Great, because it doesn't seem as though all the parties want to acknowledge first nations participation in this, so I just want to make sure I'm seen, right?
First of all, I want to welcome you guys to Unama'ki, also sometimes known as Cape Breton.
My name is Leonard Denny. I am the chief executive officer for Crane Cove Seafoods, which is owned by Eskasoni First Nation.
In the last ten years or so we've been able to start participating in commercial fishing activities due to the Marshall court decision. I'm happy to say that we've been able to build really strong relationships with DFO. We're actively participating in the management of the resource and of the oceans as well. We're also building strong relationships with the non-native fishers, the non-native communities, and the buyers.
As a first nation we take a balanced approach to fishing. We always look at the economic side of it, and I'm happy to say that we manage our own fishery. We look at the environmental side of it. We're always trying to use environmentally friendly practices in fishing. There's also the conservation side. We've been talking about marine protected areas and we've kept an open mind on that.
Conservation, the environment, and economics are all key. I think there is a balance so that you can do all that and still be successful.
The one thing I want to make clear that is not being made clear is that you always talk about the two groups sharing 50-50. It's 50-50 for two groups or 60-40 for two groups. Well, I want to let you know there are three groups here, not two groups. It works out to the traditional having about 20 licences and the first nations having about 20 licences and the temporaries--now permanent--having about 20 licences. The thought of taking two groups and sharing half and giving the other half to one group again makes us invisible. That's how I read it, because there are three groups equally sharing the three sets of 20-some licences.
Eskasoni fishes mostly out of area 23. Right now each group holds approximately one-third of the licences, so if you want to talk about fairness, I think it's right on the nose right now. I think the minister in her wisdom saw that and adjusted accordingly.
I know these plans were developed years ago and I want to state for the record that we were never consulted on these management plans. We were never consulted. It was never explained to us. Due process and due diligence were never done on this. I want to explain that.
We were also not consulted when they issued a new licence in area 23. To me it's very irresponsible and very cowardly for an outgoing minister to make such a decision, leave, and not have to deal with the consequences or the outcry from it. It's very cowardly and very irresponsible. It makes other MPs look bad. I know you guys aren't all bad, but it is very irresponsible.
They also talk about traditional licences and how there is one owner. It's one owner. Then they tell us that with us, there are 350 owners. Well, with our licences there are 10,000 owners, okay? It's 10,000, not 350. There are 10,000 owners.
I'll tell you about the benefits that the crab and fishing activities have brought so far to first nations in Eskasoni specifically. There are five processors, plus two on the mainland.
I'm not going to speak for the others, but in Eskasoni, we currently employ 100 fishermen and about eight administrators or managers, whatever you want to call them. We also employ 25 processors who are all native. We have 25 processors who repackage frozen crab caught by the industry.
Is it all about us? It isn't. We also help employ more than 200 non-natives in Arichat with our snow crab. We also help employ non-natives with our shrimp. We land our shrimp in North Sydney. So it's not all about us. Again, we're trying to find a balance here.
The income generated from that, the profits, is shared among the community whether that is debt reduction or offsetting shortfalls with programs in Eskasoni. The biggest thing for us is that if this change did occur, if they got their way and it did occur—and we've had these conversations before and apparently we were forgotten about today when they had their say—it would have meant 400,000 pounds lost to Eskasoni. I'm sitting in my office and I'm telling 20 fishermen with families who are used to welfare, because we are on reserves, that they are going back onto welfare and won't get to fish this year. That's not something I ever want to have to do.
Eskasoni is a proud first nation, but it is also a struggling first nation. Our community is 70% unemployed, 70% plus. It's always like that. Let alone the high suicide rate, our unemployment rate is enormous. I know it is easy to sort of.... It's like watching TV showing third world children. Turn the channel and it will go away. It is easy to turn the channel on us and forget about it, but we're going to try to make a fuss about that.
Again, for the record, we were never consulted on any of this, and I don't like it being implied that there were some backroom dealings here. We've always been upfront. We always participate in management decisions. We respect the rules. We've been following the rules since we have participated, so all this conspiracy theory stuff is just a pile of.... I don't want to say. Let's get realistic. The minister was able to adjust, but politics doesn't always make the right decisions, and believe you me, there is enough blame to go around. But let's do it case by case. We can't always blame you guys. You can't always blame us. So we do it case by case.
What I would also like to let you guys know about is that in area 23 and area 24 I would like to say it's a little bit different. We've been taking the cuts. When science tells us to cut, we cut. We work together. We have made sacrifices over the years. Our stock is healthy. Ours went up this year. In other areas it went down. But we don't fight it. We don't argue. When we are told to cut, we cut, and we manage our resource. So we should never be punished for doing that. We are managing a healthy resource.
For now that's all I want to say.
Again, thank you, guys.