Scottish academic and philosopher Gordon Graham once said, “decision is a sharp knife that cuts clean and straight; indecision, a dull one that hacks and tears and leaves ragged edges behind it.”
Right now, it is a little too early to analyze the outcome of the recent decision to award more snow crab processing licences in Newfoundland and Labrador, but there appears to be quite a bit of collateral damage surrounding this controversial call.
On May 24, N.L. Fisheries Minister Derrick Bragg announced additional crab licences for processing operations in St. Mary’s and Argentia.
“As you can imagine, these are difficult decisions to make. Be assured that I have weighed the considerations and met with the Fish Processing Licensing Board to discuss their recommendations. I would like to extend the greatest appreciation to the members of the Board for their assistance and hard work. I’ve made what I feel are fair decisions which will help diversify and maximize the value of Newfoundland and Labrador’s seafood industry,” Bragg stated after announcing the new licences.
While some industry stakeholders were surprised with the decision to add more processing capacity in the province, more eyebrows were raised when it was determined that the minister actually overruled the recommendation of the province’s Fish Processing Licensing Board.
In the media, Licensing Board chair Reg Anstey stated that his group, which is mandated to operate without a political agenda, actually recommended that four processing plants receive snow crab licences: St. Mary’s Bay Fisheries, Dandy Dan’s in Argentia, Bay Roberts Seafoods and HSF Ocean Products in O’Donnells.
“Our board is a board that recommends and he (the minister) ultimately makes the final decisions. But obviously as a board, we’re clearly disappointed,” Anstey told CBC Radio’s The Broadcast.
Anstey added that he could not remember a minister ever going against a board recommendation.
As the unsuccessful processors plead their cases and express their disappointment over not getting a crab licence, how did we actually get to this point? Isn’t the whole point of having a Fish Processing Licensing Board supposed to alleviate situations like this?
How did this all come about?
To investigate, we must once again climb aboard the Navigator time machine and scoot back to July 2003.
At this time, the province was still reeling from the 2J3KL and 3Pn4RS cod closures and there were regular conflicts arising in the shrimp and crab fisheries.
In 2003, the provincial government committed to a review of fish processing policies, including the issuance of licences, regional balance, industry stability and maximizing the value of its resources. This process was to be linked to the call for federal and provincial joint management of the fishery and the federal government was invited to participate in the policy review.
So, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture at the time, Yvonne Jones announced Eric Dunne as the Commissioner to Review Fish Processing Policy in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was required to have substantial consultations with stakeholders and a consensus building approach was to be used to determine the direction required for proper management of the fish processing sector and the long-term stability of the industry. Thus, the beginning of the soon-to-be-named Dunne Report.
A portion of Dunne’s mandate had to do with the issuance of new licences, specifically:
Review and recommend policies related to the criteria for the issuance of new licences, including but not limited to limited entry licensing, capacity or resource thresholds, regional balance definitions, criteria for the transfer of licenses, rationalization and associated mechanisms to bring greater stability to the industry.
Review and recommend any necessary revisions to the regulatory framework associated with the province’s processing policy.
Outline the policies that would be required for the incorporation of processing licensing into a new Joint Management Board.
Later that year, the Final Report of the Fish Processing Policy Review Commission or Dunne Report was released and endorsed by the shiny new Danny Williams-led Progressive Conservative government.
As one of his many recommendations, Dunne put forward the following:
Recommendation 9.10: That the Department establish an arms-length board to administer decisions on all licensing proposals or requests made to the government. This board should consist of individuals who are knowledgeable, but independent, of the fishing industry. Decisions administered by the board would be made against policy guidelines, criteria or directions given to it in a public manner by the Minister. There should be public notification of all requests or proposals for a licensing decision and opportunity for statement of views by affected parties. All decisions made by this board and the rationale for them should be on the public record.
In December 2004, The Fish Processing Licensing Board Act was passed and a little later in February 2005, the Government of Newfoundland of Labrador announced the appointment of the inaugural members of the Fish Processing Licensing Board.
Under the Act, the objectives of the board are:
to assess and make recommendations to the minister regarding fish processing licensing applications, including applications for new licences, and the consolidation and transfer of fish processing licences;
to assess and make recommendations to the minister regarding applications for the addition of new species to existing fish processing licences and where appropriate, make recommendations regarding licensing on a regional basis;
to assess and make recommendations to the minister regarding corporate concentration, merger and acquisition issues in the context of fish processing licensing matters; and
those other objectives that the minister may determine.
However, the Act clearly states the final call on processing licences resides with the minister:
The minister shall consider a recommendation of the board made to him or her and shall, following his or her decision with respect to the application, release both the recommendation of the board and his or her decision regarding the application first to the applicant and then to the public.
So, while Bragg’s recent crab licence decision might be unprecedented, he is certainly within his legislative purview to make such a call.
As the fallout from this ministerial determination continues to simmer, how will it shape the perceived use of independent groups like the Fish Processing Licensing Board? Has the confidence the industry might have had in its use now been eroded? Whatever, the answer, both the Board and Bragg’s Department are sure to be under more scrutiny now than ever before.
