Canadian fisheries: access and benefits at risk of slipping away?

International demand for seafood is hitting heights while global yield from wild capture fisheries has plateaued. Seafood-importing countries and firms that supply them are looking for ways to secure long-term access to catch. This may attract investment, merger opportunities, and other types of private finance into Canadian fisheries. An urgent question remains under-discussed: what are the patterns and possible risks of concentrated and foreign ownership in our fisheries? Landings from Canadian wild capture fisheries were worth more than $3.7-billion in 2019. More than 45,000 people were employed as fish harvesters and crew, and another 26,429 were employed in seafood product preparation and packaging. Prices for species popular in the U.S., Western Europe, and Asia are strong; indications suggest that this will remain consistently so. Federal fisheries management is centralized and focuses on tracking single-species stocks of fish through science and modelling, implementing marine conservation measures where appropriate, and developing policy through collaborative processes. Almost all valuable fisheries are licence-limited and the year’s allowable catch from a number of fish stocks are allocated through quota. In most cases, licences and quotas are permitted to be exchanged freely through market transactions. Jennifer Silver, associate professor in geography, environment, and geomatics at the University of Guelph. Photograph courtesy of Jennifer Silver Centralized management relies on market forces to rationalize access works by constraining the size of fishing fleets. However, socio-economic considerations, including license and quota ownership patterns and markers of speculative investment and concentration, often fall outside of managerial oversight. One important exception in Canada, recently strengthened through amendments to the Fisheries Act, is the Atlantic Region "Owner-Operator" policy enshrined for key inshore fisheries and intended to support local and small-scale fish harvesters. Concentration and foreign ownership: common in globalized food systems Researchers and other observers of terrestrial food systems have been studying concentration and foreign ownership patterns in farming for at least 15 years. Banks, hedge funds, and even state governments now view farmland, farming assets, and food value chains as sound, if not lucrative, sites for investment. Buying or investing in farmland, farming, and processing technology, and crop futures can secure control across food supply chains and have the potential to generate windfalls as the price of land and food increases. Less research is available on fisheries, but we do know that a sizeable portion of the global catch is controlled by large transnational corporations. The most comprehensive study available shows that 13 controlled 11 to 16 per cent of marine landings and 19 to 40 per cent of the largest and most valuable fish stocks in 2012. This handful of firms represented 0.5 per cent of all registered fishing and aquaculture companies worldwide, while their revenues accounted for 18 per cent of the value of seafood production (US$252-billion). Private finance is reported to be very interested in wild capture fisheries, particularly in vertically integrating fishing activity with processing or export capital and capacities. Examples of hedge and private equity funds buying or financing fishing entities, including acquiring fishing vessels and quotas, have been reported from the United States and elsewhere around the world. Who has access and who benefits from Canadian fisheries? Canada’s fish stocks are a "public resource" to be managed to the benefit of Canadians; debate about the extent to which the current management system reflects this is active. Is systematic attention given to who holds licences and quotas, patterns of concentration, whether foreign investment and ownership is increasing, and whether economic benefits from our world-renowned seafood are benefitting coastal people and communities? The consensus within the research community is that there may be some internal record keeping (e.g., licence and quota records tied to vessel and holder names). But, what is shared publicly makes it nearly impossible to answer critical socio-economic and transparency questions. The House Committee on Fisheries and Oceans has also been studying fisheries access and benefits, including a 2019 study on the Regulation of the West Coast Fisheries and a set of meetings in 2021 on Corporate Offshore Licenses. They found similar gaps and also suggest that limitations of our management system put both fisheries and coastal communities at risk. Politicians and decision-makers may wish to take note as we move towards an election. We are in a moment where the public is growing weary of transnational corporations and opposes speculative and excessive foreign investment in things like housing and farmland. Commercial fishing licences and quotas are valuable assets, as are fish processing and export facilities that dot our coasts and employ local people. Sustained attention to concentration and foreign ownership patterns in our fisheries is needed; future opportunities for young and Indigenous fish harvesters, domestic food security, and transparent governance of a valuable public resource depend on it. Dr. Jennifer Silver is an associate professor in Geography, Environment, and Geomatics at the University of Guelph. She has a PhD in Resource and Environmental Management from Simon Fraser University and has studied the social and policy dimensions of fisheries for more than 15 years. She has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Fish and Fisheries, Marine Policy, and Nature Sustainability. The Hill Times

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Canadian fisheries: access and benefits at risk of slipping away?

Commercial fishing licenses and quota are valuable assets, as are fish processing and export facilities that dot our coasts and employ local people.

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