LIFO issue continues to bubble under the surface
It appears the shrimp quota battle might be over before it really got started – for now at least.
Last month, in the midst of a ramped up protest movement by the Fish, Food and Allied Workers (FFAW-Unifor), the offshore and inshore shrimp fleets unexpectedly approved a plan that would see no cuts to quotas in fishing areas off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2015 — notably in critical northeast coast Area 6.
The unified recommendation has been sent to the office of Fisheries Minister Gail Shea for approval.
The shrimp fishery, particularly the inshore sector, has taken a beating in recent years. Federal quota reductions for 2014 included a cut of 20 per cent to Shrimp Fishing Area 6, with the inshore fleet having its allocation reduced by approximately 10,000 tonnes while the offshore fleet allocation was reduced by approximately 1,000 tonnes. In September 2014, the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) recommended a moratorium for the shrimp stock on the Grand Banks. NAFO’s advice was released specifically for the 3L fishing area.
Just prior to the announced agreement, the FFAW had been ramping up a promised protest movement against the probable quota cuts. Union president Keith Sullivan had earlier told The Navigator, that the powerful union would be vocal in protesting any further tightening of the quotas.
“Most people are aware of the difficulties we have facing us with the northern shrimp. If everything stays the same with the management regime, we will see massive cuts for the inshore harvesters who deliver their product to the plants and processing facilities operating in Newfoundland and Labrador — and all those jobs and spin off jobs that come with it. While there will be relatively minor cuts to an offshore sector which is doing better than it ever has done before.”
Sullivan told the CBC if Shea approves the recommendation, it’s good news for the shrimp fishery — but only for this year. Adding the battle over the sharing of the northern shrimp resource remains.
“That’s a slight positive. But whatever the science says we have to address the management issues and that’s to get away from the fabrication called LIFO and get back to managing for the people who live closest to the resource. We could be faced with the exact same thing next year with significant cuts on the table and inshore taking 90 per cent [of cuts] and the offshore taking just 10. Big, big changes have to happen.”
Bruce Chapman, the executive director of the Canadian Association of Prawn Producers (CAPP), which represents the offshore shrimp licence holders, was the first to bring news of the agreed plan.
“I have little doubt the minister will approve the recommendation,” Chapman told CBC Radio’s Fisheries Broadcast.
“We had a look at the science results two weeks ago and the science results indicated the all-important Shrimp Fishing Area 6 biomass has stabilized for 2015,” Chapman said.
“Based on that… there was unanimous agreement around the table, there was a recommendation for the status quo total allowable catch. So there would be no quota cuts for 2015.”
However, despite the agreement between the inshore and offshore sectors on quotas, the much-debated and controversial last in, first out policy still remains in existence — with no solution in sight.
A deal this year, however, would not mean that the much-debated LIFO policy is off the table. The policy has been at the heart of the standoff.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Government has once again shown its unity against LIFO.
Last month the all-party committee on federal shrimp quota allocations outlined its position to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on how the federal government should proceed with Northern Shrimp allocation decisions.
The All-Party Committee supported the total allowable catch rollover for Shrimp Fishing Area Six for this year as requested by both the inshore and offshore fleet, and has asked for the LIFO policy to be rescinded and replaced with a new sharing arrangement that is fair to both valued fleets.
The all-party committee’s letter to Shea is available at: www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2015/fishaq/0311n06_letter.pdf
“The all-party committee’s letter to federal Minister Gail Shea presents compelling information that confirms the federal LIFO policy has a very negative impact on Newfoundland and Labrador’s GDP. This impact can be reduced by using a different approach that is fair to the thousands of inshore harvesters and plant workers who help generate millions of dollars of economic activity in rural areas of the province. We have plans to achieve better outcomes, we have the data to back them up, and a rollover of last year’s total allowable catch gives us time to act. Now we just need federal cooperation,’ explained Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Vaughn Granter.
The committee noted that continued application of the LIFO policy would result in a significant decline in inshore harvesting enterprises; many crew displaced; a loss of five or more shrimp processing plants; several hundred plant workers displaced, and dozens of communities impacted.
The committee has requested in its letter a meeting to present the information gathered by the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture to Minister Shea at the earliest possible opportunity.
The Federal Government is expected to make its northern shrimp allocation decisions within the next few weeks.
