Atlantic fishing fleets almost entirely in Canadian hands, survey says
CBC
Atlantic fishing fleets are almost entirely in Canadian hands with less than two per cent having "some form of foreign involvement," according to preliminary results from a national ownership survey of commercial fishing licence holders.
The information was disclosed last week at a parliamentary committee examining foreign ownership and corporate concentration of fishing quota and licences in Canada.
Hearings resume Monday.
Fisheries and Oceans required 2,500 commercial licence holders on all three coasts to complete a detailed ownership survey.
It was part of a 2021 federal government commitment for greater scrutiny over who controls and benefits from harvesting licences that land seafood worth $4.6 billion annually in Canada.
Federal forensic accountants analyzed the responses in December.
"We do have preliminary results for Atlantic Canada," Mark Waddell, DFO director general of fisheries policy, told MPs last week.
In Atlantic Canada, the mandatory survey was sent to all commercial fishing licence holders in the offshore, midshore and so-called exempt fleets — all those not classified as inshore owner operators.
"Based on the survey findings, 98 per cent of Atlantic licences … are held by Canadian individuals or Canadian corporations," Waddell said. "Less than 2 per cent are held by foreign entity."
DFO says less than two per cent of the Atlantic, Quebec and Arctic fleets surveyed were found to have "some degree of foreign involvement."
Foreign involvement can include direct or indirect ownership over the licence holder, debts with foreign lenders, foreign individuals in executive positions, and being a related party to foreign interests in the fishing industry.
Waddell said 83 per cent of Atlantic enterprises that completed a survey account for a combined total of 90 per cent of licences.
DFO says it is considering enforcement action on licence holders that did not respond.
Aggregated results, including those from the West Coast, will be released to the public this spring, Waddell said.