U.S.-CANADA FISHERIES BILATERALS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OTTAWA 002370

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR OES/O (BALTON),OES/OMC AND WHA/CAN
NOAA PASS NMFS/INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (MORAN)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIS SENV CA
SUBJECT: U.S.-CANADA FISHERIES BILATERALS



1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.


2. (U) Summary: The United States and Canada held annual
bilateral fisheries consultations July 29 in Ottawa. The two
sides reviewed a wide range of fisheries and oceans issues,
including Canada's ocean action plan, bilateral fishing
treaties, international fisheries and oceans governance,
regional fisheries management organizations, and multilateral
fisheries initiatives. End Summary.


3. (U) David Bevan, Assistant Deputy Minister for Fisheries
and Aquaculture Management in the Department of Fisheries and
Oceans (DFO),began the session by commenting that high seas
governance remains a priority for the Government of Canada.
Bevan noted that concern about high seas governance led to
this spring's conference on high seas fishing in St. John's,
Newfoundland. The issue is particularly relevant for
residents of Atlantic Canada, who continue to blame foreign
overfishing for the collapse of groundfish stocks on the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland.


4. (U) In presenting opening remarks for the United States,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Fisheries
David Balton commented that no two countries in the world
have as many fisheries issues in common as the United States
and Canada. Balton further commented that two major trends
are emerging in fisheries management: First, the merging of
global and regional issues, as principles developed at the
St. John's conference and elsewhere are applied to regional
fisheries management organizations; and second, that
fisheries issues are merging with other environmental issues,
particularly as ecosystem-based approaches become
increasingly widespread.


5. (U) Oceans Action Plan: The Canadian delegation
reported that Canada's recently announced Oceans Action Plan
will incorporate three overarching principles: Sustainable
Development, Integrated Management, and the Precautionary
Approach. The principles will provide a framework for
government-wide implementation of the plan, which will rest
on four fundamental pillars: International Leadership,
Sovereignty and Security; Integrated Oceans Management;
Health of the Oceans; and Ocean Science and Technology.
Internationally, Canada will continue to work with regional
fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and multilateral
organizations to implement the St. John's ministerial
declaration, calling for responsible fisheries management.
The Canadian delegation explained that domestically, the
Oceans Action Plan will not only enhance intergovernmental
coordination on oceans issues, but also allow better enable
policy makers to take into account ecosystem considerations
in managing fish stocks.


6. (U) Aquaculture: Canadian aquaculture is currently in
"crisis," according to the Canadian delegation. They
explained that although DFO considers farmed seafood
(primarily salmon) to be safe, public perception is
overwhelmingly against the expansion of aquaculture. In the
last election in British Columbia, DFO's Bevan noted, the
liberal government lost seats in the legislature in large
part because of its stand on aquaculture.


7. (U) Hake/Tuna: DAS Balton reported that the U.S. Senate
is expected to hold hearings on the Pacific Hake agreement
early in the fall, and that there should not be problems with
ratification. In the meantime, the United States will
continue to work with Canada informally to honor the basic
elements of the agreement. Regarding Albacore Tuna, the
Canadian delegation stated that the treaty regime appears to
be working well. Both sides noted that they face a decision
on whether to negotiate any changes to the regime for 2008
and beyond.


8. (U) International Fisheries and Oceans Governance:
Bevan thanked the United States for support on the St. John's
Ministerial Declaration, commenting that the Declaration will
serve as a roadmap for enhancing the effectiveness of RFMOs,
especially the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization
(NAFO). Bevan stated that despite criticism of NAFO (see
paragraph 9),Canada's approach is still to work within RFMOs
to combat illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing.
In addition, Canada is talking to the Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) about contacting countries that are not
parties to the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA)
to discuss IUU fishing, and is considering whether APEC may
also offer a forum to address IUU fishing.


9. (SBU) NAFO/Yellowtail Flounder: The Canadian delegation
reported that the reform of NAFO's administrative and
decision-making apparatus is a major priority, and that the
upcoming NAFO meeting in September will be critical.
Frustration is very high in Canada, and although some EU
countries such as Spain for the first time have acknowledged
overcapacity in the NAFO regulatory area, the Spanish offer
to scrap eight vessels is not nearly enough. A critical test
of NAFO's transparency and decision making will be over
Greenland Halibut, which is facing a decrease in biomass of
15 percent by 2008. Nevertheless, the European Union is
demanding a greater total allowable catch (TAC) for the
stock. Bevan commented that, "If NAFO destroys Greenland
Halibut, it will have destroyed itself."


10. (SBU) NAFO/Yellowtail Flounder, continued: The U.S.
delegation cautioned that although the United States supports
Canada's efforts to reform NAFO and make its decision-making
procedures more transparent, continued U.S. participation in
the organization could be contingent on receiving a quota of
Yellowtail Flounder, one of the few healthy stocks in the
Northwest Atlantic. Canada currently receives more than 80
percent of the TAC, and despite considerable U.S. funding for
NAFO and participation by U.S. scientists on various
committees, the United States has not received a single
commercial allocation of Yellowtail Flounder or any other
fish species since joining NAFO in 1995. The U.S. delegation
told Canada that the U.S. will scale participation and
involvement in NAFO to the level of benefits, and unless this
issue is solved, "The U.S. will be wishing Canada well on
NAFO reform."


11. (U) WCPFC: Both the United States and Canada are in
the process of ratifying the Western and Central Pacific
Fisheries Convention (WCPFC),which covers a geographic area
in which both countries have considerable fisheries
interests. The United States signed the WCPFC in 2000, and
the President submitted it to the U.S. Senate for advice and
consent in May 2005. Canada reported that the Minister of
Fisheries and Oceans has approved Canada's intention to join,
but final approval must go through the cabinet process, which
involves several Parliamentary committees. Canada
nevertheless expects to be party by December 2005, in time
for the second meeting of the commission created by this
treaty.


12. (U) IATTC: Similar to the WCPFC, both the United
States and Canada are in the process of ratifying the Antigua
Convention, which will strengthen the Inter American Tropical
Tuna Commission (IATTC). The Antigua Convention will enter
into force upon ratification by seven countries; thus far
only two have done so. President Bush submitted the Antigua
Convention to the Senate at the same time as the WCPFC.


13. (U) FAO/COFI: Both Canada and the United States are
actively involved in the work of the Food and Agricultural
Organization's Committee on Fisheries (FAO/COFI). Canada
expressed concern regarding transparency in setting COFI's
agenda, noting that everything seems to be a priority for the
organization. The United States stated that it wishes to
move forward within COFI on deep sea fisheries, creation of
an RFMO in the Caribbean, shark and sea bird conservation,
and performance reviews of RFMOs.


14. (U) UNFSA/ICSP/ICP: The recent Informal Consultations
of the States Parties (ICSP) to the UN Fish Stocks Agreement
was attended by both the United States and Canada. The
United States commented that clear goals should emerge
through the ICSP, including review of RFMOs and communication
with non-parties to UNFSA. Regarding the UN Open-ended
Consultative Process on Oceans and Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS,
or ICP),the United States commented that would like to get
other governments to recognize the value of the Global Earth
Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) in high seas fisheries
management.


15. (U) High Seas Task Force: Within this initiative of
the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development
(OECD),Canada stated that it wants to move to move forward
with a proposal to develop a database for high seas fishing
vessels. The Task Force is also considering other proposals
on port state controls on fishing vessels, as well as the
effect of trade agreements on high seas fishing. There is a
possibility for coordinated U.S.-Canada initiative in the
Asia-Pacific region.


16. (U) Deputy Assistant Secretary Balton has cleared this
message.

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