Investigating the Certifiability of Nunatsiavut's Commercial Fisheries
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Investigating the Certifiability of Nunatsiavut’s Commercial Fisheries: The Case of the Marine Stewardship Council By Justin Schaible Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Marine Management at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia December, 2019 © Justin Schaible, 2019 Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................................... III LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................................................... IV ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................................. V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................................................... VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................................ VII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. MANAGEMENT PROBLEM .................................................................................................................................. 2 1.2. RESEARCH QUESTION ....................................................................................................................................... 4 1.3. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................... 4 History of Labrador Inuit .................................................................................................................................... 5 Nunatsiavut Government ..................................................................................................................................... 6 Fisheries Management Authorities and Key Players .......................................................................................... 7 1.4. NUNATSIAVUT’S FISHERIES ............................................................................................................................... 9 Northern Shrimp ................................................................................................................................................ 10 Snow Crab .......................................................................................................................................................... 11 Greenland Halibut ............................................................................................................................................. 12 Arctic Char ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 Atlantic Salmon .................................................................................................................................................. 14 Atlantic Cod ........................................................................................................................................................ 15 Iceland Scallop ................................................................................................................................................... 15 1.5. THE POTENTIAL USE OF ECOLABELS .............................................................................................................. 15 1.6. MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL (MSC)....................................................................................................... 16 Background and Certification Process.............................................................................................................. 16 Concerns around MSC ...................................................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY................................................................................................................................ 20 2.1. SCOPING NUNATSIAVUT’S FISHERIES ............................................................................................................. 20 2.2 SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................................................... 21 OSMI Rapid Assessment Tool ........................................................................................................................... 22 2.3 TRADE-OFF ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................... 24 Steps of the Trade-off Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS ........................................................................................................................................... 28 3.1 SCOPING NUNATSIAVUT’S FISHERIES .............................................................................................................. 28 3.2 SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................................................... 30 Arctic Char Sustainability ................................................................................................................................. 31 Snow Crab Sustainability ................................................................................................................................... 40 Greenland Halibut Sustainability ...................................................................................................................... 42 3.3 TRADE-OFF ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................... 45 Step 1. Identification of the Implications of MSC Certification ....................................................................... 45 Step 2. Relevant Implications for Nunatsiavut’s Fisheries .............................................................................. 54 Step 3. Elaboration of the Nunatsiavut Government’s Fundamental Principles ............................................ 57 Step 4. Implications of Certification on the Fundamental Principles .............................................................. 57 i CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................................... 67 4.1. POTENTIAL FOR ACHIEVING MSC CERTIFICATION ...................................................................................... 68 Arctic Char ......................................................................................................................................................... 68 Snow Crab .......................................................................................................................................................... 73 Greenland Halibut ............................................................................................................................................. 74 4.2. KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR MSC CERTIFICATION IN NUNATSIAVUT ........................................................... 76 Primary Implications for Arctic Char ............................................................................................................... 76 Recommendations for Arctic Char .................................................................................................................... 82 Primary Implications for Snow Crab and Greenland Halibut ......................................................................... 83 Recommendations for Snow Crab ..................................................................................................................... 86 Recommendations for Greenland Halibut ........................................................................................................ 87 4.3. CONTEXT SPECIFICITY OF MSC CERTIFICATION .......................................................................................... 87 4.4. THE INUIT WAY OF LIFE AND MARKET-BASED TOOLS ................................................................................. 89 Implications of MSC Certification on the Inuit Way of Life ............................................................................ 89 4.5. STUDY LIMITATIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 90 4.6 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................................... 91 CHAPTER 5: REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................... 94 APPENDIX A: DETAILED RAPID ASSESSMENTS .................................................................................................... 108 ii List of Figures Figure 1. Map of Nunatsiavut and their commercial fishing areas. ……………………………3 Figure 2. NL snow crab export destinations…...…………...…………….…………………....11