Declarations starting to flow in to DFO

By Tina Comeau

SOU’WESTER

As of the middle of January, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had received 233 declarations from licence holders indicating that they are in a controlling agreement.

“The actual number of responses we received (so far) is a lot higher and we have received about half of what we expect to receive,” said DFO spokesperson Phil Jenkins. The other category fish harvesters filing declarations place themselves into is independent core.

The deadline for filing the declarations – which is a measure announced last April as part of the department’s policy on preserving the independence if the inshore fleet – is March 31.

The deadline had originally been the end of October but it was extended since licence holders, and even DFO, had many questions about the policy and the controlling agreements themselves.

“We are not concerned at this point about the rate of responses,” said Jenkins, pointing out DFO expects the filing of declarations to go up once licence holders receive a mailed version of a DFO newsletter further clarifying the policy.

The newsletter speaks to definitions of controlling agreements and clarifications regarding some financial arrangements that have been presented to DFO, as well as family arrangements.

The newsletter is also posted on the DFO website.

As of mid-January, the breakdown of declarations indicating a controlling agreement according to region were:

•Gulf: 53

•Maritimes: 72

•Newfoundland and Labrador: 60

•Quebec: 48

There have been mixed views on the policy announced in April. A coalition of processors and harvesters in southwestern Nova Scotia commission a study that suggests the policy will have negative economic impact on the region.

But a majority of industry associations have come out in favour of the policy, agreeing with DFO that it is needed to keep the control of licences in the hands of fish harvesters.

In its newsletter, DFO states it is open to the possibility of industry proposing modifications to the owner operator/fleet separation policies where they are reasonable.

Fish harvesters/licence holders who do not complete the declaration by the end of March deadline will not be eligible for category reclassification. In addition, no licensing transactions – including renewal, tag issuance, transfer, registration, etc. – will be processed until a declaration has been filed.

Licence holders in a controlling agreement have seven years to terminate the agreement or make amendments to bring them in line with the policy.