Halibut Allocation 2011– Update and

Forecast
How did we get here?
• 1991 – DFO gifts shares of the common property Canadian Halibut
resource to 435 commercial fishermen based on their previous catch
history. This was done to remove safety concerns for fishermen and
crews that arose from competitive “derby style” fisheries, and to
stabilize the supply of halibut to the market.
• 2000 – These same commercial fishermen grow concerned over the
“uncompensated reallocation of halibut from the commercial sector to
the recreational sector”. It is worth noting that these quota holders
never paid a penny for their quota when it was first gifted to them by
DFO, and then they wanted to be compensated for providing this same
halibut back to its rightful owners – the people of Canada. These cries
for compensation for their gifted quota by the quota holders resulted in
a series of allocation framework meetings which resulted in the current
2003 Halibut Allocation Policy.
• 2003 – The Thibault Allocation Policy has 3 main components:

- The Canadian TAC available to the commercial and recreational

fisheries are split to provide 88% to the 435 original quota holders,
and 12% to the 100,000 participants in the public fishery.
- “a 12 per cent recreational catch ‘ceiling’ will be allocated to the
recreational sector until both parties can develop an
acceptable mechanism that will allow for adjustment of the
recreational share through acquisition of additional quota
from the commercial sector”.
- “I have also made a commitment that there will be no
closure of the sport fishery in-season”.
• It is generally agreed based on significant improvements in
recreational fishery catch accounting methods over recent years that
the recreational catch was underestimated at this time, and that the
12% allocation allowed for little to no growth.
• 2008 – A series of meetings between the commercial sector,
recreational sector, BC Ministry of Environment, First Nations
representatives, and DFO produced a consensus agreement between
the commercial and recreational sectors on a mechanism to transfer
quota. This agreement was then rejected by DFO as not meeting the
requirements of the “User Fee Act”, and “ministerial authority”
requirements under the “Fisheries Act”. It is the assertion of the BCSFC
 that the real reason for its rejection is simply lack of political will to find
a solution.
• Nov 2008. The recreational sector is closed in season for the first time
in clear contravention of the 2003 allocation policy.
• 2010 – The Halibut Allocation Transfer Mechanism committee is struck
and tasked with finding a solution to what DFO clearly acknowledges is
a serious problem with the 88\12 allocation formulae. It produces a
series of options. (See page 2)
• Oct 2010 – the recreational fishery is again closed in-season causing
serious economic damage to tackle manufacturers, lodges, charters,
tackle stores, marinas campgrounds and other service providers to the
recreational fishery again, in clear violation of the 2003 allocation
policy.
• Nov – Dec 2010 Uncertainty and instability cause further damage to
the recreational fishery as the message that “the recreational halibut
fishery in BC is closed.”

The Problem:
• For 2011 season, if the recreational fishery was
restricted to its current 12% allocation and based on
similar catch rates to 2010, if the season was to start
on Feb 1st, it would end:

- July 15th with bag limits of 2 per day, 3 possession

- Aug 1st with bag limits of 2 per day, 2 in possession
- August 20th with bag limits of 1 per day, 2 in
possession

All of these dates represent the “peak season” for fishing in BC. This would
potentially cause economic disaster to many small coastal communities as
businesses fail, tourist dollars dry up, and lodges and charters close their doors
early.

Remember – all of this could happen in order to ensure that less than 500
individuals continue to reap huge profits from a common property resource they
never had to pay for in the first place!

• The SFAB Halibut Working Group recently rejected DFO attempts to further
reduce expectation of the recreational halibut fishery through increased bag
limit restrictions and even shorter seasons.
 • The bare minimum considered acceptable to the
recreational fishery for the 2011 season is clear:

2 halibut per day, 2 in possession.

Season start – Feb 1st, 2001
Season end – Dec 31st, 2011

Seeking a Solution:

The Halibut Allocation Transfer Committee:

• Or “Stanyer Process” is a facilitated series of negotiations between the

commercial sector as represented by the Pacific Halibut Management
Assoc. (PHMA) , the recreational sector as represented by the Sport
Fishing Advisory Board (SFAB) and DFO.

• Has come up with 4 options to consider moving forward:

1. Status Quo - continue to manage the recreational fishery to a catch

ceiling of 12%. This option is considered completely unacceptable to the
recreational fishery because the existing 12% allocation is simply not
adequate to provide for a sustainable, thriving recreational fishery. This
fishery provides access to halibut to the people of Canada – the rightful
owners of this resource – to exercise their opportunity to harvest their own
halibut should they choose to do so, rather than be forced to buy it from the
commercial sector. It also provides enormous social and economic benefits
to coastal communities through countless jobs, tourism dollars, infrastructure
investment, and healthy, quality time spent with family and friends.

2. Individual Anglers Fishing With Commercial Quota – Would

provide for private transactions between individuals and commercial quota
holders to lease or purchase quota for their own use. This optipn is also
considered unacceptable to the recreational fishery for the following reasons:

• It does not provide an increase in allocation for the recreational sector

but rather simply provides another market for the “slipper skippers” to
continue to get rich based on their gift from the taxpayers of Canada.
 • It accepts that a common property resource can be turned in to private
property which can be bought, sold, leased and even inherited. The
SFAB rejects this notion as socially wrong, and even potentially illegal
based on the Saulnier v Royal Bank decision of the Supreme Court of
Canada.
• It will do nothing to prevent further management restrictions, in season
closures and further erosion of expectation and opportunity for the
recreational halibut fishery.

IT REWARDS THE BAD BEHAVIOUR OF THE CURRENT NON-FISHING

QUOTA HOLDERS!!!

Did you know?

• That of the original 435 quota holders in 1991, there are less than 150
active commercial fishermen in 2010? The rest of the commercial
quota holders simply sit back, lease out their quota to active
fishermen, and earn sometimes huge sums of money for doing
absolutely nothing with a “gift” they received from Canadian tax-
payers way back in 1991. Now they want the recreational fishermen of
Canada to pay them to access our share of this resource – something
the original quota holders never paid for in the first place!
• That these “fish lords” or “slipper skippers”, also hurt hard working
commercial fishermen with their greedy ways? A 2008 joint study by
Simon Fraser University and Ecotrust indicates that by 2008 fully 78%
of commercial halibut quota was leased, that quota lease costs can be
as much as 75% of the total costs incurred by commercial fishermen,
and concludes that “The quota leasing market in the BC Halibut
fishery is limiting efficiency, stifling innovation, and causing
financial hardship.”
• That the public recreational fishery has been shut down twice in the past
three years, and faces complete disaster in 2011 so these 435 individuals can
continue to reap windfall profits from a public resource they never paid for in
the first place?
• That in 2009, over 75% of commercially caught halibut were
exported out of Canada. The claims that the commercial fishery is
“providing fish for Canadians” rings false when this statistic (provided by BC
Stats) is considered. “Fishing for Canadians”? Not really. The situation is even
more disturbing when you look at the price of halibut to Canadian consumers
- over $20.00\kg in BC on average in 2010. Hardly affordable to the average
family.

3. Flexible implementation of 88%\12% over time – Would

attempt to ensure that the recreational sector was managed to an average
of 12% over some longer period of time. This is a similar approach that is
applied for Sockeye, Pink and Chum Salmon in the Salmon Allocation Policy.
This option has been rejected by the IPHC as it does not account for fish, and
meet conservation objectives on an annual basis. This option does not
provide a solution for allocation transfer - it simply delays the need for it for
a few years. If the TAC provided to Canada doesn’t increase over the next
few years, the recreational fishery may at that time face a deficit that would
provide for absolutely no season.

THE SOLUTION:

4. The Fixed Number Approach:

• Season Length of Feb 1st to Dec 31st.
• Choose bag and possession limits based on 2 Canadian TAC scenarios:

- “Normal” TAC triggers 2 per day, 3 in possession

- “Lower” TAC triggers 2 per day, 2 in possession

• Calculate the anticipated catch pre-season based on the previous

years effort and catch trends.
• Assign that catch to the recreational fishery pre-season. Allow for
enough catch to anticipate slight growth in catch due to unforeseen
circumstances.
• If the number is overestimated, surplus fish should be released to the
commercial sector in September.

Why does the recreational fishery support this

approach?
• It acknowledges that recreational – commercial catch is about rationing
the benefits of fish, it’s not about conservation.
- The IPHC assigns a conservation based TAC to Canada each year.
This catch is accepted to be sustainable, and account for
conserevation needs on an annual basis.
- THIS OPTION IN NO WAY IMPLIES THAT CANADA WILL EVER
FISH OVER ITS NATIONAL TAC AS PROVIDED BY THE IHPC.
- By remaining within its conservation based TAC, Canada will ensure
the sustainability of its halibut fishery for future generations.

• It honours the principle that fish are a common property resource the
Supreme Court says cannot become private property until caught.
Halibut always have, and always should belong to the Canadian public.
 Having public access to this great common property resource is a
tradition in BC that stretches back generations.
• It conforms to the principles of the Recreational Fishery Vision – a 2009
policy document that charts a new, positive course for the recreational
fishery based on a series of principles and goals that have been
endorsed at the ministerial level by DFO, the Province of BC, and the
SFAB.
• It recognizes the social importance and economic value of the
recreational fishery. Recreational fishing is an integral part of the social
and economic fabric of British Columbia. For many generations, British
Columbians have enjoyed the opportunity to participate in this healthy
outdoor activity with friends and family. These traditions must be
preserved. After decades of dependence on logging and commercial
fishing, the economic activity created by the recreational fishery is the
engine that drives the fragile economies of most small coastal
communities in BC. In its 2007 “Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector”
report, BC stats reported that tidal waters recreational fishing
accounted for $135 million, or 39% of the total GDP of all fisheries and
aquaculture combined in BC! This sustainable, inclusive, highly value
added way of extracting wealth from our fishery resources must be
fostered and allowed to reach its fullest potential.