Panel suggests turning fish agency into co-operative within three years

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This article was published 9/7/2019 (314 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — An independent panel has suggested Ottawa replace the troubled Freshwater Fish Marketing Corp. with a co-operative agency over the course of three years, but warns that transition will be tough.

"The current structure of the inland fishery is no longer suitable to meet the needs of those with a stake in the fishery," reads a report submitted Monday to federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson.

The Winnipeg-based FFMC is among the most troubled federal agencies, with issues ranging from mismanagement and dodgy expenses to a high workplace-injury rate, according to government audits.

Ottawa established the FFMC in 1969 to help mostly Indigenous fishermen in Western and northern Canada sell their catches from isolated communities to domestic and international clients. The agency buys, processes and markets fish, with sales valued around $135 million in recent years.

After three scathing audits, the Liberals restructured the dysfunctional corporation, and ordered two rounds of consultations on its future. That’s in part because all provinces have ended their monopoly agreements with the FFMC, allowing fishers from everywhere except the Northwest Territories to have private companies process and market their fish abroad.

Monday’s report noted the FFMC was created after an inquiry found fishermen were receiving unduly low prices because of their lack of bargaining power and economies of scale. It warns the same could happen now if the free market replaces the current structure without any help from governments.

In late 2017, Liberal MPs began to explore the idea of closing its Transcona plant, which employs 250 full-time and 150 seasonal workers. On Monday, an advisory panel said almost no stakeholders suggested doing so.

Instead, the panel has crafted a three-year plan to transition FFMC management to include more actual fishers and plan a new organization. The panel suggested a co-operative or an Indigenous economic-development corporation, to either take on roles from the FFMC or outright replace it.

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is already hoping to create a fish-marketing consortium, along with similar First Nations groups in Saskatchewan, Ontario and the Northwest Territories. It’s unclear whether this would include Métis and non-Indigenous fishers.

On Monday, the AMC warned a handover process would take longer than three years.

In any case, the panel found that provinces and federal-granting agencies will have a "central" role in stepping up with cash for whatever agencies replace the FFMC’s roles, for things like "infrastructure investment and organizational development."

The report warns whoever runs that new body would likely require training and mentorship, as those in the industry likely lack experience with financing, human resources and international food marketing. It says the collapse of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool shows any co-operative needs strong governance.

"If effective steps are not taken to coordinate these activities, processing overcapacity will result in production inefficiencies, higher costs and lower prices for fishers," the panel warns.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca