Registration

SOR/2008-280 September 5, 2008

FISHERIES ACT

Regulations Amending the Pacific Fishery Regulations, 1993

P.C. 2008-1672 September 5, 2008

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, pursuant to section 43 (see footnote a) of the Fisheries Act (see footnote b), hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Pacific Fishery Regulations, 1993.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE PACIFIC FISHERIES REGULATIONS, 1993

AMENDMENT

1. Subsections 76(1) and (2) of the Pacific Fishery Regulations, 1993 (see footnote 1) are replaced by the following:

76. (1) No person shall fish for or catch and retain halibut with any gear other than hook and line or trap.

(2) No person shall possess halibut on board a vessel that is being used to fish with or is carrying a trawl net.

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issue and objectives

The Pacific Fishery Regulations, 1993 (PFR), made pursuant to the Fisheries Act, apply to the management and control of fisheries such as halibut, herring, salmon, shellfish and other fish (including lingcod, sablefish and smelt) in Canadian fisheries waters in the Pacific Ocean and the Province of British Columbia (the Province). The Regulations also apply to fishing for tuna in the waters of the Pacific Ocean that are not Canadian fisheries waters, and harvesting of marine plants from Canadian fisheries waters in the Pacific Ocean that are not within the geographical limits of the Province. However, these Regulations do not apply to sport fishing or fishing from a foreign fishing vessel, taking fish from an aquaculture operation licensed by the Province, or fishing for marine mammals.

Licensed sablefish vessels are permitted to use trap or longline gear. Under the current Regulations, vessels fishing for sablefish may retain halibut bycatch when using hook and line gear; conversely, vessels fishing for sablefish using trap gear are restricted from retaining their halibut bycatch. This gear restriction is described in section 76 of the Regulations. Given that sablefish are primarily caught using trap gear, accounting for approximately 80% of the harvest (DFO, 2005), this gear restriction has an economic impact on nearly 48 licensed sablefish vessels. This has created an inequity between hook and line fishers who may retain halibut and trap fishers who may not.

As well, sablefish vessels using trap gear unavoidably capture approximately 250,000 lbs. of halibut bycatch per year and the existing Regulations require the fishers to release all halibut bycatch whether it is alive or dead. There is an estimated 10% mortality rate among the released fish, causing waste of a limited and valuable resource, contrary to the Department’s commercial integrated groundfish management plan which emphasizes responsible fishing practices. This requirement has also led to criticism of the Department for requiring this waste to occur.

Amendments to the Pacific Fishery Regulations will permit sablefish trap fishers to retain halibut bycatch; however, these regulatory changes will not result in an increase in the annual Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of the halibut fishery for all Canadian fishers. Instead, Individual Vessel Quota (IVQ) reallocations will be made from the existing licence allocations to permit the retention of halibut bycatch. These amendments will allow the sablefish trap fishers to sell their bycatch and realize that income. In addition, these amendments will reduce wastage of bycatch for sablefish trap vessels.

An international fisheries organization called the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) was established in 1923 by a Convention between the governments of Canada and the United States of America. The IPHC consists of three government-appointed commissioners for each country. Its mandate is research on and management of the stocks of Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) within the Convention waters of both nations. The IPHC established the Pacific Halibut Fishery Regulations, which for years prohibited the retention of the halibut by both trawl and trap gear. In January 2007, the Commission recommended that amendments to their Pacific Halibut Fishery Regulations be made to permit the retention of halibut caught in trap gear in British Columbia. These proposed amendments to the Pacific Fishery Regulations under the Fisheries Act will meet this international commitment by harmonizing the Canadian and international regulations.

Description and rationale

Sablefish, also referred to as Blackcod, are found from Baja California to the Bering Sea and Japan. They are a bottom dwelling finfish that inhabit shelf and slope waters to depths greater than 1 500 metres (DFO, 2005). The species is one of the most valuable single species to residents of British Columbia. The groundfish fishery accounts for 43% of the landed value of fish in the Province, of which sablefish contributes 20% at a value of $30.5 million per year. It is the only groundfish species that may be fished with either trap or hook and line gear. The longline fishery occurs in deepwater, targeting depths between 500 and 1 000 metres, where fishers may use either hooks or traps. This fishery has operated under an IVQ system since 1990, which eliminates the “race for fish” and associated safety and market implications, maximizes returns for quota holders, and increases “buy-in” by stakeholders with respect to co-management of the fishery. Effort controls which were the primary mechanism for fisheries management in the past failed to meet conservation, economic and social objectives.

The prohibition under section 76 of the Regulations, for sablefish trap fishers to retain halibut bycatch was originally established to limit the effort on halibut as one part of the previous resource management strategy. Current management practice in the commercial halibut fishery is by IVQ rather than by effort, with 100% accountability for all halibut caught under Canada’s TAC. All other directed hook and line fisheries (e.g. rockfish, dogfish, lingcod) are permitted to request reallocations of quota up to the TAC set by the Department for the species to allow them to retain and land any halibut caught incidentally as bycatch.

The existing Regulations leads to undue hardship on a portion of the sablefish fleet. Those fishing sablefish using long line gear are able to retain and sell halibut that is caught as bycatch, whereas those vessels using trap gear are unable to retain their bycatch and they are accountable for the fish mortality by the requirement to arrange a reallocation of quota. This inequity within the fleet is the source of much discontent amongst fishers. Amending section 76 of the Regulations is the preferred option to establish consistency in the Regulations for both the trap and hook and line sablefish fisheries, and to be consistent with the recommendations of the IPHC to allow the use of trap gear in British Columbia.

The amendment will also be consistent with the three-year integrated commercial groundfish plan, in that it seeks to improve overall management of groundfish fisheries by reducing wastage and discarding, and misreporting of unsaleable halibut bycatch. In 2006, Fisheries and Oceans Canada approved a three-year pilot plan for the integration of commercial groundfish fisheries that was developed by the groundfish Commercial Industry Caucus (CIC) with input and support from Department officials, the Commercial Groundfish Integrated Advisory Committee (CGIAC), and the Province of British Columbia. The CGIAC includes representatives from the commercial industry, First Nations, United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union, environmental non-government organizations, the Sport Fishing Advisory Board, and the Coastal Community Network. The CIC is a working subgroup of the CGIAC that is comprised of commercial groundfish vessel owners and processing groups.

The key components of the commercial groundfish pilot plan are:

• Individual Quotas (IQs) for commercial groundfish fisheries not currently under a quota regime. This requires implementation of IQs in outside rockfish, lingcod, and dogfish fisheries;
• An allocation to provide for First Nation economic opportunities, based on the lingcod and dogfish IQ allocation associated with previously retired salmon licences;
• Ability to request reallocations of quota between all commercial groundfish fisheries; and
• Individual vessel accountability.

The ability to request reallocations of individual quotas is a key component for the commercial integrated groundfish management plan that will allow fishers to account for their bycatch. Individual quotas between groundfish fleets will also allow fishers to acquire the necessary bycatch quota to continue fishing. Allowing retention of halibut bycatch in trap gear will be consistent with the principles of the commercial integrated groundfish management plan, and allow for all groundfish sectors to be treated equitably.

Benefits and c osts

The proposed amendments to section 76 of the Regulations will allow sablefish fishers using trap gear to retain halibut unintentionally captured as bycatch. These trap fishers will subsequently be able to land and sell this halibut. The estimated revenue generated from these sales is estimated at $1.35M. While there will be increased costs to fishers to request reallocations of quota from the Department to account for their bycatch, these costs will be offset by the revenue gained from the sale of the halibut. Presently, the trap fishers are required to request reallocations of IVQ to account for the 10% mortality, at a cost of approximately $75,000.

The amendments will reduce the waste and discarding in the sablefish fishery by allowing retention of the bycatch. The number of halibut removed from the marine environment by the trap fleet is not likely to change. Also, the ability of fishers to benefit from the sale of halibut bycatch will result in reporting all halibut captured, increasing accountability in the fishery.

There will be no incremental costs to the Department to implement the proposed amendment. The quota reallocation mechanism and fishery monitoring infrastructure have already been established in the groundfish fishery; quota reallocation for retention, landing validation and accounting for halibut will be carried out through these existing systems. Any costs to the Department are likely to be minimal and associated with the publication and notification of the regulatory changes to the sablefish fishery and other interested stakeholders.

Cost-Benefit Statement	Quantity	Recipient	Price / lb	Cost / lb	Revenue	Profit/Loss ($K)	Employment Person Year (PY) 1
A. Quantified Impacts $
Benefits	250,000 lbs of halibut	Sablefish trap fishers	$6	$2-3	$1.35M	$675-$900	+34
Benefits	25,000 lbs of halibut, previous bycatch mortality	Sablefish trap fishers	$6	$2-3	$150K	$75-$100	+4
Costs	250,000 lbs of halibut	Halibut fishers	$6	$2-3	-$1.5M	- $675-$900	-34
Net Benefits	25,000 lbs of halibut	Sablefish fishers	$6	$2-3	$150K	$75-$100	+4
B. Quantified Impacts in Non-$ — e.g. Risk Assessment
Positive Impacts	Not Assessed
Negative Impacts	Not Assessed
C. Qualitative Impacts
Standardizes Canada’s Pacific Fishery Regulations with the International Pacific Halibut Commission’s Pacific Halibut Fishery Regulations; Resolves long standing inequity issue between sablefish trap fishers and sablefish hook and line fishers and all other groundfish sectors that can retain halibut; Reduces bycatch and fish mortality of halibut and increased participation in dockside reporting; Consistency with the principles of the Departmental commercial integrated groundfish management plan; Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification currently being sought by the sablefish fishery could result in increased marketability of their catch, open the international market to Canadian fishers, and increased revenue for the sablefish direct harvest and bycatch. This regulatory change will help the sablefish fishery better meet the requirements of certification.
1. Assuming $40,000 = 1 Person Year according to Employment Impacts of ITQ Fisheries in Pacific Canada March 2008. GSGislason & Associates Ltd.

Consultation

The International Pacific Halibut Commission, at a meeting in January 2007, recommended an amendment to their Pacific Halibut Fishery Regulations to allow for the retention of halibut bycatch caught by sablefish trap vessels in Canada’s waters. Consequently, consultations with the CIC for groundfish were conducted in September 2007. All sectors within the groundfish fishery (halibut, sablefish, dogfish, lingcod, and rockfish) were present and expressed support for the proposed amendments.

In November and December 2007, DFO held consultations with three advisory boards including the Halibut Advisory Board (HAB), represented by members of commercial harvesters, processors, the recreational sector, First Nations, the Province, the Pacific Halibut Management Association, the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union (UFAWU), and the IPHC; the Sablefish Advisory Committee (SAC), represented by members of the Canadian Sablefish Association, commercial harvesters, and processors; and the Groundfish Hook and Line Advisory Committee (GHLAC), with representatives of commercial harvesters, the Province, First Nations and the UFAWU. All three boards (HAB, SAC, and GHLAC) expressed their support for the regulatory change.

The Canadian Sablefish Association has expressed concern with the existing Regulations as they create an inequity between hook and line fishers who may retain halibut and trap fishers who may not. They also stated that it causes economic hardship for those who use trap gear to fish for sablefish, both in terms of lost revenue and in the expense of money for quota which cannot be used.

Consultations on the proposed changes to the Regulations were conducted by mailouts to each of the First Nation’s communal commercial halibut and sablefish licence eligibility holders on the proposed changes; however, no responses were received.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

In conjunction with the coming into force of the amendments to section 76, amendments will be made to the 48 valid fishing licences to reflect the aforementioned change in Regulations.

There are no incremental costs associated with these regulatory amendments. Enforcement will likely be more efficient as the amendments will bring the sablefish trap fishery under the same licence conditions as all other groundfish fisheries.

Contacts

Chris Manore
Chief, Regulations Unit
Conservation and Protection, Fisheries Management
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200–401 Burrard Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6C 3S4
Telephone: 604-666-6408
Fax: 604-666-4313
Email : manorec@pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Jaclyn Shepherd
Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Analyst
Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, Policy Sector
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6
Email: Jaclyn.Shepherd@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Footnote a
S.C. 1991, c. 1, s. 12

Footnote b
R.S., c. F-14

Footnote 1
SOR/93-54

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML 1.0 Strict).