“If the ownership is stripped out of the community, so are the benefits.”
Guy Johnston, fisherman from Cowichan Bay, BC
We catch the fish.
We run the boats.
We should EARN THE VALUE of our harvest.
Decades ago, the Canadian federal government privatized fishing access rights on the Pacific Coast, making fishing licences and quota available to the highest bidder on the open market. This made it harder for local fishers, First Nations, and coastal communities to compete with corporate and foreign interests. B.C. fish harvesters are largely unable to afford licences and end up having to lease them at up to 80% of the value of their catch.
This system is failing the domestic industry and the coastal communities that depend on it.
Fishing incomes in B.C. are the lowest in Canada, businesses are barely able to survive and with economic value leaving the country, little is left to get reinvested into the health of the industry and local economy.
Two Coasts. Two Systems.
Only one works for Canadians.
On the Atlantic Coast things are different. The owner-operator model prioritizes Canadian industry, making sure access to the most valuable fisheries are allocated to First Nations and community-based fish harvesters. This keeps the value from the catch in Canada — supporting stronger incomes and local investment in coastal communities.
B.C. fish harvesters and First Nations deserve that same opportunity.
Policy failures over decades have allowed B.C.’s fisheries to be captured by investment interests that drain value from the resource while contributing less and less to the industry and adjacent communities.
“The Government of Canada’s policy objective is for [fishery] wealth to remain in the hands of those individuals that actively fish and for the wealth accumulated to be reinvested and spent in coastal communities, rather than have it concentrated in the hands of a few, wealthy corporations in larger urban centres… Without these policies, wealth from fishing licences would be concentrated in the hands of ineligible third parties resulting in fewer or lower paying fishing jobs available in rural coastal areas and a decrease of economic benefits being maintained in the coastal communities.”
- DFO Policy Objectives for Atlantic Fisheries
We fish here.
We Live here.
We need supportive Licensing.
Federal support can help put ownership of B.C.’s fishing industry back in the hands of local harvesters and First Nations and keep economic value in Canada.
To make that happen we need to:
Address the regulatory reforms in licensing to restore licences and quota to the local fishers, First Nations and coastal communities
Provide a financing mechanism for fishers to access the capital needed to invest in their businesses and support labour-force renewal
Collect the data needed to make informed decisions, now and in the future so we can retain more of the value generated by B.C. fisheries in B.C. coastal and rural communities
industry supports change.
government supports change.
It’s time to act.
Parliamentarians of all stripes have repeatedly supported the call for changes in Pacific fishing licensing, as was recommended by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans in its 2019 report, and reiterated with urgency in its 2023 follow-up report. The Committee urged the Minister for Fisheries and Oceans Canada to harmonize licensing in the Pacific with the owner-operator model in place in Atlantic fisheries.
These policy changes have also been endorsed by the Government of British Columbia, the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, the United Fishermen and Allied Workers-Unifor Union, Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters Federation, the BC Fisheries for Communities Network, environmental organizations and many independent fish harvesters.
Part of COASTAL culture.
Part of COASTAL history.
Put ownership back in LOCAL hands.
For generations, B.C.’s coastal communities have relied on fishing. Today, too few people see a future in the industry.
B.C. fisheries contribute to the economy, provide jobs across the supply chain, and are a historical foundation of coastal identity. Work with us to modernize B.C.’s licensing model and put ownership back in the hands of Canada’s communities.
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