'Very hopeful:' Inuit leaders say scrapping LIFO will open doors for fisheries

Inuit leaders from Nunavut and Nunatsiavutsaythey're pleased the federal government may scrap the controversial Last In, First Out shrimp policy, but theywantto make sure any new policy respects Inuit fishing rights.

The Last In, First Out (LIFO)policy was introduced in 1997, when smaller inshore vessels were first allowed to take part in the shrimp fishery. The policy was designed to protect the larger offshore vessels and said if quotas were cut, inshore boats had to leave fishing areas first, while offshore boats were allowed to remain.

On Wednesday,the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Dominic LeBlanc, said in a statement that he accepted the main recommendation of an independent review to get rid of the LIFO rules.

He agreed the controversial policy should be replaced with a proportional sharing arrangement.

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As one of Canada's newest fishing industries, Nunavut only gets a fraction of the shrimp stock under existingrules. The territory has access to 38 per cent of its adjacent northern shrimp stock in comparison to the 80 to 90 per cent given to other jurisdictions.

Scrapping LIFO may change that.

"They're short changing us unless they change the policies," said James Eetoolook, vice-president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

"Nunavut needs to see its equal share when it comes to shrimp fishing in the Nunavut settlement area and I think it's only right that the policies of DFO needs to be changed."

NTI's only concern is over the recommendation for proportional sharing.

Theorganizationwants to make sure that any new policy respects the rights of Inuit by giving them special consideration as guaranteed under the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement.

'I'm very hopeful'

Inuit communities in Labrador are also pleased by the move which may result in their fisheries getting a higher quota of shrimp stock as promised under their land claim agreement.

"I'm very hopeful," saidCarl McLean, the deputy minister of Lands and Natural Resources for Nunatsiavut.

"We fully expect the minister to get us to the 11 per cent that we're entitled to. We think he has a real opportunity to do that and right the wrongs that have been done to us in the past on northern shrimp."

The governments of Nunavut andNewfoundland and Labrador also echoed the statements made by Inuit leaders in their regions.

"It's important that as we go forward, these harvesters get a fair quota," saidSteve Crocker, Newfoundland and Labrador's minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

"While proportional sharing is an improvement on LIFO, we feel that the way it is implemented must take into account the principle of adjacency as indicated by the panel and the Minister," Nuanvut'sdepartment of Environmentstated inanemailto CBC.

'Bridging the access gap'

The report of the Ministerial Advisory Panel on LIFO makes numerous references to the rights of Canada's Indigenous fisheries, pointing to the need to create a policy that can help to bridge the gap between southern fishery workersand their Indigenous counterparts.

Access to fish resources is seen as a significant driver for economic development for Indigenous communities such as the Inuit in Nunavut.

But under LIFO, Aboriginal fisheries have limited access to shrimp stock, states the report.

"Should shrimp populations further decline in other shrimp fishing areas, provisions of LIFO would require the exit of the later entry Aboriginals," states the report.

The report notes that this disparity would be "inconsistent with stated government policy in support of Aboriginal access," and "would further exacerbate what is already very low participation by those most adjacent to the resource."

The report notes that LIFO has shed light on the fact that southern fleets have more developed fisheries in northern waters as the technology, human and financial capital was lacking in northern Indigenous communities.

As a result the report recommends the development of specific policies and programs to address this historic inequity.