Commercial Salmon Licences, a Weird History

If you want to see just how weird the history of commercial aalmon licences in BC has been, just read this article: https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/fishery-closures-and-the-ghosts-of-past-mistakes/?mc_cid=933472e405&mc_eid=5777c92bcd.

It nicely brings together the historical complexities of DFO changes and the intended and unintended results since then.

And here is the most cogent quote from the article:

DFO wasn’t the only one offering cash for licenses. The Mifflin Plan didn’t regulate the total number of licenses anyone could hold, which created an opportunity for some of the largest processors to accumulate licenses, Silver says.
I
n Silver’s 2019 paper, she points out how the Jim Pattison Group now controls a massive chunk of the industry, because it owns 424 licenses—239 through its subsidiary the Canadian Fishing Company, 134 directly, and another 51 through a handful of companies. The next-largest owner is the Northern Native Fishing Corporation with 254 licenses. Around 1,360 people own just one license.

Today, there are 2,109 salmon licenses: 1,457 gill net, 376 troll, 276 seine. There are also a number of First Nations licenses permitting the use of mixed gear types, not including gill nets.

Davis says DFO is very aware of its past mistakes, but fishers aren’t convinced the PSSI will unfold without consequences.
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So there you have it. Lots of work went into this Haikai Magazine piece written by Michelle Gamage.

And just how much are these many licences worth?

Gamage says this: "An analysis of commercial fishing licenses, published on December 31, 2019, calculated each salmon seine license to be worth $530,000; a troll license, $167,000; and a gill net license, $56,000. If DFO hypothetically bought all salmon licenses at these prices, it would take up 45 percent of the PSSI budget—meaning there’s considerably less money going toward habitat restoration, Lawson says.

And, here are the First Nations impacts: "Earlier this year, the Nuu-chah-nulth won a court case in the BC Court of Appeal that confirmed First Nations rights to commercial fisheries. For the Ahousaht, Hesquiaht, Mowachaht/Muchalaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, and Ehattesaht First Nations on western Vancouver Island, their right to fish salmon is second only to conservation efforts, Sayers says."
And this is why the Sparrow Decision of the '90s has been so important to Indigenous peoples: "

"She also points to the 1990 Sparrow case when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled the rights of First Nations to fish are second only to conservation. The BC Court of Appeal declared that right for the five Nuu-chah-nulth nations, but other Nuu-chah-nulth nations have asserted they have the same rights, Sayers said."

Note, this story is parallel to the fish farm industry. It means that the wild salmon story has more problems than simply in-ocean fish farms. Both commercial licences and in-ocean fish farms have had very large negative effects on wild salmon.