Preliminary Report on Sectoral Committee Meeting
30 Jan 2001, Nanaimo, BC
Just returned from the sectoral committee meeting in Nanaimo which I attended as an observer. A complete and 'official' version of the proceedings should be available in a day or two from either the sectoral committee or DFO.
These are my interpretations only. If anyone else who was present either disagrees or has something to add please contact me. We will get it right.
Management Plan
DFO has received direction from the sectoral caucus. The timeline is still on schedule and we should see the initial draft in a few weeks. It must be be ready for sign-off by 15 March and published by 1 April for a 1 May opening.
Sectoral Caucus Position:
-go with single haul coastwide as per results of the ballot.
-caucus majority accepted the 3 disputed votes as valid since none were duplicates and all were posted on time and in good faith. All 3 votes supported a stack to 500 resulting in a tied ballot. A 51% majority was not achieved by this ballot.
-caucus majority voted to favor a 300/500 stack for 2001.
-caucus majority acknowledges the PPFA as recognised association to represent prawn fishermen and enter into a collaborative agreement with DFO.
Collaborative Agreement
DFO recognises the Pacific Prawn Fishermen's Association as representing the majority of the prawn license holders. Only one collaborative agreement will be entered into and that will be with PPFA. Bruce Adkins (DFO) and Brian Van Dorp (PPFA) will work together on it. A 2 yr old copy of a Collaborative agreement is available as a starting point to work on.
Projected costs for the Collaborative Agreement
$58,000 - stock assessment and fisheries management
$25,000 - monitor single haul South Coast
$25,000 - monitor single haul North Coast
DFO advised that we should have access to residual funds of $15,000 from last year. If applied to the cost of funding single haul North it would reduce that figure to $10,000. This works out to a cost of approx. $40 per license.
DFO considers single haul coastwide to be 'do-able' if the above funding requirements are met.
Traps tags have been ordered by DFO to ensure that they will be available on time. Cost will be transferred to the service provider later.
Bids and proposals were received from 3 service providers at the 29 Jan caucus meeting. These will be reviewed and processed by caucus with assistance from DFO later this week.
The best deal for fishermen, costwise, should be through the PPFA. Individuals still have the option to choose and fund a service provider on their own but the cost is anticipated to be considerably higher than a 'package deal' through PPFA.
Biological Sub-Committee
Caucus expressed dissatisfaction with the current process. DFO agreed and will fix it by resetting the committee structure and starting again with advice from caucus.
Results will go out to all of industry including Sports and First Nations.
Sport Fishing Advisory Board
-expressed concern over 'commercial' sport fishing notably in Saanich Inlet. They are not happy with what is happening and wish to work together with the commercial prawn fleet.
-DFO admitted to being well aware of poaching activities which include
-7 day/week fishing and multi-hauling
-over possession limit
-over trap limit
-established markets for illegal prawns.
The SFAB is not happy tht DFO is doing nothing concerning the problem other than acknowledging that it exists.
Holding Cages
When attached to a regular string of traps the use of live holding cages can give the appearance of double hauling. DFO recognises the problem and will look into a solution such as a separated marked line.
Once again, this is a quick summary. Additions/clarification are encouraged.
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