Thank you, Rodney.
I'd like to thank you for inviting me here to these oral hearings. It's certainly a pleasure to be here presenting the Government of New Brunswick's perspective on the snow crab fishery. It's kind of interesting and somewhat ironic. You mentioned the world tour that you folks are doing across the provinces here with respect to the snow crab fishery. It's interesting today that we're in this room, and right next door to us is the roller coaster. That's typical of the fisheries.
This afternoon I will summarize our position. As you know, we are also submitting a written brief, which outlines in more detail our viewpoints. There are several issues with the snow crab fishery, and there has been much debate about the management or mismanagement that has brought us to this point—which explains my reference a moment ago to the roller coaster.
This afternoon I do not wish to continue this debate by rehashing what has happened in the past, but rather I wish to speak about what is happening today. I'm here to speak about what we feel needs to happen to stabilize this industry for a sustainable future. From our perspective, there are two major issues related to snow crab. The first, a short-term issue, relates to the current situation caused by the sudden drop in quota. The second and longer-term issue is the lack of stable access and allocation, which I believe is the reason we are facing the current situation.
There have been many changes over the years, which have eroded the viability of the original fishery. These include new fishing zones carved out of the traditional gulf fishery; amalgamation of zones; interprovincial transfers of allocations; and allocations of the snow crab resource to other fisheries. In order to instill stability in the industry going forward, DFO decisions must consider the viability of the entire industry, including processing and marketing—very key components.
Stability in the industry starts with stability in access and allocations. We feel it is also necessary that DFO respect the historic fleet shares and provincial shares under which the fishery was restructured in the late 1980s. When resource abundance varies on a known cyclical basis, particularly as it does in the case of the snow crab, distribution of surplus in high abundance years should be based on the provincial share, with access by fisheries that need it most. Temporary sharing must be designed so as not to destabilize the industry as a whole, nor create a new dependence when the resource returns to its normal level.
We reiterate to DFO today that it should gradually decrease the quota during the downward trend of the stock cycle in order to minimize the impact on the whole industry while protecting the stock. This season, the impact of the drastic quota reduction of 63% could have been avoided, and the impact is significant for all stakeholders. We must share the responsibility in supporting those impacted. This sudden reduction of quota means losses of approximately $170 million to the economy of New Brunswick alone. Also, thousands of employees are negatively affected. The snow crab industry in New Brunswick supports the equivalent of 1,900 person-years. The importance of these workers must be paramount. We have to take into consideration the impact the reduction is having on these workers.
Let me be clear. We are against over-exploitation of the resource. We understand conservation. We get it. We support quota-setting based on scientific evidence. What we are experiencing today is the result of poor planning around a known cycle in the snow crab abundance, period. Too many fishing enterprises are chasing too small a quota for anyone to have any viability.
So where do we go from here? We propose the following. Amend the present federal Fisheries Act to circumscribe the discretionary power the federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans currently has on access and allocation decisions. A new fisheries act must provide for criteria on which access and allocation decisions will be made, rather than having such annual decisions rest on the discretion of the minister. We need to develop guiding principles and fisheries objectives for a long-term sustainable harvest and a viable industry. We're also asking for financial assistance in a rationalization of the harvesting sector to ensure that the capacity is set at levels that are sustainable in the long term.
There's a harvesting overcapacity in the groundfish, shrimp, and lobster sectors of the southern gulf. In going forward, we feel there is a great need to identify thresholds that during years of abundance would trigger changes in the allocation of the resource to other players.
Decisions have been made in the past. I do not wish to harp on their merits this afternoon, but I will say that these decisions have had an enormous negative impact on New Brunswick. The impact has not been limited to licence holders. Our processors, our supporting industries, our communities, and our provinces have felt the impact. Today I am again asking the federal government to recognize this negative impact and partner with the province in finding concrete solutions for today and for tomorrow.
We must continue to collaborate and provide stability and prosperity to our coastal communities and our workforce. We need to move forward with better management of the fisheries and learn from our past mistakes. Again, I wish to emphasize my message to this committee. We need stability and access to allocations. It's time to modernize the federal legislation.
I sound like a broken record. I'd like to know how many CCFAM or ACFAM meetings I've stood at and said we support federal legislation to take care of this, the new federal Fisheries Act. I and my Atlantic counterparts strongly support this, and we'll support it again when it comes to the table.
It's time to take responsibility for the impact of your decisions. I'd like to emphasize my message to the committee. One, we need stability and access to allocation—it's time to modernize the federal legislation. Two, it is time to take responsibility for the impact of your decisions in DFO.
Thank you for the opportunity today, Mr. Weston. I appreciate any questions or feedback.