Session Title: Exploring the issues of "value" in sustainable fisheries Session Date: 2014-11-15 Session Time: 9:00 am – 10:30 pm

Key Messages from presenters:

• Price fisherman are getting paid for shrimp, though it fluctuates, hasn't changed in 20 years, despite rising costs to fisherman • Local media has supported making public aware of value based products, like Chadebucto Bay Shrimp, the Ecology Action Centre has also been supportive. • There is demand for value based products, often challenges in distribution to find sizeable enough markets and create enough supply once a market is established

◦ issues of matching up the market with the fisherman. Can't get the product in large enough quantities to build a market. Building name branding is what Chadebucto Bay Shrimp plans to do to address building the markets recognition of how their product differs from traditionally fished shrimp.

• Valuing Commercial Fisheries – Presented by Amanda Barney and Jim McIssaac

◦ Jim involved with EcoSystem based management studies and research with EcoTrust ◦ EcoTrust has the 2nd largest dataset on Canadian fisheries, the largest being DFO

• 70% of the globes surface is ocean, average ocean temp worldwide is 3.5 degrees Celsius, main source of protein for 3 billion people on the planet. Ensuring that we manage them sustainably is one of the biggest things we can do for life on this planet • Socio-economic and Cultural Overview and Assessment Report for the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area.

◦ All communities wanted a stronger connection to fisheries... why, when they have a low economic impact?

▪ Crab fishery in Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) is the highest value fishery in the region. Other notable fish include, Sable fish, Geoduck ,

EcoTrust

• Amanada is from Prince Rupert where a lot of the interviews have taken place • Trying to create an alternative monitoring system for fisheries to reduce times requiring for hailing. • Do a lot of work to try to maintain the small boat fleets • Easy to find the monetary value that fisheries bring to communities (the direct tangible value), but studies need to also inquire about the intangible values?

◦ “Where are Cultural and Social in EcoSystem Services? A Framework for Constructive Engagement” - article referenced ◦ Question to ask

▪ Why is it important to go fishing? • Spritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflection, recreation, and aesthetic experience

▪ interviewed 23 people in Prince Rupert which has a crab fleet of 70 boats among other fisheries ▪ The response:

• Culture & tradition • Intergenerational • Lifestyle • environmental and stewardship • spiritual • monetary • Transportation • Education • Networks • Food Fishing

• “you don't just sell your fish, you share your fish”

◦ local fishing integrates you in the community as fish is distributed to those who can't fish or process fish anymore

• creates a sense of community, social networks, and food systems within the community. • Landed value of fish ($) < Wholesale value ($$$) < community Value (intangible)

Discussion Highlights

• Off the hook (bottom fish and line fisheries), community supported fishery, 300 CSA members, bar code to tie fish to how it was caught, where it was caught and who caught it. Ensures fair price for fisherman. • Chedabucto Bay Trap-Caught Shrimp. Traditional shrimp fisheries use ground trawlers in the world oceans, or through destructive methods of mangroves in Southeast Asia. Alen and Melanie Newell's operation trap shrimp in Chadabucto Bay, harvesting live shrimp with low impact

◦ In Earlies 90's there was moratorium on fishing shrimp due to a population collapse. ◦ Alen and Melanie's father studied populations and worked with BIO to design new pot traps, similar to lobster traps that lobster fisherman would be familiar with using. ◦ The Fishery

▪ Boats over 65 feet long are not allowed to fish in the bay due to mobile equipment ▪ sept – mar fishing of shrimp ▪ initially shrimp licensing zone established on lobster zone 31a, in Chedabucto Bay (reduced to 20% of original area now, and rest of 31a is opened up to trawlers)

▪ dock to first traps is about 10 minutes, to a 2 mile strip of traps ▪ bait is recycled from herring and roe fishery ▪ Models used to calculate fishery carbon footprint doesn't even register their operation ▪ Lots of snow crabs in area, traps have been modified to keep snow crabs out, and prevent them from climbing up on them ▪ traps have a biodegradable gate so that if a trap is lost, after some time it will open, preventing continuous trapping ▪ Live caught shrimp, still very healthy after long storage times, video showed a few shrimp still jumping after 50 days ▪

• issues of fishing in Chedabucto bay ◦ must hail out 6 hours prior to a fishing trip ◦ if there is a mechanical issue, must wait an hour (?), if you need to come in you have to wait another 6 hours prior to going out again ◦ Inshore fishermans catch is often mixed in with the offshore fishermans' because the buyer/processors are demanding quantity

▪ processors require degraded quality, don't want fresh because ▪ all inshore fisherman ▪ price hasn't changed in 20 years for shrimp, despite increasing costs for fisherman

◦ Knowles (licensing system) a numbering system with tags is required to account for traps, if a trap is lost, need to identify the tag, indicate to licensing that a new tag is required, with many steps before they can actually receive the tag. Cumbersome process, could be 3 business days, whereas previously the fishermans association could replace it in 10 minutes.

• Other thoughts / actions that emerged

• Beautiful video on fishing, and the conditions fisherman work in, and the spiritual/emotional ties to the work/practice of fishing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J47WxkdNcE) • How to we communicate the spiritual, and intangible benefits of responsible fishing? • Independent Fish Harvesters Association • Social pressure to access local fish can be used to influence future policy • How can we get our Provincial Fishing Ministers to take some responsibility for processing value added inshore fisheries • Inland Sockeye fishery created in BC for food first and monetary benefit second, a fish monger committed to supporting the fishery with the provincial regulations, the model might be useful to other fisheries trying to find a buyer/processor to make sustainbly harvested fish available, distinguished from other fish. • Often DFO research focuses on $, without acknoweldgement of the intangible values