Question Period Note: Nunatsiavut Government seeking access to the Northern shrimp fishery

Nunatsiavut Government seeking access to the Northern shrimp fishery

We are committed to working toward a renewed Crown-Inuit relationship, based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership.

DFO is aware of the Nunatsiavut Government’s request for a shrimp allocation in the Eastern Assessment Zone.

Decisions for the Northern shrimp fishery take into consideration obligations of all applicable land claims agreements, including in respect of allocations.

The Department recognizes that the Nunatsiavut Government interprets some requirements of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement differently and we remain open to continuing discussions to better understand its views.

• The Nunatsiavut Government (NG) has intensified longstanding efforts to secure a shrimp allocation in the EAZ. The NG’s objective is to seek access to the EAZ at large, specifically by way of an allocation amounting to 11 per cent of the overall total allowable catch (TAC) for two shrimp species (Pandalus borealis and P. montagui).
• On August 26, 2021, decisions were released on TAC levels and allocations for both species (P. borealis and P. montagui) in the EAZ and Western Assessment Zone (WAZ). The decision was to maintain current access in these areas for the 2020-21 fishery.
• Historically, the NG’s arguments for access in the EAZ have involved an interpretation of the Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement (LILCA) with which federal officials have disagreed.
• The NG currently has direct access to the offshore Northern shrimp fishery through proportional shares of quota in Shrimp Fishing Areas (SFA) 4 and 5, at 10.0 per cent and 9.9 per cent, respectively. The NG also benefit partially with interests in the Northern Coalition, a collective of interests/members, who hold a special allocation in SFA 5.
• The NG, and Nunatsiavut Inuit interests more broadly, accrue additional fishery interests from 1.5 offshore licences held by Labrador Inuit fishing enterprises (namely, Pikalujak and Torngat Fish Producers Co-op). Interest in these offshore licences provides access to all SFAs and the EAZ, with the exception of the WAZ.

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