US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA2370

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. 
 
Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa 
 
WILKINS