6. International Agreements 



As a major coastal state, it is not surprising that 

 Canada is party to a number of multilateral fishery 

 agreements. Canada is a member of the NAFO and 

 hosts its general secretariat in Dartmouth, Nova 

 Scotia. NAFO plays an important role in Canadian 

 international fisheries policy, since it has the 

 authority to impose quotas upon foreign vessels 

 outside the Canadian EEZ in the North Atlantic. 

 Canada also participates actively in United Nations 

 fishing-related activities; it is a party to conventions 

 governing the use of driftnets, and is a leading 

 advocate of a UN convention on highseas fishing. 



While Canada offers quota allocations within its 

 EEZ to foreign fleets for species which Canadian 

 vessels decline to harvest, these allocations are not 

 within the framework of bilateral fishing accords.' 

 Canada nonetheless maintains bilateral accords with 

 a handful of nations. In 1972, Canada and France 

 negotiated an agreement setting out rules of access to 

 Canadian waters for French fishermen based in St. 

 Pierre et Miquelon, two French islands off the 

 southern coast of Newfoundland. The Canada-United 

 States Free Trade Agreement of 1989 provides for a 

 special dispute settlement mechanism that the two 

 parties have used on a number of occasions to settle 

 fishery trade disputes. The Canada-U.S. fisheries 

 relationship is extensively institutionalized, including 

 the Pacific Salmon Commission, the International 

 North Pacific Fisheries Commission, and the 

 International Pacific Halibut Commission. The two 

 countries also maintain a joint enforcement agreement 

 under which one of the states will prosecute its own 

 fishermen charged with violating the laws of the other 

 partner. 



SOURCES 



"Canadian Allocations to Foreign Fleets Inside 

 Canada's 200-Mile Zone, " Fisheries and Oceans, 

 Canada Backgrounder, March 1993. 



"Canada plans early cuts in Atlantic purse seiner 

 fleet," Fishing News International, September 

 1983, p. 56. 



"DFO Appoints General Manager to Fishing 

 Vessel Insurance Plan," News Release, Fisheries 

 and Oceans Canada, December 23, 1992. 



"Table 1: Size of Trawlers and Fishing Vessels," 

 Statistical Tables, June 1992, p. 27. 



"Hard work and old movies," Halifax Chronicle- 

 Herald, September 2, 1987. 



"Rideout Reaffirms Stand Against Factory Freezer 

 Trawlers," Atlantic Fishermen, January 1, 1988. 



"Still too many boats in Canadian fishery," Fishing 

 News International, December 1986, p. 52. 



U.S. Consulate General, Halifax, 

 various messages. 



Nova Scotia, 



"Vessel Replacement Rules for Atlantic Inshore 

 Fishery," News Release, Fisheries and Oceans 

 Canada, June 23, 1989. 



7. Fleet Dispersal Plans 



Given the crisis in the Atlantic fisheries, there 

 will be very little if any room for the addition of new 

 vessels to the Canadian fleet, especially when Canada 

 has been doing its utmost to force foreign vessels 

 further from its shores. The overall depressed state 

 of North Atlantic stocks makes expansion into this 

 area very unlikely. Given the tremendous losses in 

 jobs in Atlantic Canada (unemployment levels 

 approach 30% in Newfoundland), many vessel 

 owners see themselves as pushed to the point of 

 desperation. The sale of Canadian vessels to foreign 

 owners is a real possibility. 



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