Guiding Principles
For A West Coast Integrated Commercial Groundfish Fishery
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Principle One - Fishery participation
In order to increase bycatch accountability while targeting specific species, participation in an integrated groundfish fishery should be limited to the L, K, ZN, T and Schedule II groundfish licenses. These license categories may have access to purchase, lease or trade groundfish species included in the groundfish fishery under new rules to be developed.
Principle Two - Respectful involvement
Participation in the CIC process will be constructive, proactive, responsible, and respectful of the needs of others.
Principle Three - Inclusive process
Each commercial groundfish sector represents participants who have invested considerable human and financial resources in the groundfish fishery. Each sector member has a legitimate stake in the CIC process, which will not be used to discredit or negatively affect another CIC sector, or any other commercial fishing user group.
Principle Four - Individual accountability
Fishermen will be individually accountable for their catch.
Principle Five - Fair treatment
The transition to an integrated groundfish fishery must respect the existing licensing regime.
Principle Six - Equitable treatment
An integrated fishing plan will not favour one group over another. Appropriate standards for the management of groundfish stocks should apply to all harvesters. This includes, but is not limited to, setting applicable standards for at-sea monitoring, dockside monitoring, logbooks, data collection, scientific research, biological sampling, stock assessment, accountability and participation in fisheries
management and enforcement activities.
Fish should not be transferred from a fishery with individual accountability to a fishery with anything less than the appropriate requirements and standards.
Principle Seven - Voluntary reallocation
This process will not be used to reallocate fish from one commercial sector to another or from one license holder to another unless the reallocation is the result of market transactions between willing buyers and willing sellers. Without impeding the foregoing sentence, it is recognized within this principle that the rationalization of Schedule 2 groundfish, limited entry or quota will be able to proceed.
DFO must not reallocate fish from the commercial sector to other user groups without first compensating commercial license holders or causing compensation to be paid at prevailing market rates and amounts agreed to by industry for the amount of fish transferred. Before fish can be transferred and harvesting conducted, the same standards that apply to commercial sectors must be in place.
Where the total allowable catch of a stock has been reduced due to conservation concerns and the catch increases, DFO must restore the increased TAC to the commercial sector that originally held it and not re-allocate the increased available harvest to another user group Any initiation of a fishery or increase in any amount of harvest of any species must first extend to the commercial users of that species, unless a sharing agreement is agreed to.
Principle Eight - Bycatch
An integrated groundfish fishery should address bycatch mortalities. To preserve and protect the autonomy of each sector’s directed fishery, an integrated groundfish fishery will allow fishermen to address fish mortality associated with target and non-target species.
Principle Nine - Allocations
Commercial hook and line, trap and trawl groundfish sectors should start from initial fleet allocations of species they have been permitted to retain. All sectors involved in directed commercial fisheries with selective gear may maximize their ability to catch their directed species by developing mechanisms for sharing bycatch species.
Allocation arrangements under an integrated groundfish fishery must not alter existing inter-fishery and intra-fishery allocation arrangements. Initial allocations between fleets and within a fleet must not be altered by the introduction of an integrated fishery.
For A West Coast Integrated Commercial Groundfish Fishery
Print the Info
Principle One - Fishery participation
In order to increase bycatch accountability while targeting specific species, participation in an integrated groundfish fishery should be limited to the L, K, ZN, T and Schedule II groundfish licenses. These license categories may have access to purchase, lease or trade groundfish species included in the groundfish fishery under new rules to be developed.
Principle Two - Respectful involvement
Participation in the CIC process will be constructive, proactive, responsible, and respectful of the needs of others.
Principle Three - Inclusive process
Each commercial groundfish sector represents participants who have invested considerable human and financial resources in the groundfish fishery. Each sector member has a legitimate stake in the CIC process, which will not be used to discredit or negatively affect another CIC sector, or any other commercial fishing user group.
Principle Four - Individual accountability
Fishermen will be individually accountable for their catch.
Principle Five - Fair treatment
The transition to an integrated groundfish fishery must respect the existing licensing regime.
Principle Six - Equitable treatment
An integrated fishing plan will not favour one group over another. Appropriate standards for the management of groundfish stocks should apply to all harvesters. This includes, but is not limited to, setting applicable standards for at-sea monitoring, dockside monitoring, logbooks, data collection, scientific research, biological sampling, stock assessment, accountability and participation in fisheries
management and enforcement activities.
Fish should not be transferred from a fishery with individual accountability to a fishery with anything less than the appropriate requirements and standards.
Principle Seven - Voluntary reallocation
This process will not be used to reallocate fish from one commercial sector to another or from one license holder to another unless the reallocation is the result of market transactions between willing buyers and willing sellers. Without impeding the foregoing sentence, it is recognized within this principle that the rationalization of Schedule 2 groundfish, limited entry or quota will be able to proceed.
DFO must not reallocate fish from the commercial sector to other user groups without first compensating commercial license holders or causing compensation to be paid at prevailing market rates and amounts agreed to by industry for the amount of fish transferred. Before fish can be transferred and harvesting conducted, the same standards that apply to commercial sectors must be in place.
Where the total allowable catch of a stock has been reduced due to conservation concerns and the catch increases, DFO must restore the increased TAC to the commercial sector that originally held it and not re-allocate the increased available harvest to another user group Any initiation of a fishery or increase in any amount of harvest of any species must first extend to the commercial users of that species, unless a sharing agreement is agreed to.
Principle Eight - Bycatch
An integrated groundfish fishery should address bycatch mortalities. To preserve and protect the autonomy of each sector’s directed fishery, an integrated groundfish fishery will allow fishermen to address fish mortality associated with target and non-target species.
Principle Nine - Allocations
Commercial hook and line, trap and trawl groundfish sectors should start from initial fleet allocations of species they have been permitted to retain. All sectors involved in directed commercial fisheries with selective gear may maximize their ability to catch their directed species by developing mechanisms for sharing bycatch species.
Allocation arrangements under an integrated groundfish fishery must not alter existing inter-fishery and intra-fishery allocation arrangements. Initial allocations between fleets and within a fleet must not be altered by the introduction of an integrated fishery.
