Good morning from Vancouver, everyone.
I'm here for the BC Seafood Alliance. That's an umbrella organization whose 30 members represent fisheries accounting for about 90% of the value of wild seafood from Canada's Pacific coast. Our members are commercial harvester associations and most major seafood processors.
I want to make four points.
First, foreign investment and corporate concentration are not challenging the success of west coast fisheries. Reduced access is the main impediment.
Second, DFO's beneficial ownership study should tell us if there is an issue with foreign investment in B.C. fisheries. Really, I don't expect that there will be much of one.
Third, most fish harvesters in B.C. are incorporated for the same reason as other businesses are.
Lastly, quota reallocations under the Canadian integrated groundfish program happen daily and are necessary for the efficient, sustainable use of the resource.
To go to those points on access, the northern shelf bioregion MPA network will reduce access for key species by 25% to 45%, despite the fact that 25% of B.C.'s waters are already protected. That percentage should rise to 35% by the end of 2023. It's this that is driving harvesters out of business; it's not licensing policy.
On ownership, we want to see a discouraging of speculation, not of investment. We have proposed ways to do this, such as a licence and quota registry, as well as a shared risks and benefits policy to ensure predetermined percentage returns to quota holders, vessels and crews, so that the lessor is not saddled with the risk.
On foreign investment, two of my processing members have foreign owners. They are solid Canadian operations that have invested in communities such as Ucluelet and Port Edward when no other domestic operator was prepared to do so. Where they own licences, those Canadian companies do so to ensure the plant has access to fish, which provides jobs for Canadians and revenue to local communities.
On corporate concentration, the oft-asserted view that B.C. is a corporate fleet misses the point. Most fishermen are incorporated for the same reasons that other business people are; that is, for liability protection and business planning, and to provide for essential capital investment. Most vessel-based licences are owned by two or more parties that operate as a joint venture. There are dozens of variations on these arrangements, often between a processor and an operator or operators. These arrangements encourage the kind of co-operation that a report for Agriculture Canada says is essential to improving prosperity in Atlantic fisheries.
We benefit from a diverse fleet and a diverse range of processing companies. For instance, before the halibut fleet went to ITQs in 1991, only large corporations had the capacity to process the volume, and they purchased approximately three-quarters of the landed catch. Now that harvesting takes place over nine months rather than six days, processing is dominated by small, specialist processors who deliver a high-quality, high-value product.
Furthermore, the Canadian Fishing Company does not own everything. It owns 30% of roe herring seine licences, 12% of roe herring gillnet licences, 4% of salmon licences, 21% of groundfish trawl quota, 15% of Pacific hake quota, 3% of halibut, 2% of sablefish and no shellfish quota at all.
On quota reallocation in groundfish, the integrated program integrates the management of some 66 different stocks, seven fisheries and three gear types. It accounts for about two-thirds of all B.C. landings. This program requires full accountability for every fish caught, whether retained or discarded. Temporary reallocations cover bycatch and allow for full utilization within science-informed catch limits. These reallocations require DFO approvals and various checks and balances, such as a 1% cap on halibut quota, or species caps and holdings caps for trawl.
I would just leave you with the message that good policy comes from good data. I urge you to base your recommendations on facts, analysis and evidence rather than anecdotal information.
Thank you very much.