REPORT URGES LONG-TERM APPROACH TO B.C. SALMON FISHERY

VICTORIA – A long-term strategy toward sustainable, integrated fisheries management, as well as more stakeholder involvement, would benefit everyone involved in the Pacific salmon fishery, says a joint report commissioned by the federal and provincial governments released today.

The recommendations were received from the Joint Task Group on Post-Treaty Fisheries headed by British Columbia resource economist Dr. Peter Pearse and Ottawa law professor Donald McRae. The task group consulted with stakeholders in the fishery and recommended new management systems to accommodate the needs of commercial and recreational fishers and First Nations. 

The recommendations provide a vision of post-treaty fisheries to ensure access and a sustainable and profitable resource for all participants. While there are still challenges in the fishery and new approaches are required, the report endorses the current approach to negotiating fisheries components in treaties.

“The report’s forecast for the commercial salmon fishery is realistic,” said Geoff Regan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. “The recommended reforms represent fundamental change, but half measures will not restore the salmon industry to profitability. In keeping with the report’s emphasis on the need for industry to assume more responsibility, I will be asking stakeholders to provide advice on implementation and seeking their views on the best approaches to resolving the issues facing Canada’s Pacific fisheries.”

“My government wants to see a successful fishery in B.C., with treaty arrangements that can support an integrated, economically viable industry that creates employment and contributes to the sustainability of fish,” said Geoff Plant, B.C.’s Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Treaty Negotiations. “We thank Dr. Pearse and Mr. McRae for their report.”

“We want to see a salmon industry that is sustainable in the long term and able to deal with declining values and fluctuations in stocks,” said John van Dongen, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. “If we can address some of the challenges in this industry, then all of the participants can focus on conservation and other common objectives.”

The report states that while most fisheries are performing well, the salmon fishery is in a precarious state, and new management strategies are required to provide an environment in which the industry can develop to its potential.

The key outcomes of the approach recommended in the report are:

• a fully integrated commercial fishery with all participants operating on an equal footing
• a more responsive management system
• adoption of co-management with meaningful stakeholder participation
• enhanced security of tenure (long-term licences)
• enhanced certainty of harvest shares (individual quotas)
• transitional arrangements with First Nations

Following the release of this report, the federal government will engage First Nations and fishing stakeholders to review the report and to inform decisions about implementation. As well, advice from a report by a First Nations Panel on Fisheries will be taken into account in finalizing decisions.

The Joint Task Group report is available here and on-line at http://www.prov.gov.bc.ca/tno/

- 30 –

View photos from the press conference

Additional Information:

BACKGROUNDER - JOINT TASK GROUP ON POST-TREATY FISHERIES

Fisheries and Oceans Canada - Pacific Region Contact Communications Branch Important Notices and Disclaimers Questions Contact: Webmaster Updated: 2006-05-23