this something that you are looking into?
Canada's fisheries are primarily inshore although we do have offshore fleets that fish for southern albacore tuna far off our Pacific coast, as well as fleets that fish for tuna and swordfish off our Atlantic coast. We also have offshore fleets that target groundfish and shrimp on our continental shelf in waters 250 to 300 miles off our East Coast.
We have no intention to expand our activities beyond these areas where we have traditionally fished. Our primary interest is to ensure the sustainability of our fisheries, and the conservation of the stocks upon which our communities depend.
Some of these stocks, however, are transboundary stocks and other nations also fish them. To ensure the health of these resources, there must be stronger international cooperation and commitment to conservation. We can not stand by and allow some fleets to decimate stocks that are key to the economic prosperity of coastal communities worldwide. All fishing nations must take tough action against violations and work to strengthen responsible fishing practices on the high seas. This is in all of our interest.
What is the main structure of the industry at the moment?
The Canadian fishing industry is made up of harvesters and processors, represented by a number of independent organizations.
The harvesting sector, or the Canadian fishing fleet, is composed of inshore, mid-shore and offshore fleet sectors, with 60% of vessels operating in the inshore fisheries. The inshore and mid-shore fleets are predominantly comprised of independent fishers, while the offshore fleet is mostly made up of integrated processing companies.
Fishing volume in Canada fell quite dramatically in the mid 90s and then increased again. Explain the factors behind these changes.
Historically, nearly half of Atlantic Canada's fishery was dominated by groundfish. When a number of those stocks collapsed, overall landings declined. A moratorium on northern cod, which for centuries had been our largest resource -- was declared in 1992. In addition, Pacific salmon stocks were also in a state of decline in the mid 90s.
Since 1995, however, there has been an increase in landings in the Atlantic fisheries due to a shift to shellfish fisheries, as well as limited opportunities in the groundfish fisheries following the recovery of some stocks. Overall, landings in Atlantic Canada went from a little over 638,000 tonnes in 1995 to over 830,000 tonnes in 2000, with shellfish accounting for over 50% of the landings. On the Pacific coast, however, overall landings have declined since 1995, going from over 222,000 tonnes to a little over 143,000 tonnes in 2000.
The value of Canada's fisheries is about $2.8 billion (CDN), an increase of about 65 per cent since 1990. In addition, Canada's exports of fish and seafood products reached an all-time high of $4.2 billion (CDN) in 2001.
Europe is facing problems with North Sea cod that Canada has already experienced, what advice would you give to the EU in attempting to solve these problems?
My best advice is for the EU and its member states to take actions that show that they take conservation seriously. They need to heed the advice of science, take a precautionary approach to fisheries management and take a tough stand against violation of conservation measures -- whether those violations occur in domestic fisheries or on the high seas.
If there is one country in the world that clearly understands how difficult it is to impose strict conservation measures and reduce catch limits and close down fisheries, it's Canada. But no matter how difficult it is to impose tough measures, it pales in comparison to the difficulties that will result if stocks are totally depleted because of greed or carelessness. Unfortunately, that's a likely outcome unless fishing nations around the world change their ways, not just their words.
There must be a strong commitment to conserving and rebuilding fish stocks worldwide. It is absolutely essential to think ahead, to balance economic desires with resource realities and to improve our understanding of the resource to ensure the sustainable management of our fisheries and the longer-term stability and prosperity of our coastal communities.
What is your view on the Common Fisheries Policy?
I want to commend the EU for the work that has been done in reviewing the Common Fisheries Policy. The Green Paper is a very frank discussion of the problems facing the fisheries. I genuinely hope that the EU will proceed with implementing this policy.
This review, in fact, parallels our own Atlantic Fisheries Policy Review. We believe that the future of our fisheries depends on putting conservation first and sharing stewardship of our resources. The responsible management of fisheries must include an open and inclusive process in which all involved players work together to develop, and decide upon, management plans and conservation measures aimed at protecting and rebuilding fish stocks that are vital to their livelihood.
I can't make the point strongly enough that new approaches, based on conservation requirements, are critical to responsible fisheries management. And, fishing nations around the world must do more than simply talk about conservation. We need to 'walk the talk' and prove by our actions that we're committed to the sustainable management of fish stocks, the reversal of declines.
How can we have a more sustainable industry worldwide while at the same time provide a profitable industry for fishermen?
The tools for effective fisheries management are in our grasp. The UN Fish Stocks Agreement and the FAO Compliance Agreement are a few key tools which, if fully implemented, can lead to more effective and sustainable fisheries. The difficulty is crafting the political will to guarantee a sustainable fishery. We have come to the conclusion in Canada that conservation must come first to ensure our fisheries not only survive, but thrive. It's not easy putting socio-economic concerns in the back seat, but they can't be allowed to take precedence over sound management decisions based on the best advice we get from our scientists.
The FAO has identified some of the factors that cause global depletion of fish stocks.
It has pointed at fishing industry overcapacity and subsidies that lead to keeping vessels on the water. Another cause is inadequate control of fishing activity, which results in unchecked overfishing.
Is Canada looking to stimulate international partnerships with other countries around the world, and do you think there is likely to be more of these agreements in the future generally in the industry?
Canada is always looking to increase international partnerships and cooperation aimed at promotingresponsible fishing practices and strengthening conservation and protection of fisheries resources, particularly resources on the high seas.
It is unfortunate, however, that sometimes there is a lack of political will to take tough measures. For example, at the recent special meeting in
Denmark in January, despite the best available scientific advice, NAFO decided to increase the catch level for Greenland halibut from 40,000t to 44,000t, while not adopting certain measures which would have helped reduce bycatches of species under moratoria in this fishery.
This decision went against the advice from the NAFO Scientific Council.
In addition to this, Canada has very serious concerns with the growing trend towards non-compliance of conservation measures in the NAFO Regulatory Area. Our efforts over the next little while will be aimed at strengthening cooperation and international commitment to address these issues, to rebuild and protect fish stocks and to strengthen responsible fishing practices.
All major fishing nations must work as a team to end overfishing on the high seas. We will all lose if that doesn't happen.
Putting the U.N. Fish Stocks Agreement into action is essential to this effort and to the responsible management of international fisheries. Every major fishing nation needs to ratify this agreement if there's going to be progress.
What are your views on the commercial fishing industry worldwide and how would you say it is developing?
The challenges facing the commercial fishing industry are similar all over the world.
There are limited resources, too much dependency and too much capacity.
In addition, there is inadequate control over the fishing activity of some fleets, which results in overfishing.
However, there are opportunities. Over the past few years, the fishing industry has become more and more involved in making decisions that affect the resource.
The key is to build greater respect for the resource and the conservation measures that have been adopted to conserve and protect them.
We need to work together with those who depend on the resource to strengthen responsible fishing practices worldwide, and to safeguard their economic prosperity for the future.
Canada is already well on its way towards this end.
Our industry is the first in the world to adopt a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing Operations, which reflects a new co-operative effort to improve harvesting and fisheries management practices. Written by fishermen for fishermen, Canada's Code, which is based on the FAO's International Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, has now been ratified by over 80 fish harvester organizations from all regions and fishing sectors throughout Canada, accounting for over 90% of the commercially harvested fish and seafood in the country.
In addition we have made some very difficult decisions to reduce capacity in our industry and to protect resources in our waters.
