The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has announced to retire Chinook salmon fishery licenses in the B.C. fishery, which raises eyebrows. The buyback plan program is no less than $28.5 million and it can enhance the economic viability of the commercial chinook troll fishery of the West Coast of Vancouver Island.
Ucluelet fisherman Doug Kimoto, who owns an Area G license for commercial troll fishing on the West Coast, said that active fishermen are not willing to sell their licenses at such a low prices. The buyback is the latest development under the Pacific Salmon Treaty. This 2009 treaty with the United States includes a 30 per cent reduction in catch for ten years for the West Coast area. The intent is for the American fishery to bounce back. Canada was compensated with cash.
Kimoto said that the loss would be no less than 30 percent and that will be a huge impact on fishermen and coastal communities on the island. Ucluelet mayor Bill Irving agrees four years of cutbacks and constraints means questionable value for the licenses. He said that buyback programs undermine collaborative local effort. He added that the fishing communities, First Nations, and environmental groups all met and proposed to the government to not use buybacks.
Under this program, if a fishermen sells a licence they still have their boat and will need to pay moorage and maintenance costs. A committee formed to consider the treaty, and Kimoto said it hoped that in the event of a buyback, licences would be put in a trust – or a licensing bank – so they could be accessible to future generations when stocks improve.
DFO said that it has engaged an independent consultant to establish fair market value for licenses. The Pacific Salmon Treaty was signed by the Conservatives in 2008 during the prorogued Parliament.
