Canada: Feds must fix unfair West Coast fishing rules

Published 2024년 1월 3일

Tridge summary

A parliamentary committee is criticizing Fisheries and Oceans Canada for unfair fishing regulations and calls for equalization of fishing policy on the coasts, specifically in regards to foreign and corporate ownership of licenses and quotas. The committee is recommending that the department should prioritize measures to benefit Canadian coastal communities and limit corporate control while also addressing concerns about transparency and potential criminal elements infiltrating the industry. The report also called for the creation of a specific fisheries finance agency within five years and highlighted the disappointing lack of progress over the past five years in addressing these issues.

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Original content

Federal inaction means West Coast harvesters still flounder with unfair fishing regulations, says a parliamentary committee. Fisheries and Oceans Canada faces a wave of criticism in a recent report by the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO), which reiterated a call to equalize fishing policy on the coasts. For the second time in five years, the committee is pushing the fisheries department (DFO) to make changes so only Canadian fish harvesters with actual “boots on deck” of a boat can own fishing licences or quota on the West Coast. The key recommendation is one of 19 stemming from a recent study by the committee on the effect corporate and foreign ownership of commercial licences and quotas is having on Canadian fisheries. On the Pacific coast, there are no limits around ownership of commercial licences or quota which unlock entry to fisheries and profits in the sector. Yet in the Maritimes, DFO has crafted regulations to limit corporate control and ensure licences ...

Source: Nationalobserver