John Beatty's brother, Paul, commercial fishing at Big Sandy Lake (submitted photo/John Beatty)

By Glenn Hicks

lines in the water

Roadmap to speedy changes on new direction for inland fishery

Feb 9, 2021 | 2:00 PM

Regional First Nations leaders are happy to hear recommendations from an independent adviser to Ottawa that support a fisher-led cooperative model as the way forward for the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC), possibly as quickly as the next year.

The FFMC – headquartered in Winnipeg – has for over 50 years bought, processed and marketed freshwater fish caught for commercial sale in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.

A recent report from a panel set up in late 2019 by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), recommends immediate changes in governance that would increase fisher participation and improve communication. There were further recommendations set out for the following two years but it now seems they could all happen in a shorter timeframe.

A livelihood and way of life

For John Beatty, the vice-president of Saskatchewan Cooperative Fisheries Limited, the future of a sustainable inland fishery is vital, and not just because the harvesting of pickerel, pike and whitefish is a good livelihood.

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“It’s culturally important because this is what our fathers did…even my father was fishing until he was 83,” Beatty, who is based at Deschambault Lake, told paNOW. “And for health, it’s good. We take our young ones out on the lake and it keeps them out of trouble. It keeps people working and exercising instead of doing the stuff they shouldn’t be doing.”

Hopes for processing plant

Beatty said the report’s call for the FFMC to be a fisher-led entity is very important but he’s also hopeful a long-desired goal of getting a regional processing plant, possibly in Prince Albert, can become a reality. He said that would allow the product to get to market more quickly and more cost effectively.

“The cost of transporting the fish [is high] – the two or three days rumbling on the highway to Winnipeg,” Beatty said.

In a media release, Prince Albert Grand Council grand chief Brian Hardlotte welcomed the panel’s recommendations on a new business model so that, as he put it, “Treaty and Section 35 fishing harvesting rights will be protected and promoted.”

Metis Nation Saskatchewan president Glen McCallum said the proposed new business governance model would “reinforce the growth of Indigenous partnerships and ensure meaningful engagement and joint decision-making.”

Quick resolution?

In his final report, Kevin G. Anderson, the Interlocutor on the Transformation of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, said, in part, the members of the interim committee overseeing the transition to a new model were willing to move quickly on a series of processes.

These are: first, to achieve formal expressions of support from fishing organizations in their communities; second, to conduct more formal analyses of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation’s operational and financial position; and third, to engage in negotiations with Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the Corporation’s transfer.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow