Presently the commercial fishing licences are classed as privileges under a common fishery protocol managed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, without any legal value or property rights and it ceased to exists at the end of the year.
The court has given the Royal Bank that has seized fisherman Saulnier’s licences after he declared bankruptcy. It is said that the licences were assets under the BIA and should be sold to benefit the creditors. Saulnier has one lobster licence and three other licences, valued at $600,000, which were sold by WBLI Inc., the receiver for the Royal Bank.
Experts say that this decision would set a legal precedent that would introduce property rights throughout the commercial fisheries across Canada. According to this decision commercial fishing licences would be used as security on bank loans. It would allow fishermen to leverage their licences for working capital. The decision would also give new entrants into the fishery access to finance the purchasing of existing commercial fishing licences.
The main issue with property rights in commercial fisheries in Canada is individual transferable quotas that promote the privatization of a common resource. The apex court decision would increase pressure from corporate interests to put the quotas in most of the lucrative fisheries which also include lobster.
The Fraser Institute in British Columbia and the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies have promoted the individual transferable quotas and private property rights. Majority of fishermen demands long-term plan instead of initial short-term gain of a favourable decision.
