Fishing for a Solution: Canada's Fisheries Relations With the European Union, 1977 2013 by Donald Barry & Bob Applebaum & Earl Wiseman

Author:Donald Barry & Bob Applebaum & Earl Wiseman [Barry, Donald & Applebaum, Bob & Wiseman, Earl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781552387801
Google: JYFXswEACAAJ
Goodreads: 23085961
Publisher: Not Avail
Published: 2014-01-15T09:16:00+00:00

New Internal Pressures

Robert Thibault expressed disappointment at the turbot decision while noting that the catch would not likely exceed 36,000t. Overall, “we got most of what we wanted,” he said.40 The turbot TAC became a cause célèbre in Canada. For Newfoundland’s fisheries minister, Gerry Reid, the decision confirmed that “custodial management is the only viable option for Canada to pursue.” FANL president Alastair O’Rielly agreed that “marginal gains” made by Canada could not compensate for NAFO’s flawed negotiating process. “Custodial management is an option that must be further pursued by the Canadian government.” The FFAW’s Earle McCurdy called on Ottawa to put the idea “on the front burner of the national political agenda, where it rightly belongs.”41

Thibault announced the details of “a new approach” that would see Ottawa close Canadian ports to countries and individual vessels that committed “serious violations” of NAFO rules. These included misreporting catches, fishing after a closure, fishing for species under moratoria, exceeding allocations, illegal fishing gear, failing to maintain observer coverage, and interfering with NAFO inspectors, observers or evidence.42 However, the St. John’s Telegram dismissed the move as “just another baby step” that “may not even remove the guilty vessels.”43 Alastair O’Rielly noted that while the policy would have some effect on countries such as Russia, Lithuania, and Latvia, whose vessels use Canadian ports, it would have no impact on Spain and Portugal, whose vessels do not: “Therefore, it doesn’t constitute much of a deterrent.”44

Having received a lukewarm reception for his case for custodial management at a meeting of the Canadian Council of Fisheries and Agriculture Ministers, Reid attempted to enlist the support of non-governmental organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which had been pressing the EU to reform the Common Fisheries Policy. While the WWF agreed to work with the minister to examine alternative management approaches, it did not commit itself to his government’s plan.45

In November 2002, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans responded to the report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. It acknowledged that the document reflected the “deep and long-standing frustration” of the Newfoundland government, industry, and public regarding foreign overfishing, and endorsed the idea of a public awareness campaign to increase knowledge of the problem. However, it rejected the committee’s key recommendation on custodial management. “Other nations would strongly oppose any arbitrary extension of Canadian jurisdiction,” said Thibault. “Canada’s interests are best served when it is an international partner, rather than becoming an international pariah.” The government would convene a roundtable forum consisting of international law specialists and stakeholders from Atlantic Canada to consider ways to improve the management of straddling stocks.46

The debate continued into 2003 amid new warnings about the state of groundfish stocks. In February, the government-sponsored Round-Table Forum on Improving the Management of Straddling Fish Stocks discussed how Canada could bring pressure to bear, including targeted bilateral diplomacy, reform of NAFO, and taking a lead role in international fisheries management developments.47 An all-party committee of provincial and federal politicians, established by

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