US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA1172

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 001172 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAN, OES/OA, AND OES/OMC 
NOAA FOR NMFS AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, EFIS, PGOV, CA, Environment 
SUBJECT: CANADA'S PRIORITIES FOR THE ST. JOHN'S CONFERENCE 
ON HIGH SEAS FISHERIES 
 
REF: A. OTTAWA 1142 (NOTAL) 
     B. OTTAWA 983 (NOTAL) 
 
1.  Sensitive but Unclassified. 
 
2.  (SBU)  Summary:  As the host of the Conference on the 
Governance of High Seas Fisheries and the UN Fish Stocks 
Agreement, May 1-5 in St. John's, Newfoundland, the 
Government of Canada will be pursuing recommendations for 
concrete measures to strengthen Regional Fisheries Management 
Organizations (RFMOs).  Canadian officials say they do not 
wish to re-examine the rules and norms by which RFMOs 
function, but rather, how the organizations can ensure 
compliance among member and non-member states.  Fisheries 
issues are a hot-button issue in St. John's, Newfoundland, 
and there is some GOC concern that local media will portray 
the conference as yet another failure by Canada to limit 
foreign overfishing on the Grand Banks by favoring diplomacy 
over concrete measures.  The conference appears to be a 
priority for Prime Minister Paul Martin, who reportedly plans 
to address the conference.  End Summary. 
 
STRENGTHENING RFMOS 
------------------- 
 
3.  (SBU)  According to Alan Kessel, Deputy Legal Adviser and 
Director General of the Bureau of Legal Affairs, Foreign 
Affairs Canada, 16 ministers have already confirmed their 
attendance at the St. John's conference.  Kessel said that 
including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), there will 
be about 45 delegations attending the meeting, most 
representing signatories to the United Nations Fishing 
Agreement (UNFA).  Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Geoff 
Regan will lead the Canadian delegation, and Prime Minister 
Martin may open the conference (see below). 
 
4.  (SBU)  Kessel explained that for the GOC, the key issue 
is how to strengthen RFMOs and the UN Fishing Agreement under 
existing rules.  Rather than decide new regulations for high 
seas fishing, Kessel said, the conference will focus on 
elements of successful RFMO governance.  Representatives of 
several RFMOs, such as the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries 
Organization (NAFO), International Commission for the 
Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and others will also 
attend the conference.  Kessel said that better coordination 
of fisheries science research among nations and RFMOs will be 
one of the key topics for consideration at the conference. 
 
5.  (SBU)  The meeting will not specifically focus on flags 
of convenience, Kessel said, although illegal, unregulated 
and unreported fishing (IUU) in general will be a major 
theme.  According to Kessel, the GOC sees IUU fishing as a 
global problem, and the conference will be a way to advance 
the issue as such.  The RFMOs and UNFA signatories, in the 
GOC's view, need to bring local fishermen around the world 
into a worldview in which they, the fishermen, see themselves 
as global conservation stewards.  Kessel said the GOC hopes 
that the conference will produce a realistic strategy for all 
nations, not just UNFA signatories, to begin to communicate a 
global view of fisheries conservation to their local 
stakeholders. 
 
Newfoundland: A Good Place to Start 
----------------------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU)  The message of global conservation that the GOC 
wants other nations to carry around the world will face a 
skeptical local audience in Newfoundland and Canada's 
maritime provinces.  Local fishers are nearly unanimous in 
blaming the collapse of groundfish stocks in the 1990s on 
foreign overfishing on the Grand Banks, along with the GOC's 
failure to control the foreign fishing fleets.  Provincial 
leaders and some members of the federal Parliament consider 
NAFO to be ineffective, and want Ottawa to implement 
"custodial management," or unilaterally extend its fisheries 
enforcement beyond the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) 
to encompass virtually all of the Grand Banks. 
 
7.  (SBU)  Kessel conceded that it will be difficult for the 
Canadian federal government to control local expectations for 
the conference in St. John's.  No matter what the outcome, 
local media may well portray the event in terms of the GOC 
attempting (and failing) to limit foreign overfishing on the 
Grand Banks.  Managing the fishery and the political climate 
are both difficult tasks, Kessel noted, adding that Canadian 
Navy frigates will be conducting fisheries patrols on the 
Grand Banks this year. 
 
Comment: A Global Issue for Canada? 
----------------------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU)  Unless an election campaign forces a change, 
Kessel said, Prime Minister Martin is expected to address the 
opening of the St. John's conference.  He noted that Martin 
has spoken about fisheries and oceans conservation to a range 
of world leaders, including President Bush, French President 
Jacques Chirac, and Russian Federation President Vladimir 
Putin.  Just as U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair has brought 
African development and HIV/Aids to the G-8, Kessel said, 
Martin is apparently planning to bring oceans and fisheries 
to the forefront of global environmental issues.  It is far 
from clear, however, how such an undertaking will be received 
by the Prime Minister's domestic political audience. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
DICKSON