Senate Committee on Fisheries
The Atlantic Groundfish Fishery: Its Future
December, 1995
MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE ATLANTIC FISHING INDUSTRY
THE COLLAPSE OF ATLANTIC GROUNDFISH
RECENT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
THE OBJECTIVES OF FEDERAL FISHERIES POLICY
OVERCAPACITY IN THE HARVESTING SECTOR
OVERCAPACITY IN THE PROCESSING SECTOR
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
PREFACE
The Atlantic groundfish fishery faces agonizing changes, the likes of which we have
never seen. The importance of groundfish to the region would be hard to exaggerate.
Circumstances like these stir up strong regional emotions, and understandably so since,
for generations, fishing has been the economic and social foundation of the East Coast.
The situation in the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador is especially tragic because of
the province's greater dependence on the industry. Calling the crisis the country's
largest single layoff hardly describes the visceral nature of the devastation.
For many, the tragedy developed over a long period of time and under successive federal
and provincial governments -- some would say it began as early as 1977 when Canada
extended its jurisdiction to 200 miles.
In December 1989, the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries tabled a report which largely
reflected the concerns and ideas brought forward at public hearings held in cities and
towns throughout the five Atlantic provinces in 1988. At that time, groups and individuals
repeatedly warned the Committee that the Atlantic fishery was at a cross-roads, and that,
unless fisheries management issues were addressed more comprehensively, the industry would
soon have fewer or no fish to market. In June 1993, we submitted a report on Canada's
Atlantic commercial inshore fishery which, in many respects, was very much a continuation
of our 1988-89 study. Among other things, the Committee recommended that a Royal
Commission be appointed by the federal government to advise on how the groundfish fishery
should be managed.
Fishery closures are now in effect on some 11 groundfish stocks, and severe restrictions
have been placed on fishing other stocks. The rebuilding of the resource has yet to begin;
scientific assessments for 1995 reveal little sign of improvement. Northern cod, once the
North Atlantic's largest cod stock, has continued to decline despite the moratorium in
place since July 1992. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (the DFO) suggests that it
could take as long as 14 years for the stock to recover and for a diminished fishery to
return. The reasons for the collapse of the resource are not well understood. A number of
factors may have come together to put the stocks in the very precarious situation they are
in today.
The DFO intends to reduce harvesting capacity by half. The Atlantic fishing industry is
therefore on the threshold of profound and unprecedented structural transformation.
Compounding current problems is the fact that the fisheries management budget of the
federal department will be reduced over the next few years. The fiscal realities for both
the federal and provincial governments will certainly influence the direction of the
fishery in the years ahead.
The will to make the necessary adjustments is there; however, the industry does not appear
as yet to have a common vision for the future, as can be seen by the recent reports of
various industry sectors. The Fisheries Council of Canada (an organization representing
processors, distributors and exporters), for example, is promoting privatization of the
fishery, while the Canadian Council of Professional Fish Harvesters, formed in April 1995
and reportedly representing 80-90% of the country's recognized fishing organizations,
espouses the concept of common property in the fishery.
It is now recognized that the resources of the sea are not infinite or inexhaustible, as
was once imagined. Building a renewed industry that will be both ecologically and
commercially sustainable will require tough and rational decisions about its structure,
and giving priority to the proper use of technology and to sound resource management and
conservation practices -- now commonly termed "a new conservation ethic." Stock
rebuilding runs the risk of being short lived if fishing effort is not matched to resource
abundance. To paraphrase the Senate Committee's conclusion in December 1989: in the
absence of comprehensive knowledge and in the face of uncertainty, fisheries managers and
policy-makers should err on the side of conservation and caution.
This is an opportune time for the Committee to review some of the more perplexing and
salient issues facing the industry. We hope our suggestions are constructive.
Senator Eileen Rossiter
Chair
