Thank you, Chair and honourable members. It's a pleasure to be with you this morning.
The Fisheries Council of Canada, or FCC, is the national voice for the wild capture sector, representing processors on all three coasts and in inland waters. Many of our members also harvest.
In our submission we highlighted four issues: restore investment confidence, fund science-based decision-making, expand trade and market opportunities, and address labour shortages. However, for my remarks this morning, I'm going to focus on the first recommendation. Without action on it, the others are less of a concern because the first holds primacy.
Instability of access to the resource and policy uncertainty have eroded the confidence to invest in equipment, new technologies and conservation. Without that investment, we won't grow, innovate or create employment. There are three reasons for this lack of confidence.
First, unlike other natural resource sectors, the fisheries sector is beholden to the federal government for access to the resource. Experience has shown that licences and quotas can be involuntarily relinquished without compensation. This has had a rippling effect throughout the sector, leading to a lack of confidence to invest. Operators will not invest if they don't think they can have their licence or quota long enough to earn a return on investment.
Second is the significant push to meet Canada's marine conservation target by establishing marine protected areas or other refuges, discussion of new minimum standards on marine protected areas, and speculation about more ambitious marine conservation targets to come. The fishing sector is getting squeezed into fewer areas where it can harvest.
Third, amendments to the Fisheries Act, and some 15 new regulatory amendments to follow, represent a time of tremendous change in the regulatory framework governing the sector. But none of these changes really address the priorities of the sector. We operate under some antiquated regulations that have not been updated for over 30 years and act as a barrier to efficiency, innovation and improved conservation.
Why does this matter? I can give you three reasons, all relating to growth opportunities.
One, the growing global population and growing affluence are leading to growing demand for protein, including fish and seafood. Second, here at home the federal government has set an ambitious growth target of reaching $75 billion of agri-food exports by 2025. Third, the sector is missing out on $600 million of additional revenue annually because we are not maximizing the value of what we harvest today.
We would like to realize our growth potential, but that won't happen without investment.
I would now like to dive a little deeper into the first issue of involuntary relinquishment. This relates to the government's reconciliation agenda. This only happens in our sector because the government exercises authority of claiming that licences and quotas are a privilege to a public resource, not a right. This does not happen in other sectors such as oil and gas, mining or forestry.
Just because it can doesn't mean it should. Fisheries and Oceans has testified in court that involuntary relinquishment by commercial licence holders is unnecessary and unhelpful to the principles of reconciliation. Moreover, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has iterated that voluntary relinquishment should be the route to reconciliation.
Our recommendation has been urging DFO to resume its use of a willing buyer, willing seller model for reallocations as part of the reconciliation agenda. It has previously done so with the Pacific integrated commercial fishery program. This will respect past investments and facilitate ongoing investment.
Re-establishing the confidence to invest will enable the growth aspired to by the sector and envisioned by the government. At the same time it will enable innovation, making the sector more competitive and sustainable.
I look forward to your questions.