Industrial Inquiry Commission hears shoreworkers' concerns
Shoreworkers are sick and tired of hearing companies complain about the high cost of wages and conditions while they spend money on offices and hire extra management.
That's what Vancouver shore-workers told the Industrial Inquiry Commission (IIC) June 13 at a special meeting at the Maritime Labour Centre.
"They say they have to cut our wages to save money." a shore-worker said. "But they keep hiring new management, people who stand around with a clipboard under their arm watching you. They refurbish the offices, build two new seine boats with herring licenses, hold a party for 300 people in the Cannery restaurant to launch them, and then tell you they're broke.
The IIC was set up as a condition of settling the 1989 salmon strike. The commissioners — union nominee Marjorie Cohen, employer nominee Edwin Blew-ett, and chairperson Ken Mac-
kenzie — are to study the impact of free trade and the GATT agreement on the fishing industry.
The commission has had three meetings in the last two months, meeting with both company and union representatives.
The commissioners met with shoreworkers in Steveston on June 12 and in Vancouver June 13.
Worker after worker told the commission about problems they encountered with management in the plants they worked in.
"There's a double standard in the plants." one woman said. "There's a pension plan for management. Why not for us?"
Safety is on everybody's minds. One worker told the commission: "it took two months to get a safety rail for a set of stairs — while they're building machinery in the plant for their non-union subsidiary."
Workers complained about a propane leak in one plant, and the installation of an untested
Pro-Canada fleet takes aim at salmon shipments to U.S.
Inspectors must be present at all times during operation of the landing stations.
All inspections will be carried out by a private company contracted by DFO. rather than by DFO employees.
A 20 percent of catch maximum has been set for each fishing area per month, based on hail figures. If the sea-based stations total more than 20 percent of the total catch, their holds will be sealed. Broom said.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
He said one company has applied for six licences and another for four, but he is unable to reveal the names of the companies involved. There is one application for troll-caught fish. So far. no U.S. companies have applied.
Broom says that sea-based landing station licence holders must notify DFO two weeks before going to the grounds so that inspectors can be readied.
ozone generating device. "It made everybody sick — then it blew up."
Relations between management and workers varies from plant to plant. Some shop stewards committees seem to be able to communicate with the boss, while others are met with stalling tactics. "It doesn't matter what you bring up," one shore-worker said. "You have to face the 'no' men. All you hear is no-no-no. Every grievance has to go to the three steps and arbitration."
The export of groundfish to the U.S. is a hot topic. Workers say the company exports the very best quality fish to the US for processing, leaving them with the low grade fish, and then say the Canadian workers' quality is poor.
The companies constant complaint about high expenses doesn't always tell the whole truth, workers say. In one plant, the machinery for a canning line was contracted out in an effort to save money.
When the parts came back to the plant, shoreworkers there had to take it all apart and rebuild it to make it fit the needs of the cannery.
"If you're talking about wasting money." the commissioners were told, "don't blame the laborers in the industry. Look upstairs first."
The next meeting of the commission July 3 will have all parties present to discuss the final positions put forward in last year's salmon negotiations.
The commissioners will be visiting working salmon plants in Vancouver and in Prince Rupert.
• FISHERMAN JOE BAUER shows off scale model of Steveston Fisherman Memorial to be erected at Garry Point.
Proposed Steveston memorial honours fishermen lost at sea
The Steveston Fisherman's Memorial Committee is finalizing plans for a fisherman's memorial statue to be erected at Garry Point.
The memorial, which will be a tribute to Steveston based fishermen who have lost their lives at sea, will be a 36 foot net needle mounted on a cairn in the centre of a compass rose. The inner compass rose will be pointing to True North and an outer ring will be ponting to magnetic North.
A granite wall 3.5 feet high will surround the net needle statue 14.5 feet from the cairn base. Openings at the cardinal points of the compass will pro-
vide access to the inner wall where plaques commemorating the dead will be mounted.
Steveston fisherman Joe Bauer says the committee decided on a net needle because it was "non denominational, non-racial, and internationally known." The net needle design has been traditionally used by coastal natives.
The Steveston Community Society has adopted the memorial as part of the Garry Point Park plan and has $50,000 available for its construction. The proposal must still be approved by the municipality of Richmond parks and recreation committee.
Canada must not allow salmon treaty to become continental exploitation of Canadian salmon
By JACK NICHOL
Acknowledging that a mere one year extension of the provisions of the Canada-United States Salmon Treaty was neither desirable nor acceptable, the Pacific Salmon Commission met in Vancouver May 14 and 15 in one last stab at hammering out an agreement on fisheries regimes for periods ranging from one to four years.
An agreement was reached after some twenty days of unilateral and bilateral meetings from Prince Rupert to Bellevue Washington, involving a small army of commissioners, panel members and technical staff.
Failure to reach agreement notwithstanding the resources committed to the process would have placed the future of the Salmon Commission seriously in doubt. The 1989 annual meeting of the Commission ended in stalemate with all chapters of Annex 4 rolled over or extended for one year.
Chinook salmon was again the most controversial issue before the Commission. Alaska was seeking a one year agreement that would increase its Chinook catch above the established ceiling of 263,000 plus a hatchery add-on. Unlike 1989 Alaska agreed that Canada's chinook ceiling in central and northern British Columbia waters would be increased by a similar amount with conditions.
The conditions for Canada were that its increase would be taken before June 15 or after September 10 with the fishing on the increment to be conducted in the northern portion of the area. For Alaska the ceiling increase was to be 39,000 or 46,000 chinook depending upon the opening date of the summer fishery.
Washington and Oregon were concerned with the "feeding frenzy" and agreed to the ceiling increases in the North with great
reluctance and sought compensatory pass through of chinooks in our West Coast of Vancouver Island troll fishery.
Northern British Columbia-Alaska
For Portland Canal chum salmon, require rebuilding and the parties agreed to jointly reduce interceptions of these stocks in 1990-1991 and to identify measures needed to restore those stocks.
Much to Canada's dismay the arrangement for sockeye at Noyes Island is unchanged except underages and overages not to exceed 20 percent of the Annex ceiling will be added to or subtracted from the four year period subsequent to 1990-1993. Alaska scorned a Canadian attempt at repayment of the 70,000 sockeye taken in excess of the prescribed four year total catch of 480,000.
Area 1 — but no earlier than July 22 — or when the catch in the boundary- area reaches 300,000 pinks.
Neither party will initiate new intercepting fisheries in the North and a joint Northern Boundary Technical Committee to evaluate the effectiveness of management actions and undertake a wide ranging study and assessment on northern salmon stocks.
Chinook Salmon
For 1990 only, the all gear base catch of chinooks in Southeast Alaska is 263,000 plus 39,000. In addition Alaska is accorded a hatchery add on of 43,700 chinooks. This add on is a pre-season expectation and will be calculated in season by a procedure previously set by the commission.
The ceiling for chinooks in cen-
the North will simply balance off the repayment of the 1989 overage from the 1989 fishery. Coho Salmon
The Coho Chapter is extended for one year without change. The ceiling remains at 1.8 million fish for 1990 with no ceiling for the north coast fishery.
The Americans continue to push for reduced effort in Canadian fisheries that intercept U.S. stocks. Canadian interceptions of salmon are essential to the question of equity which remains substantially in the favour of the United States and which is only now being addressed. Chum Salmon
The Chum Chapter is extended for one more year with no change to the fishing regimes. The Americans were short 41,780 chums in 1989 and it is agreed the payback by Canada will be
'the U.S. are tough bargainers and Canada must be equally determined if benefits are to flow to Canadians from the treaty'
There is no change in Area 3 average annual harvest of 900,000 pink salmon nor in the Alaskan sockeye numbers at Tree Point. These two fisheries are linked by the original treaty negotiations and the U.S. tried to de link them and tie its area 3 pink salmon fishery to Noyes Island. The pass through of Nass and Skeena rivers sockeye through South East Alaska waters is a continuing and increasing concern to Canadian Commissoners.
The troll catch of pink salmon in Area 1 is pegged at a four year total of 5.125 million with the maximum harvest in any one year to be limited to 1.95 million. The border area will closed to pink salmon when the fishery has lasted twenty-two days from the start of the troll fishery in
tral and northern B.C. is again set at 263,000 plus 39,000. Canada must address the 1989 "interim cumulative deviation" or overage of 39,400 chinooks to return to the rebuilding schedule.
There is approval in principle for the exclusion from the base ceiling of 263,000 of chinook taken incidental to net fisheries on stocks that show encouraging signs of rebuilding. The terminal exclusions will involve chinooks over five pounds taken in excess of 2,400 (Skeena), 3,400 (upper Kitimat Arm), and 2,800 in the terminal area of Bella Coola.
These exclusions could amount to 6,600 chinook in each year 1989 and 1990.
DFO views these measures as positive progress for Canada despite the fact the increase in
made in years when the Johnstone Strait catch exceeds 225,000 chum salmon.
The Americans demand a payback for virtually every degree to which Canadian fishermen exceed a ceiling or American fishermen are short on the allocation. Yet they ridicule any suggestion that the U.S. should repay the 70,000 sockeye overage at Noyes Island.
In 1989 Canadian fishermen harvested primarily Qualicaum and other non -Fraser River chums in Johnstone Strait. These are purely domestic fisheries with a slight rate of interception. Significantly, there was no fishery allowed in Area 14 in 1989.
However, the catch rate in Johnstone Strait dictates the catch level for chums in upper
Puget Sound which targets on Fraser River Stocks while Canadian gillnetters were once again deprived of a chum fishery in the river.
The Fraser River chum return was below expectations and if there is a conservation concern all fishermen should share the burden of conservation.
Because the run was below expected returns the U.S. could not catch their 140,000 chums and so Canada owes the U.S. 41,700 fish. Surely this must be the most inane provision in the Treaty and must be corrected in future meetings and negotiations.
The Salmon Commission has agreed to an approach to identify the imbalance in interceptions and to resolve equity issues. Two committees, the Joint Interceptors Committee and the Joint Goals and Objectives Committee are assigned the task of gathering data to determine each party's concept of benefits derived from salmon production and interceptions. The so called deeming provision for trans-boundary rivers will also be examined. All findings will be referred to the Commission at its annual meeting in Febuary 1992.
The U.S. are tough bargainers and Canada must be equally determined if benefits are to flow from the Treaty. For too long we have delayed enhancement of central and north coast rivers pending a Treaty that would ensure the benefits would accrue to Canada. That work needs to proceed with Canada demanding the exercise of the Treaty so that enhancement benefits are exclusively for Canadian fishermen and the owners of our salmon resources.
The alternative is a creeping approach to continental conservation, management and exploitation of Canada's salmon resources and this is simply not acceptable.
THE FISHERMAN / JUNE 18,1990 • 3