quote:Originally posted by searun
Amazing what we can accomplish when we work together on the same side.
aYup! [^]
From the SFAB Chair:
"Colleagues: While we got slightly fewer fish for Canada than last year, things could have ended up a lot worse.
The International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) staff wanted to reduce Canada’s TAC from 7.63 million pounds in 2009 to 6.59 million this year. This was based on an apportionment scheme that nobody trusts, except when it happens to work to their advantage as in the case of the US areas to the North and West where halibut fisheries are not monitored as strictly as in Canada and where the trawl by catch of juvenile halibut is enormous and probably robs Canada of more than a million pounds of catch a year..
But this year Canada was well organized. Both the larger delegation and its smaller strategic advisory group had met numerous times beforehand and developed a clear set of principles and objectives.
It was obvious we were on the right track when a US representative went to the Conference Board microphone to complain that it wasn’t fair of Canada to vote as a disciplined bloc. The Americans like to view Canada as just one of ten harvest regions rather than as one of two parties to the treaty and
he apparently wanted us to be as fractured as his side between both regions and sectors.
In order to show that we were in Seattle to make certain that Canada gets its appropriate share of the halibut resource in this bilateral treaty with the United States, and that each party has to be responsible for all of its extractions, we set the tone at the beginning with an excellent presentation by Tamee Mawanee, DFO’s regional manager of groundfish, pointing out the extent to which Canada has reduced its trawl bycatch and accounts for all of its halibut mortalities. Our delegation to the Conference Board then went on to work as a team in putting forward a united and principled Canadian position. To make the point that the resource should be considered in terms of national shares, we abstained from voting on proposals as to how the US should divide up its TAC.
In every important part of the proceedings, the entire Canadian delegation, DFO, First Nations, commercial harvesters, processors and the recreational sector
maintained a united front in defense of Canada’s interests. Our commissioners sought our views and advice during meetings with both the full delegation and the strategic working group. With the able assistance of Chuck Ashcroft as Canadian co-chair of the harvesters’ Conference Board, our paper spelling out Canada’s position and the principles behind it, especially with regard to the issue of bycatch in US fisheries, was included in the Board’s report to the Commissioners, along with our opening catch limit proposal of 8 million pounds. We succeeded in having the Canadian position was put forward as a recommendation of the board, not as a “minority report” which would have had much less impact. Throughout the Conference Board process, the SFAB team of Daugert, Alcock and Kristianson played an active role .
The other component of the IHPC meeting, the PAG or Processors Advisory Group, was co-chaired by Canada’s Blake Tipton, who included SFAB members John McCulloch and Martin Paish as part of the Canadian group in recognition of the fact that fishing lodges are significant processors of sport-caught halibut. While John and Martin didn’t have a vote, their presence was an important first step in ensuring that recreational interests are understood by this influential part of the IPHC process. While the Canadian delegation had agreed on 8 million pounds as the Canadian opening objective, our processors, based on their long experience with the IPHC, decided that this was not achievable and that it would be better to try and get PAG support for a lower number, but one that was still an improvement over the staff recommendation. They got support of their US colleagues for 7.5 million pounds. While this initially seemed like an undermining of the Canadian position, it proved beneficial in the long run since it provided a fractured US delegation with what could be termed a compromise.
It wasn’t easy to get to this point. The US tried to play hardball. But our commissioners Gary Robinson and Larry Johnson, with great leadership from Sue Farlinger who had to step into the role when both Laura Richards and Dick Beamish were sidelined with health problems, didn’t blink.
They called the US bluff and got a deal which isn’t everything we wanted, but does cushion us from the reduction the IPHC staff was trying to impose. They also delivered a loud and clear message that the US has to start dealing with its bycatch problems. There is no doubt the US was listening and has asked Canada to send people to the next meeting of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council to testify on how we have reduced our trawl bycatch and implemented full reporting of all halibut mortalities.
Of course, for the recreational sector the next step is the difficult task of working out how to deal with the new allocation number of 901,440 pounds and what might be added to it using the $482,000 left in the trust fund and any additional measures that might be acceptable to the department. Unfortunately, we are still in the position of facing the social and economic impact of a much reduced recreational fishery because of the 88/12 allocation policy.
This job will start in earnest at the SFAB Halibut Committee Meeting on February 17.
Gerry Kristianson
SFAB Chair"
Emphasis Mine.
Major
KUDOS to our Team! Literally pulling a rabbit out of the hat!
SINCERELY</u> Appreciated!! [^]
And of course, BEST OF LUCK with the upcoming efforts towards realizing a more desirable quota sharing program!!
Cheers,
Nog