Prince Rupert, BC, July 8, 2013 – Fishermen in B.C.'s North Coast Dungeness crab fishery have withdrawn volunteer work and funding for an expensive soft-shell crab survey to protest the Department of Fisheries and Oceans breaking of scientific protocols that resulted in the controversial closure of their fishery last week. This action comes after fishermen blockaded DFO's office in Prince Rupert and after DFO denied repeated requests from fishermen to have a formal meeting with scientists and managers to review the controversial decision.
Each spring soft-shell crab surveys are conducted to gauge whether male crabs are moulting, a process whereby crabs shed their shells and grow new ones as part of their natural growth cycle. The Area A Crab Association, which represents local crab fishermen, began these scientific surveys in 1997 in order to better manage the fishery.
"Crab fishermen are incredibly proud of the strict monitoring and rigorous science we have pioneered and funded for the sustainability of our fishery," says Paul Edwards, President of the Area "A" Crab Association and captain of a crab vessel. "We annually spend more than $100,000 on scientific surveys, but this year the Department of Fisheries and Oceans decided to ignore the scientific data and to arbitrarily close the fishery. The fishermen aren't going to continue to fund scientific research if DFO is going to ignore and misinterpret the data from these surveys."
This spring eight surveys did not observe a male soft-shell moult, which allowed the fishery to remain open. However, the local DFO manager Shaun Davies arbitrarily closed the fishery when some female soft-shelled crabs were identified in the ninth survey in June. For conservation purposes, female crabs are never harvested and fishermen try to avoid catching them. It is the male moulting that triggers openings and closings in the fishery. The controversial decision to close the fishery violated long-standing scientific protocols and DFO has refused to hold a formal meeting between fishermen and scientists to review and interpret the scientific data.
In the absence of a soft-shelled crab monitoring program, the Dungeness crab fishery will automatically reopen on August 1, 2013, as per DFO's Integrated Fisheries Management Plan for this fishery.
The crab fishery—worth about $15 million in landed value and 300 jobs to the local economy—is critical to the economically depressed Skeena-Queen Charlotte Islands region. The decision to close the fishery on July 5 is an economic catastrophe for the North Coast, since 50 percent of the crab is caught in the months of July and August.
The Crab Association has sent a letter to Susan Farlinger, DFO's Regional Direction General in Vancouver, to establish a formal framework for co-managing the fishery since long-standing, informal protocols were ignored by local DFO managers this summer. The controversial closure severely damaged fishermen's relationship with DFO and eroded trust. A formally agreed upon decision-making process will ensure that local DFO managers can't make arbitrary decisions or ignore scientific data in the future.
Since DFO has been gutted by budget cuts and has reduced personnel across the country, it cannot manage marine resources under its mandate without working with fishermen who fund scientific research under an ecosystem-based management framework. In September, the Crab Association intends to set up a formal co-management process between fishermen and DFO managers and scientists to re-establish trust and collaboration to co-manage the fishery.
For further information please contact:
• Paul Edwards, President of the Area "A" Crab Association at tel: (250) 230-0701
• Dan Edwards, Executive Director of the Area "A" Crab Association at tel: (250) 266-0082
———COPY OF LETTER TO DFO——-
July 8, 2013
Susan Farlinger
Regional Director General
Pacific Region
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Dear Susan:
I am writing to inform you that the Area A Crab Association, due to recent actions by the Department, no longer supports and is withdrawing our participation from the 2013 Area A soft-shell monitoring program. This effectively means that, as of July 8, 2013, no soft-shell monitoring program is in place for Area A.
As you may be aware, the Area A Crab Association is the officially recognized advisory organization for the B.C. Area A crab fishing area. Through the efforts of the Association, a soft-shell monitoring program has been in place since 1997. This program is funded by industry and is used to proactively manage the resource. Moult times and soft-shell periods are documented, which provides important data for understanding the crab resource and contributing to responsible fisheries management – maximizing economic opportunities from the fishery within a responsible management framework that achieves conservation objectives. In the absence of a soft-shell monitoring program, the Area A fishery is closed from March 1 to August 1, 2013, as per the IFMP. As this closure, to avoid soft-shell male crabs, would result in substantial lost opportunity, Area A harvesters spend about $100,000 each year on the soft-shell monitoring program.
A critical element of the soft-shell monitoring program has been the maintenance of a positive working relationship with the Department, including an informal co-management arrangement by which harvesters and the crab manager work together to interpret the data from the sampling program and identify appropriate management actions. This co-management arrangement has worked well over the years, as the interests of harvesters and the Department have been aligned.
It is in the best interest of harvesters to avoid fishing during soft-shell periods, to minimize damage to the resource and to maximize the landed value of harvested product. Seasonal closures, of the entire management area or specific locations within the management area, are implemented to protect moulting male crabs.
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Unfortunately, recent events have badly damaged the relationship between harvesters and the current crab manager, Shaun Davies. Mr. Davies unilaterally broke existing soft-shell science protocols, and announced on June 21st an unjustifiable shut down of the crab fishery. Following Mr. Davies unexpected and unprecedented announcement of the closure, we tried to engage more senior staff, notably Mel Kotyk, to convene a formal meeting between the Association and scientists and managers. However, we were unable to secure such a meeting in a timely manner, critical if we were to achieve resolution to this issue. We have lost not only time in the fishery, with economic consequences to the region for no reasonable conservation reason, but must now also contend with a badly damaged, perhaps irrevocably, working relationship between harvesters and the Department.
By invoking this closure it is obvious that the soft-shell monitoring program that we fund is no longer effective in achieving its objectives given the breaking of protocols by those within the Department. It is for this reason that we are formally ending our support for and withdrawing our participation from the soft-shell monitoring program for 2013. We will no longer engage with your Department on the issue of re-opening this fishery prior to August 1, 2013, and will now await the fishery opening as per the IFMP.
We are, as can only be reasonably expected, distressed by the breakdown of our long-standing cooperative relationship with your Department. We are hopeful that we can rebuild the relationship through the development of a Joint Project Agreement, which will establish a formal framework between the Department and the Association. We recognize, in light of recent events, that a formal arrangement will be required going forward. The process of developing a JPA between the Association and the Department has been initiated, through your regional resource manager Paul Ryall. We have received a commitment to develop a JPA under the new rules.
This situation we have found ourselves in highlights the urgency to develop this more formal relationship for 2014 and we look forward to doing that with your Department in the coming months. We see this as a critical first step if we are to salvage what we can of the previously strong relationship between the Area A Crab Association and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Sincerely,
Dan Edwards
Executive Director
Area A Crab Association
cc:
Rebecca Reid
Mel Kotyk
Jeff Johansen
Shaun Davies