We’d like to hear from you. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is reviewing its policies to develop the direction, objectives and principles that will form a strong new foundation for managing the Atlantic fisheries. The review will be conducted in two phases. The first will focus on developing the required direction, objectives, and principles while the second will focus on how to transform them into a management framework.

As part of phase one, DFO has developed "The Management of Fisheries on Canada’s Atlantic Coast"; a discussion paper that puts forward proposals to address issues and concerns specific to East Coast fisheries. DFO will hold public consultations on the principles and directions outlined in the discussion paper. These consultations, to be held throughout the Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Nunavut, will allow the Department to gather feedback from resource users, provincial and territorial governments, and the public.

Upon reviewing the feedback, DFO will issue a new policy framework that will define a set of objectives and principles to guide the long-term management of the Atlantic fisheries. This will lead to the second phase of the process which will include outlining roles and responsibilities and identifying the specific mechanisms and operational changes that will be required to implement the new framework.

This brochure summarizes the key proposals that will be tabled for discussion during the public consultations in phase one.

Why a policy review?

The last comprehensive review of management policies for the Atlantic fisheries was in 1982. Since then, dramatic changes have highlighted structural problems in the Atlantic fisheries. Today, all involved recognize the need to clarify the principles and directions that form the basis of decision-making.

Research and consultations have revealed four main challenges:

• the meaning of "conservation" is unclear;
• DFO’s role in economic and social issues is uncertain;
• disagreements continue over access and allocation decisions and processes; and
• decision-making excludes many in the fishing industry.

These challenges need to be addressed so that all Canadians can benefit from improved management of the Atlantic fisheries.

Towards an improved management framework

The purpose of this review is to establish a new policy framework that will form a strong new foundation for the management of the Atlantic fisheries. DFO proposes to develop policy in four interrelated areas:

• conservation;
• economic and social viability;
• access and allocations; and
• governance.

As its overall direction, DFO is proposing to provide stakeholders with a greater role in the management of fisheries resources.

Conservation

The challenge of fisheries management has been to balance short-term economic and social gains with resource conservation. Yet the economic success of the Atlantic fisheries and the well-being of the coastal communities that rely on them is intimately tied to the fate of the resources. Sustainable use has to be the top priority. By sustainable use we mean that those who manage the fisheries should incorporate the precautionary approach and consider the whole ecosystem; that resource users embrace a conservation ethic; and that harvesting be regulated through enforceable rules.

To strengthen fisheries management for the future, DFO proposes to:

• define conservation as sustainable use that safeguards ecological processes and genetic diversity for present and future generations
• make resource conservation the prime objective of fisheries management
• incorporate both a precautionary and an ecosystem-based approach in fisheries management
• establish a conservation ethic and share responsibility with industry for resource conservation
• ensure harvesting is conducted under enforceable rules.

Economic and social viability

Fisheries management decisions strongly affect the viability of the fishing industry and coastal communities. Ideally, the Atlantic fisheries should be able to sustain strong coastal communities, providing jobs without sacrificing the efficiency needed to compete internationally. Experience has taught us that a one-size-fits-all approach to resolving local economic and social problems doesn’t work. We need a more flexible means of addressing such issues. We need a fishing industry that is more self-reliant, less dependent on government intervention and more responsible for dealing with fluctuations in markets and resource abundance.

To strengthen fisheries management for the future, DFO proposes to:

• provide for economic and social benefits from the Atlantic fisheries by making sustainable management of the resource, including habitat management and the setting of conservation standards, the principal focus of its work;
• share the collective responsibility for the well-being of coastal communities with licence-holders, communities themselves and various government agencies;
• work with other government departments and provincial governments to help the fishing industry contribute to the viability of the fisheries and the well-being of coastal communities;
• ensure that fleets and licence-holders have greater flexibility to make and implement their own management decisions and objectives, subject to conditions that will safeguard the resources and the interests of other stakeholders; and
• foster a commercial fisheries that is economically more self-reliant and more responsible for handling fluctuations in resource abundance and the market.

Access and allocations

Currently, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has the sole authority to grant access to fisheries resources in tidal waters. But there is a perception that the objectives or principles that govern allocations are unclear and that various criteria are being applied inconsistently. To strengthen the management of the Atlantic fisheries, all players need a more stable and predictable process for making decisions about access and allocations.

All access and allocation decisions will have to respect DFO’s conservation objectives as well as the treaties, agreements, statutes and international legal obligations that bear on the fisheries. For example, constitutional provisions, land claim agreements and court rulings set out DFO’s responsibilities for determining access and allocations in fisheries where Aboriginal groups participate.

To strengthen fisheries management for the future, DFO proposes to:

• have a more open, transparent process for involving interested parties in deciding on the best uses of fisheries resources;
• ensure that Aboriginal fishing for food, social and ceremonial purposes will continue to have priority after conservation requirements;
• make the commercial allocation process more predictable by stabilizing sharing arrangements and developing clear, consistent rules and procedures to accommodate changes in fisheries;

• offer commercial licence-holders a more direct, central role in access and allocation decision-making; and
• encourage alternate uses of the resources, such as recreational fishing and aquaculture, where such uses provide benefits to Canadians.

Following discussions with the Atlantic Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has proposed to create an independent panel in order to accelerate the review of access decision-making criteria which was originally planned for phase two of the AFPR. The mandate of the panel, to be confirmed following further ministerial discussions, will likely include providing DFO with recommendations of access decision-making criteria (e.g. adjacency, historic dependence, fairness, equity, economic viability) and process regarding access to fish stocks that are increasing.

Governance

At present, the federal government makes nearly all fisheries management decisions. This gives commercial licence-holders little incentive to share stewardship of the resources. If conservation and sustainable use are to become the mainstay of the commercial fisheries, we need to change the way fisheries management decisions are made. This means moving away from top-down government control to a cooperative model in which decision-making is shared between government and industry, or is delegated to industry. Also, fisheries decision-making should increasingly accommodate other resource uses such as aquaculture, recreational fishing and ecotourism.

To strengthen fisheries management for the future, DFO proposes to:

• expand fisheries co-management arrangements between government and industry and to delegate decision-making to industry, where feasible, so that all participants share responsibility for sustaining the fisheries resources;
• have decisions affecting a fishery made as close as possible to that fishery;
• develop mechanisms to hold decision-makers accountable;
• establish processes to safeguard the interests of all stakeholders;
• develop fisheries management principles that can apply to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal fishermen; and
• encourage commercial fishermen to strengthen their management abilities.

Tell us what you think.

If you would like to;

• receive the full discussion paper or other information about the Atlantic Fisheries Policy Review or
• participate in the public consultations

… let us know.

There are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call tollfree 1-866-233-6676 to request additional information
• Visit our Web site at www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/afpr-rppa
• E-mail us at afpr-rppa@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
• Contact your local DFO fisheries area office.