Atlantic Canada Fishery Threatened by CETA, Report Warns

A report released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).suggests that the proposed Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and other trade and investment treaties threaten the sustainability of fisheries and fishing communities in Atlantic Canada.

The report, entitled Globalization, Trade Treaties and the Future of the Atlantic Canadian Fisheries (read it HERE), suggests that “new treaties could undermine the ability of Canadians to pursue public policies that curb domination of the fisheries by large corporations and help spread the benefits of the fishery more widely among independent fish­ers and coastal communities.” 

Report author Scott Sinclair said while international trade is vital to the economic well-being of the Atlan­tic Canadian fisheries, he insists the trade and investment treaties now under negotiation “go far beyond eliminating tariffs.” 

“Just as the freezer trawlers that ply the world’s oceans today are far more ex­tractive and destructive than earlier fishing vessels, so the latest trade and investment treaties are more intrusive than previous ones,” says Sinclair, CCPA senior researcher.

He said leaked documents reveal that the EU is pressuring Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec to abolish minimum processing requirements for fish.

Sinclair said that “without such regulation, these decisions would be left to large fish processing companies to make with no consideration for any other fac­tors than how it affects their corporate bottom line.”

He says that unless provincial governments insist on stronger protection, “they will be sur­rendering their future legislative and constitutional power through which the wealth generated by fish and other natural resources could contribute to the sustainable development of their province.”