November, 2006 Edition

                                          What's Happening at the FCC

2006 FCC Conference

The Fisheries Council would like to thank the delegates for participating in the event and a special thank you to the conference sponsors, whose contribution helps to make the conference a success. Congratulations also to Brian Shebib who was the lucky winner of Air Canada's Ticket Draw at Wednesday evening dinner cruise.

2006 Annual General Meeting

Gilbert Linstead, Labrador Fishermen’s Union Shrimp Company becomes the 2006/07 Chairman, David Giddens, Connors Bros., Ltd. was elected as the Vice Chairman and Eric Roe serves as Past Chairman. The Directors for 2006/2007 are:
      Seafood Producers Association of Nova Scotia
          Kim d’Entremont, Comeau’s Sea Foods Ltd.
          David Knickle, Adams and Knickle Ltd.
          Bill Muirhead, Mersey Seafoods Ltd. (Bickerton Industries Ltd.)
          Christine Penney, Clearwater Seafood Limited Partnership
          Brian Shebib, M.V. Osprey Ltd.
          Ron Whynacht, High Liner Foods Inc.
      Prince Edward Island Seafood Processors Association
          Esther Dockendorff, PEI Mussel King Inc.
          Jeff Malloy, Acadian Fishermen’s Co-Op. Association Ltd.
      Fish & Seafood Association of Ontario
        Adam Day, Sea Merchants Inc.
      Newfoundland & Labrador
          Russ Carrigan, Fishery Products International Ltd.
          Ken Budden, Fogo Island Co-Operative Society Ltd.
          Graham Roome, Fishery Products International Ltd.
      New Brunswick
          Paul Aurele Chiasson, Island Fishermen’s Co-operative Association Ltd.
      British Columbia
          Rob Morley, Canadian Fishing Company
          Edward Safarik, Ocean Fisheries Ltd.
      Quebec
          Martha Wiberg, BlueWater Seafoods Ltd.

FCC Board of Directors Meeting

The FCC Board of Directors met just prior to the Conference. Issues addressed at the meeting included European Union – cooked and peeled shrimp; the current status of the WTO trade negotiations; Fisheries Renewal; owner-operator – trust agreements; DFO’s “ocean to plate” fisheries management initiative; bottom trawling – developments in Canada and at the UN; the reauthorization of the Magnuson- Stevens Fisheries Management Act; the Canada-France ( St. Pierre &Miquelon) fisheries agreement; the recent “La Rocque” New Brunswick Court decision, and developments regarding the oil & gas exploration moratorium in the Pacific. As well, the Board set key objectives for the FCC for 2006/07 in the areas of trade policy/market access; environmental/ocean use issues; inspection/technical issues; fisheries management/economics; labour; and international fisheries.

North-East Atlantic – Herring and Northern Cod Stocks Up/Southern Cod Stocks Still Down

The European science advisory organization, ICES, reports that the overall status of the North –East Atlantic stocks “has not changed much from 2005 to 2006.”

Some highlights are:

• Herring – Norwegian spring spawning herring at 10million tonnes can sustain a higher harvest. This is causing market access problems for Canadian herring exports as the large supply from Norway quickly fills up the 34,000mt duty free quota that opens in mid-June each year;
• Cod – major stocks in the northern areas such as the Barents Sea and around Iceland are large and productive, yielding about 850,000 tonnes in 2005. In southern area (North Sea), poor stocks prevail and fishing mortality is high despite low catches.

Fish Processing Plant Effluents

Environment Canada has determined that little is known about the impact of fish plant wastes on the environment. As such, the Department has decided it needs to more accurately assess the risks that fish processing plants pose to the receiving environment and will be proceeding on a 3-year ecological risk assessment project under the Canadian Environmental protection Act (CEPA). The project will consist of a comprehensive questionnaire to all known fish processing plants in Canada (831). Responses by the plants will be mandatory as the questionnaire will be issued under section 71 of CEPA. The questionnaire will be supplemented by on-site sampling of 15 plants of their effluents and the adjacent sediment.

Environment Canada is assembling an Expert Advisory Group of federal (DFO, CFIA, etc.) and provincial government departments, academia, and industry. The FCC is the industry representative on the Expert Advisory Group. Depending on how the project unfolds, the FCC may want to get member companies directly involve in the group.

Nova Scotia Court of Appeal Affirms Property Rights in Fishing Licenses

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal affirmed on slightly different grounds, the decision of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in the case of Royal Bank of Canada v. Saulnier. The case deals with the question of whether there is anything that can be characterized as property in a fishing license.

The Saulnier case illustrates the difficulties faced by both lenders and licence rights holders in dealing with fishing licenses. Briefly, the facts were that Mr. Saulnier was a fisherman who held fishing licences issued by DFO. His company was put into receivership by his secured lender and he personally filed bankruptcy. The legal issue as stated by the Court of Appeal was whether “Mr. Saulnier has any property in the fishing licenses that may pass to his trustee in bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, or to his secured creditor subject to the Personal Property Act.” In summary, the Appeal Court ruled that “the holder’s rights are personal property as defined in the Personal Property Security Act and are property as defined in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

FAO Fisheries Department and CITES Implementing a MOU

The FAO’s Fisheries Department and CITES (the UN organization that governs trade in endangered species) have formalized their working relationship with a memorandum of understanding. Under the MOU, CITES and the FAO will review and consult together on the scientific, legal, and technical evaluation of commercially exploited species listed, or proposed for listing under CITES.

The FCC has argued that such a formalized arrangement should be developed between DFO and COSEWIC (Canada’s endangered species science body) regarding Canada’s commercially exploited species.

Top Consumer Trends Impacting Seafood

IntraFish suggests that the five top consumer trends impacting seafood are:

• Ethnic: Food goes global. Whether you are selling in Europe or North America, the rise in ethnic food is indisputable.
• Organic: More than niche: In the US organic foods are a $12 billion (US) market. In Europe, its $19 billion (US).
• Health Nuts: Consumers always look for shortcuts to better health, and omega-3s provide them a direct route to better health.
• Shades of green: Marketers of all varieties are jumping on the sustainability bandwagon. Companies large and small are installing an “environmental ethic”.
• Time out: On-the-go consumers are forever searching for meal solutions that are quick to fix, nutritious, and tasty.

November Key Meetings

Fish Plant Effluent Expert Advisory Group, Ottawa

First meeting of the group to review the project’s objectives, approach, time lines, etc.

International Coalition of Fisheries Associations (ICFA), Annual Meeting, Rome, Italy

The annual meeting sets the objectives for the coming year, in particular, identifying which international fisheries meeting ICFA will attend; consider new resolutions to adopt, etc. The Coalition has set aside one day of the meeting to meet with the FAO’s Fisheries Department to review, comment, etc on issues/initiatives the department is working on.