Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, Initiative 15.3

Title of the PIA

Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, Initiative 15.3: Indigenous communal commercial licence alternation program

Government institution

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)

Head of DFO or delegate for section 10 of the Privacy Act

Director, access to information and privacy secretariat

Senior official or executive for the new or substantially modified program or activity

Regional director, reconciliation and partnerships, Pacific region

Name and description of the program or activity of the government institution

Initiative 15.3 falls under DFO’s core responsibility over Fisheries, and further, its responsibility over Aboriginal Programs and Treaties (APT). APT was established by DFO to build and maintain strong and stable relations with Indigenous groups and promotes fisheries-related economic opportunities for Indigenous communities. APT initiatives are intended to serve three functions: (i) management of fisheries for consumption, social, and ceremonial purposes; (ii) collaborative management by building the capacity required to engage in fishery management processes; and (iii) conservation through monitoring and reporting. APT accomplishes these functions through the following: Aboriginal fisheries contribution agreements; treaty and non-treaty fisheries negotiations and mandate development; strategic advice for the ongoing management of Aboriginal rights, Aboriginal programs, and policies renewal; allocation policies, frameworks for the implementation of treaties and Reconciliation Agreements; and fisheries-related consultation and engagement.

Legal authority

Sections 6.1, 7, and 61 of the Fisheries Act, RSC, 1985, c F-14
Section 8 of the Fishery (General) Regulations, SOR/93-53

Personal information bank

Grants and contributions initiatives (DFO PPU 047).

Short description of the project, initiative or change

In order to support conservation of Pacific salmon and provide greater stability and clarity for commercial harvesters, DFO will be launching long term—as opposed to annual—commercial salmon fishery closures in areas of conservation concerns. In order to mitigate socio-economic impacts on Indigenous commercial harvesters from the long-term closure of non-selective fishing in areas of concern, Initiative 15.3 will provide short term financial support to Indigenous fish harvesters. Initiative 15.3 will introduce a mechanism to compensate communal commercial salmon licence holders for the cost of exchanging their access to salmon fisheries for access to commercial fisheries where non-salmon species of fish are harvested, where available.

Under Initiative 15.3, the alternation process will require communal commercial salmon licence holders (i.e. Category F and Category N) to express their interest in licence swapping via an application form, which may require information, such as: details on the licence(s) being offered for alternation, the funding amount sought, and the nature of the transaction(s) the funding will be directed towards. To clarify, Initiative 15.3 is limited strictly to the provision of funding relating to licence alternation, and does not deal directly with the alternation of licences.

Funding for successful applicants will be determined using estimates of fair market value (“FMV”) of F and N commercial salmon licence(s) that are proposed for alternation. Applicants will be required to outline the primary assets that they wish to pursue with the funding support (e.g. non-salmon licence, fishing gear).  The funding will be provided via contribution agreement (“CA”), thereby allowing recipients to conduct their own transactions and provide reporting to DFO to verify expenditures. Based on the interests of participants in the alternation program, the option to convert a newly acquired licence to communal commercial access may be made available.

Risk area identification and categorization

Type of program or activity

Low (2) risk to privacy

Type of personal information involved and context

Medium (3) risk to privacy

Program or activity partners and private sector involvement

Low (1) risk to privacy

Duration of the program or activity

Medium (2) risk to privacy

Program population

Medium (3) risk to privacy

Technology & privacy

Low (1) risk to privacy

Personal information transmission

Low (2) risk to privacy

Risk Impact to the individual or employee in the event of a privacy breach

Low (1) risk to privacy

Risk Impact to the institution in the event of a privacy breach

Low (1) risk to privacy