| Volume 4. Issue 3. |
| Volume 4. Issue 3. |
A New Kind of Bean Counterby Scott MilsomOn the morning drive from Halifax to New Minas, I stop, almost instinctively, at the "Timmy's" in downtown Windsor for my daily "double cream." As I take the New Minas exit, there are still a few sips left, but I'm down to my last swig by the time I reach my destination: Just Us! Coffee Roasters' Co-op. As I pull into the parking lot beside what only appears to be a yellow-painted residential home, I notice the lettering on a truck: "Just Us! 1-888-NOT- THEM." I take a look at my now-empty cup, and feel a bit guilty. I'm about to get a crash course in coffee education. David Mangle of Just Us! gives me some written information and leads me down the narrow steps to where he roasts the coffee. It turns out that my "double cream" is only one of about 15 billion cups of coffee that will be consumed in Canada this year. In fact, Canadians drink more coffee than any other liquid except water. About 70 percent of it is quaffed in the morning but, as hundreds of all-night coffee shop operators across the country well know, even the remaining 30 percent is an awful lot of "java." David, like the other people at Just Us!, cares a lot about where our coffee comes from and how it gets to our cups. The life of the typical Latin American coffee farmer is, in reality, a far cry from what the ad executives who dreamed up "Juan Valdez" would have us believe. Small, independent farmers usually get only about ten percent of what we in Canada pay for coffee at the retail level. Exporters and shippers take about 35 percent, roasters get 30 percent, and retailers gobble up the remaining 25 percent. The situation for workers on coffee plantations is even worse than that of small, independent growers. On some plantations, whole families, including children, work all day to earn a total of three dollars a day. Despite the scant returns producers typically pocket, coffee is big business: after petroleum, it's the second most valuable commodity traded globally. Nestl&#eacute;, the world's largest coffee company, buys about twelve percent of the world's coffee beans. In 1994, it made $1.3 billion (US) on total coffee sales of $6.4 billion. Just Us! is a far more modest operation, though size is not the only thing that separates it from a corporate giant like Nestl&#eacute;. For one thing, it's a cooperative, with members owning shares worth $500. (After an employee has been working for a year at Just Us!, he or she is encouraged, but not forced, to buy shares.) Just Us! is part of a growing "Fairtrade" movement, which is working to change trading relations between the wealthy countries of the North and often-impoverished Third World producers. Many of the beans it roasts come from the Union de la Selva ("Union of the Forest") a cooperative made up of small coffee farmers in the Chiapas region of southern Mexico. Others come from different farmer co- ops in Africa and various Latin American countries. But no matter where they get their beans, Just Us! makes sure that Fairtrade criteria are being met. These include:
The best coffee grows where coffee plants are interspersed in the rain forest with banana trees and other taller trees that provide both shade and habitat for birds and other wildlife. However, much of the world's coffee is grown on large plantations that have been clear-cut out of the jungle. Because of the direct sunlight, this coffee is both inferior and in need of a lot of pesticides and fertilizers to aid in its growth. In fact, coffee is the most intensively sprayed and chemically fertilized food crop in the world. The Fairtrade movement began in Holland in the 1980's, and it has allowed shoppers there to make a choice when they get many of their groceries. Those who wish to can buy products with the Fairtrade label and know that by doing so they are helping both Third World producers and the global environment. Fairtrade sales have increased ten-fold in Europe in recent years, and it's estimated that the sale of Fairtrade products in Holland alone over the past decade has helped put more than $20 million (US) into the hands of Third World producers, money they would never have received had more customary business practices been followed. The Fairtrade movement spread to Canada in 1994 with the establishment of Fair Trademark Canada, a non-profit association of churches, unions, and charities that works to build ethical trading relations between Canadians and Third World producers of coffee, tea, sugar, honey, and bananas. They have been most successful with coffee, in no small part because of Just Us! Just Us! buys its coffee by the container load. A typical shipment will weigh more than ten tons and cost about $55,000. Unlike corporate coffee buyers, Just Us! pays its producers half the agreed price as soon as the beans are shipped, and the balance upon delivery in New Minas. Less fortunate coffee farmers often wait far longer than that for payment from local middle-men or multinational companies. Just Us! will often share a container load of beans with the other half-dozen or so Fairtrade coffee shops and roasters across Canada, but they roast far more coffee than any other Canadian fair trader. Just Us! was founded in the spring of 1996 by Jeff and Debbie Moore, along with David and Jane Mangle. "All of us had been involved in social justice issues for years, mostly on international issues," explains David. "It just seemed like a natural progression." When the Moores and Mangles decided to get into the coffee business, they still had a lot to learn. One of the first things to decide on was what kind of coffee roaster to buy. Their research led them to a California company called Equip for Coffee, which is the North American distributor of roasters made by the German firm Probat. It requires that all first-time buyers of their machines travel to the San Francisco area and take a course that will give them the necessary skills. Jeff and David both went and took the course and, on their return, shared the roasting duties. But as the co-op grew, it was decided that Jeff would work full-time as manager, so now David roasts every Just Us! coffee bean. "Coffee beans," David tells me as he constantly adjusts the controls on the roaster and checks the colour of the roasting beans, "start to lose their flavour 48 hours after they're roasted, so we custom- roast our beans to fit our orders." The aroma in David's work area is delightful. At a bench a few feet from the roaster, other Just Us! workers weigh and heat-seal the freshly roasted beans, and then affix the "Transfair" label that indicates the product was ethically traded. So how is Just Us! doing? "Looking back," says Jeff, "It's been a much bigger and more complex project than any of us imagined, but also more interesting and more rewarding. After two years, we're finally in the black — we're heading for $500,000 in sales this year. As a co-op, we're faced with decisions about what to do with our profits — basically looking at some combination of re-investing them in the co-op, sharing them with the communities where the coffee is grown, and education programs." It doesn't sound like the next meeting of the Just Us! Board of Directors will have much in common with board-table talk at Nestl&#eacute;. Finally, what about the taste? I don't claim to be any sort of expert, but not fifteen minutes after my last jolt of Timmy's, I'm enjoying a Peruvian blend that would make any doughnut shop jealous. And I don't feel the least bit guilty. Just Us! coffee beans are available at any Co-op Atlantic grocery store in the Maritimes and Newfoundland, at selected stores of the major grocery chains, at a number of health or natural food outlets, and directly or by mail from the Just Us! roastery and caf&#eacute; in New Minas. It is also available by the bag or the cup at Trident Booksellers and Caf&#eacute; in Halifax, who serve only Just Us! coffee. The Just Us! phone number is 1-800-NOT-THEM (668-8436). E-mail:justus@ns.sympatico.ca
Building A Strong WharfSilver Donald Cameron is a well-known author and columnist who, many years ago, moved to Isle Madame, a small island connected by a short causeway to southern Cape Breton. Ever since, Isle Madame, its largest community, Arichat, and Cameron's own island village of D'Escousse have figured largely in his writing. In a magazine column about community economic development a couple of years ago, he wrote of the concept of creating jobs on Isle Madame, saying that "it does crop up on the agenda of politicians and and civil servants in Halifax and Ottawa — but in Arichat, Cape Breton, it rules the agenda... We will need many small businesses to replace the lost fishery, but eventually Isle Madame's economy will stand, like a strong wharf, on many pilings." Over the past several years, the people of Isle Madame have been hard at work on building those "pilings." Articles in this publication, and in others, have highlighted ways the people of the island have searched for, and found, innovative ways of developing the local economy and community. Isle Madame and its "pilings" were once again in the spotlight on October 17th, when provincial Minister of Tourism and Economic Development, Manning MacDonald, along with provincial Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Keith Colwell and local rookie MLA, Michel Samson , arrived in Arichat, the largest community on the island. The politicians were there for two reasons: first, to be present at the formal opening of a new aquaculture operation and, second, to announce a special award for Isle Madame. Things began in the morning on Lower Road where a state-of-the-art fish processing facility that will provide employment for more than 70 people is nearing completion. Just offshore, in the waters of Arichat Harbour, lie huge aquaculture cages where hundreds of thousands of rainbow trout are being reared. More than 50 people were here for the official opening of Scotia Rainbow, a new fish-rearing and processing operation. Serge LaFreniere is Scotia Rainbow's President and CEO. He and his family have moved to Arichat from Quebec, where he still maintains numerous market contacts. "This is now the biggest fish- farming operation in Nova Scotia," he beamed at the opening ceremony. "Our aim is to build it into the biggest in the world." One of the attractions of the area for Mr. LaFreniere is the fact that the community itself had already established a community aquaculture development fund and invested more than $150,000 in it. "The community is committed to this project," LaFreniere said. "Coming to Isle Madame, I found that there were partners willing to work to make things happen." Scotia Rainbow is also looking at other locations around Richmond County that might also be appropriate for aquaculture. As well, tests are being conducted in the aquaculture cages to try to discover optimal feeding schedules. Some fish are fed varying amounts on the hour, while others are fed twice a day. Different feeds are also being tried: some are designed for feeding on or near the surface, others slowly sink toward the bottom of the cages. Underwater cameras monitor the feedings and examine the trout's behavior in varying circumstances. The stock grow from fry to two-foot-long ten or eleven pounders in about eighteen months. Among those who spoke at the opening ceremonies was Alvin Martell, Community Liaison Officer with Development Isle Madame, a very successful community economic development agency. He recalled the 1995 demolition of Arichat's fish processing plant. "People then were looking at the derelict site and saying ‘Well, there goes our future.' Not! I tell you, it's good to see Isle Madame moving forward." In his brief speech, Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Colwell underlined the importance of aquaculture to the future of the province's coastal communities. "In 1993, aquaculture sales in this province were at $6 million, and last year we topped the $30-million dollar mark. And it will continue to grow." Manning MacDonald's Department of Tourism and Economic Development provided Scotia Rainbow with an $800,000 loan, as well as a $2-million loan guarantee, to get the operation up and running. Both he and MLA Samson spoke of the willingness of the people of Isle Madame to work together to find local solutions to local problems. After the speeches had been made, a large, ice-packed cooler was brought in and Mr. LaFreniere, along with Scotia Rainbow's General Manager Andre LeBlanc, presented each of the ministers with a hefty and handsome market sized rainbow trout. Then it was outside for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. After a short stop for refreshments, most of those who had been at the Lower Road ceremony joined at least 150 other community members inside the Isle Madame New Horizons Senior Citizens' Club. There, Minister Colwell announced that Isle Madame had been selected to receive the first-ever Aquaculture Award from the province. (It is hoped that the Award will become an annual affair.) Along with the Award, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture announced the gift of an annual bursary to Isle Madame High. It is to be granted annually to an Isle Madame student who wishes to pursue university studies in aquaculture. Local MLA Michel Samson then expressed his pride in the people of Isle Madame and Richmond County for their hard work and dedication. He thanked St. Joseph's — the local credit union — as well as Development Isle Madame, Richmond County's aquaculturists, and Serge LaFreniere of Scotia Rainbow. He also gave special thanks to Sheila Hearn and Nelda Cotie, councillors at Human Resources Development Canada's Port Hawkesbury office, for their hard work and continuing support in the community since the beginning of the downturn in the groundfishery. Richie Cotton, Warden of Richmond County, spoke of how the people of the community have, through Development Isle Madame, worked together. "They knew there were big problems with the traditional fishery, and that the community had to find another way. Aquaculture is a part of that answer. It's good to be here today talking of good news for a change. As a County, we want to be pro-active with community economic development." Listening to all the speeches had obviously caused many to build up an appetite. Fortunately, just outside, under colourful tents, volunteers were busy grilling fresh trout while others played music. It took a while to get to the front of the line, but it was certainly worth the wait. Throughout the afternoon, a boat ferried community members out for a look at the aquaculture cages and the thousands of trout feeding there. One of those who made the trip was Terrance Fortune, who lives in the nearby village of Pondville. He is a partner in Isle Madame Water and Sky Paddling, a new enterprise that hopes to be up and running by next spring. He was encouraged by the day's activities, which hint at the future possibilities for Isle Madame. "This gives us employment, and hope for the future, things we didn't have for a long time here," he says. "And there will be spin-offs. For instance, by forming a relationship with the people at Scotia Rainbow, we hope next year to introduce our customers to the fisheries of the new millennium. That's aquaculture." That evening, the Annual General Meeting, banquet, and dance of the community's local credit union topped off what was a day of bustle on Isle Madame. And, as people there continue to work together on their "pilings," and so make good things happen in the community, there's bound to be a lot more bustle down the road for Isle Madame.
"Strategies for the Future"CCN's Annual General Big EventOn the weekend of September 25-27, representatives of more than 35 member organizations gathered at Keddy's Inn in Dartmouth for the Coastal Communities Network's 1998 Annual General Big Event. Delegates came together for the weekend to discuss and determine the organization's "Strategies For the Future." Although a number of areas requiring greater efforts were identified, by the end of the week-end all who attended came away with a feeling that CCN's future, and that of many of Nova Scotia's coastal and rural communities, has every likelihood of being both a busy and a successful one. The weekend gathering was particularly symbolic for CCN. It marked the culmination of a six-month strategic planning process in which the organization, first, sought ways to understand its growth from a small, loose network to a more broadly based organization, and, second, sought to identify and implement organizational changes that will enable it to successfully tackle the wider range of issues now on its plate. Things kicked off on Friday evening when Andrea Bourgeois, Stephen Cross, and Jim Fowler of the Irondale Ensemble Theatre Troupe performed a series of scenes from their play in progress, The Good Society. Their performance depicted the ideas, conflicts, and relationship between Father Moses Coady and Father Jimmy Tompkins, the two Catholic priests central to the founding and growth of the Antigonish Movement in Nova Scotia earlier this century. Through drama and music, the troupe explored the two men's somewhat different, but ultimately complementary, attitudes toward establishing community-based cooperatives and community economic development. Their presentation underlined the fact that many of the lessons learned through the efforts of those who first dreamed of an Antigonish Movement are still relevant to our coastal and rural communities today. Following this entertaining and informative presentation, the performers called the audience up to the front of the room and had everybody pair of with a partner. Then, by leading everyone through a series of choreographed movements, they showed that people can, by working together in common cause rather than trying to get the best of one another, accomplish much. All that's needed is mutual confidence and effective communication. Following Irondale's entertainment, communication was again the main theme, as many of the delegates stayed to exchange ideas and experiences in an informal atmosphere. On Saturday morning, delegates got down to the real work at hand. To start, CCN Chair Arthur Bull and Amy Thurlow, Chief Facilitator for the weekend, welcomed the delegates and gave a brief outline of how the day would proceed. Delegates then broke up into four smaller workshops to deal with, in some depth, four particular topics identified as important to the future work of CCN:
In each workshop, delegates were asked to examine their subject in the context of CCN's Strategic Plan (which had been developed over a series of meetings during the previous six months or so). First, participants were asked to outline a brief history of the subject at hand and to develop a summary of where CCN currently stands in the context of the particular issue. Next, each group was to develop a vision of where we want CCN to be in terms of the issue three years from now. Finally, delegates were to devise strategies that would render their three-year vision attainable, and to identify partners that could help CCN get where it wants to be. It was, as you might imagine, a busy morning. Because of the breadth of issues to be discussed at the formal Annual General Meeting of the membership, it was decided to divide it into two formal sessions. In the first, held after lunch on Saturday, delegates discussed, and then approved, the formal Annual Report of CCN Executive Director Ishbel Munro, the Financial Report, and the Budget for the upcoming year. Further formalities and discussions of the membership's Annual General Meeting were then set aside until the following morning, and the balance of the afternoon's work involved a summary and discussion of what had emerged from the morning workshops. In their summaries and discussions of the four workshops, each Facilitator outlined the results and recommendations of their particular group. Then, Chief Facilitator Amy Thurlow made use of colorful papers that highlighted each of the major points raised to create a large "quilt" representing the assessments and recommendations of participants in each of the workshops. (Materials that give a more detailed outline of the conclusions of each of the four sessions, as well as an overreaching review of all the workshop results, can be obtained from the CCN Executive Director at 379-2688.) The outcome of all these discussions can be summed up in the following two sentences. CCN has a lot of work to do in the areas of marine infrastructure, the fisheries, community economic development, and development of the organization itself. But, at the same time, CCN has much that it will be able to accomplish in the areas of marine infrastructure, the fisheries, community economic development, and development of the organization itself. After a tasty supper, delegates gathered again, this time informally, to enjoy the vocal and musical talents of Halifax-area folk singer and social activist Sandy Greenberg. As well, CCN staff had hit the books to challenge delegates' knowledge of the province with a "Nova Scotia Trivia" quiz. (Two delegates, in particular, shone during this contest: Jason Boudrot of Development Isle Madame for his overall knowledge of Nova Scotia's history and politics, and Wayne Eddy of the Fishermen's Cove Development Association for coming up with the correct answer to an obscure question about senior baseball in the province in the 1950's and 1960's.) A small prize was awarded for each correct answer and the evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all. After Sunday breakfast, delegates met once again for the concluding session of the formal Annual General Meeting of the membership. Here, a number of by-law changes were agreed to, in order to reflect the fact of CCN's growth, in both scope and mandate, over the past few years. For the first time, a Board of Directors was elected. Its work of dealing with the organization's administrative aspects will allow future monthly meetings of the entire membership to deal with greater clarity and focus on issues of importance to our rural and coastal communities. An Executive, elected from among the Board members, was also put in place at the Board's first formal meeting, which followed immediately on the heels of the Annual General Meeting. Its job will be to deal with both day-to-day problems and any urgent matters that might arise between membership meetings. (For a list of members of the new Board of Directors and Executive, see note on page 15.) Finally, a system of accountability was also put in place to differentiate and place responsibilities among the Board, CCN staff, the Executive, CCN's various committees, and the membership at large. The final event of the weekend took place late on Sunday morning, after the AGM had adjourned and the new Board had met briefly to elect the Executive. Everyone who had attended the weekend event gathered around in a large informal circle, and each was asked to express their thoughts on the previous two days and share their expectations and hopes for the future of CCN. A small granite rock thought by some Mi'kmaq to be sacred because of its medicinal and healing powers passed from hand to hand as each person addressed the group, and as the ancient stone made its way around the circle, it became crystal-clear to all who were listening that they had shared in an almost unreservedly positive event. Those who had in the past talked optimistically about the future of CCN, and the future of Nova Scotia's rural and coastal communities, now spoke more forcefully than ever of the future's potential. People who had often been somewhat guarded about future prospects were more upbeat than ever, both about what's down the road for their own communities and for CCN. And those who in earlier CCN gatherings had been largely negative about the coming years were now speaking, sometimes for the first time, in the language of possibility. If you were in that circle, you know fully the meaning of the previous paragraph. If you weren't, please send for the documents that came out of CCN's 1998 Annual Great Big Event. We think you'll be glad you did.
Update: FishAid Organization FoldsIn the last issue, we told you about FishAid, a summer concert and festival held in the Yarmouth area last August. Organizers hoped it would become an annual event and pledged any profits would go to non-profit organizations dedicated to improving and preserving our natural marine habitat. Last issue, we wrote that, although the event itself was a delight for those who attended, not nearly enough people showed up for FishAid to break even. Since the last issue, what almost seemed inevitable has come to pass. In November, the Fish Aid Society Association, the non-profit group put together to organize the event, declared bankruptcy, and any hopes that the festival would become an annual event now seem unrealistic. That's too bad: not only was it a great time for the 10,000 or so people who gathered in a farmer's field just outside Yarmouth, but it was a good idea. We can only hope that some other people will take it up, and then pull it off successfully.
Community Economic Development AwardsOn November 26th, the Westin Nova Scotian Hotel in Halifax was the scene of Nova Scotia's first Community Economic Development (CED) Awards. People from CED organizations across the province gathered to hear a keynote speech by author and columnist Silver Donald Cameron, to take part in a "CED Expo," to share lunch, and to see who would be the lucky winners. Almost 120 CED organizations and individuals were nominated for awards in six different categories, and three finalists were chosen in each of them. (The Coastal Communities Network was honoured to be among the trio of finalists in the "Excellence in Cooperation" category.) We congratulate the following winners:
CCN Board of Directors, 1998-99One-year term: Art Drysdale (Cumberland Regional Economic Development Association), Russell Harding (Faith in Action Committee, Maritime Conference, United Church of Canada), Kirk Munro (Maritime Fishermen's Union, Local #4), Don Zwicker (Municipality of the County of Lunenburg). Two-Year term: Etheran Goreham (Shelburne County Boatbuilders' Association), Linda Gregory (Municipality of the District of Digby), Carlo Lunn (Maritime Fishermen's Union, Local #6), Glanville Travis (Upper Bay of Fundy Fishermen's Association), Joe Walsh (Town of Canso). Three-Year term: Arthur Bull (Digby Neck Community Development Association), Mary DesRoches (Nova Scotia Women's Fishnet), Alvin Martell (Development Isle Madame), Norma Richardson (Halifax Regional Development Authority). CCN Executive, 1998-99: Arthur Bull (Chair), Linda Gregory (Secretary), Russell Harding (First Vice-Chair), Alvin Martell (Second Vice-Chair), Norma Richardson (Treasurer), Don Zwicker (Past Chair).
The Choices MadeLast summer, CCN Board member Mary DesRoches spoke to a gathering in Dartmouth of the Seafarers' International Conference, a group dedicated to bringing Christian ministry to the seafarers of the world. She talked of Canada's fishery management policies, of the impact of the fisheries collapse on individuals, families, and small communities, and on efforts under way internationally to give further strength to small-scale fish harvesters and fish workers. What follows is based on what she said there. In 1978, the then federal Fisheries Minister, Romeo LeBlanc, described government's role in fisheries management in the following terms: We must measure its benefits, first of all, in relation to those living on the coast. When we divide up those few million tonnes of fish, the coastal communities of inshore and near-shore fishermen must have first claim. Instead of starting with an offshore, large-vessel development that cuts off future inshore growth, we must build from the independent fleet up, and from the coast out. We must give the inshore and near-shore fishermen a greater and an assured amount of fish. Despite these words, the decision-making process within the Canadian fishing industry has never been laid out in a legislated or formal framework. The Canadian Fisheries Act allows fishery regulations to change according to the ideology of the current federal Minister of Fisheries, who in his or her absolute discretion can determine policy and licensing practices that cover every aspect of the industry. This discretionary power of the Minister has not changed since 1868. Given this background, I would like each of you to reflect on the choices federal decision makers have made as we take a brief look at the direction and impact of federal fisheries management on both the fish stocks and people living in coastal communities. Studies show that even as far back as 1912 the Canadian fishery was moving toward monopoly control as capitalism became a bigger factor in the industry. The industrialization and privatization of the fishery intensified following World War II. After 1947, Ottawa encouraged a rapid expansion in a fishery that was largely unregulated, even though there had been a fishery crisis in the early 1940s. At a 1958 meeting of the International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, a vote took place on whether to extend the jurisdiction of coastal countries to 200 miles. The motion lost by one vote, and Canada was among those voting against. It would take another 19 years for the 200-mile limit to become law. This decision supported offshore fleets at the expense of Canadian provinces and coastal communities. When the 200-mile limit was introduced, policy makers once again had a choice: Number One, they could extend the zone from 12 to 200 miles, and then divide up the Total Allowable Catch (TAC), or, Number Two, they could first divide the TAC among the provinces and coastal communities, and then extend the zone. The difference between the two choices was that the offshore fleet fished outside the 12-mile limit and so, historically, it had no catch within Canadian waters. If choice Number Two had been taken, the inshore fleet would have had access to the majority of fish stocks within the 200-mile limit. Instead, choice Number One was made, and the offshore fleet received the largest portion of the TAC. Canadian decision makers had a choice to make when they signed onto the 200-mile limit. Our politicians could have chosen to take absolute control of stock allocations, as did such countries as Australia, New Zealand, and Kenya. But they did not. And so, despite the worthy intentions of several past Fisheries Ministers, the adoption of the 200-mile limit management zone has become a "Made in Canada" ecological disaster of catastrophic proportions. In the early 1980s, the big Canadian offshore company National Sea was near bankruptcy. Again, Canadian political decision makers had a choice to make:
We know what happened. A choice was made to give millions of taxpayers' dollars, in the name of "economic restructuring," to enable National Sea to become a multinational corporation that has since accumulated extensive property rights in the Atlantic fishery. Currently, the central political question in the Canadian fishery is whether management policy will push in the direction of privatization, with control in the hands of the multinational few, or in the direction of promoting sustainable stocks, the protection of fish habitat, and sustainable coastal communities. One direction represents the interests of the corporate fishery. The other represents the interests of inshore fish harvesters, coastal communities, fish habitat, and the fish stocks of future generations. Lost in the rhetoric of "conservation" and "reform" is the fact that policy makers are making an active choice to eliminate people and communities from the fishery. They do so without ever being made accountable for rejecting positive alternative policies. Not long ago, the David Suzuki Foundation published a report that places the blame for the destruction of the northern cod fishery squarely on the government's political patronage of the large fish companies. In the fishery, there has been no acknowledgement of the human choice involved in the design and use of technology. State decision makers have simply decided to replace fish workers with corporate controlled technology. A choice has been made to make fish workers disappear. A choice was made to use technology, not to enhance people's work, but to replace workers and increase profits. In the early 1990s, Halifax academics Richard Apostle and Gene Barrett wrote a book on the fishery titled Emptying Their Nets. They had this to say about productivity in the industry: "On a per-fisher basis, over 225 percent more groundfish was landed in 1983 than in 1952. Yet increased productivity is neither reflected in increased total employment nor distributed evenly among local communities." The fishery crisis has resulted in the largest job loss in our history. Since 1992, more than 50,000 fish harvesters and fish workers have been displaced, yet the value of fish stocks landed and exported from Canada has not declined, but remains incredibly stable. DFO is taking a public resource, more often called "common property," and turning it into private property rights through Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) and Enterprise Allocations (EAs). They are privatizing, not only the right to catch fish, but fish stocks that are still swimming. The very existence of a future inshore fishery is in question because of government policies that favour corporate capital at the expense of people in coastal communities who depend on the sea for their livelihood. Federal management of our fishery resource has shown an over-reliance on quota controls. It shows a rejection and disregard of many voices — the voices of fishermen, the voices of scientists, the voices of environmentalists, and the voices of many others. The management system continues on a path of ecological disaster, all the while with the decision makers claiming that "the system works." Canadian fisheries policy has created: UL>
Ottawa's fisheries management policy creates situations like this one, described by a Wood's Harbour woman: My husband has fished for 30 years, and this is the first year he has put in for unemployment insurance. He used to have only one month he didn't fish, now he doesn't fish from June to November. He only fished groundfish eight days in 1996 and twelve days in ‘97, because of the individual quotas. ITQs are the only way you can go fishing, even if they're against your principles. The social cost of past and current management decisions is staggering. When the decline of groundfish stocks forces a family out of the fishery, family members lose their sense of identity, and their sense of self- worth. There is a loss of pride in not being able to provide for your family. This is true for both men and women. When a family income is lost, every family member is affected. What is left is guilt, shame, fear, frustration, and, for some, utter desperation. In Cape Breton, a man who can no longer go fishing to earn a livelihood shuts himself in his basement for three days, contemplating suicide. In the Bay of Fundy area, a woman confides to me that her husband might commit suicide. She lives in fear when he goes out alone and when he goes hunting. She sends her teenage sons out with him, hoping their presence will deter him. In the summer of 1997, there were six suicides in Nova Scotia fishing communities. All were from fishing families. After I had mentioned this fact at a meeting, two fishermen, one from Cape Breton and the other from Cape Sable — opposite ends of this province — told me that there had also been suicides in their own communities just the week before. A Shelburne County man reported at a meeting of the Coastal Communities Network that the situation is only going to get worse. At nearly every meeting with women I've attended over the past three years, they have expressed concern about this stress and about how it leads to violence and to suicide, whether successful or not. The stress also leads to drug and alcohol abuse, to spousal and child abuse. There is fear and much uncertainty about what is to happen next. There is rage and frustration with the system, the regulations, and the process. These emotions most often surface in the home. A Louisbourg woman explains her household situation this way: "Everyone in the house feels the stress, right down to the cat and dog." A Shelburne County woman is surprised to learn that hers is not the only home where this is happening. She explains, emotionally, how she is caught in the middle. She understands her husband's frustration when he comes home and vents his rage about something that happened at the Fisheries office. But she also knows that their child does not understand why Daddy is so angry. Women are under increasing stress. Having to deal with their partners' frustration is a burden many women find difficult. The result is often family breakdown. What is the social cost of all this to our children? Women claim that violence is increasing in the schools, at the elementary level, and that there are often girls involved. I receive a letter from a woman in a Cape Breton fishing village who is worried about the young people in her community who are sniffing gas and setting fires. A New Brunswick woman tells me about the devastation of having her husband strike her, for the first time in 30 years, as a result of the fears and frustrations surrounding the fishery. Many stressed families don't talk about it, because they don't know how to deal with the problems. Instead, they blow up over little, unrelated things. But it all comes back to the situation of the fisheries. The impact of the fisheries crisis is compounded by the impact of changes to social programs, and by cuts to health and education programs. The very survival of fishing communities is in jeopardy. A social crisis is upon us, and it is expected to get worse. People are trying in many ways to address the crisis of the world's oceans. Some are becoming involved with environmental, non-profit, or fishermen's organizations. Arthur Boganson, an Icelandic inshore fisherman, has been working for the past few years to build an alliance of inshore, coastal fishermen throughout the North Atlantic. Late last year, I was fortunate enough to be a Canadian delegate at a historic gathering of the World Forum of Fishharvesters and Fishworkers, in Delhi, India. There, fishing people from 33 countries around the world developed the first international organization to represent the interests of artisanal and small-scale fish harvesters and workers. We agreed on a set of strategic goals in a global effort to combat the privatization and globalization of fishery resources. All but four of the 150 representatives agreed to support a set of guiding principles as the organization's foundation. (The four who abstained represented distant-water fleets.) Delegates in Delhi agreed to organize a World Fisheries Day on November 21, 1998. People interested in the ocean habitat, especially members of organizations that represent small-scale fish harvesters, fish workers, and coastal communities, are working hard so that World Fisheries Day will have a major impact. I would like to extend a strong message that needs to be heard by Canadians, and people around the globe. We must unite in solidarity as never before, so there can be a fishing industry for future generations. I believe there is one thing more powerful than money, and that is the power of united people. We must persevere together, for the long term, if we are to win the economic war being waged against fish harvesters, against coastal communities, and against the fish in the ocean.
Wheels of Justice, Grinding SlowlyIn 1996, four Cape Sable Island hook-and-line fishermen — Tony Cunningham, Jack Hatfield, Scott Nickerson, and Fred Sears — occupied the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Barrington office for the best part of a month in protest against federal fisheries management policies. Then, in June of this year, to underline their point, they made headlines in the local press when they chained themselves to a flagpole and attempted to camp overnight on the grounds of Province House in Halifax. House Speaker Ron Russell sent in the police, who removed the four and charged them under the provincial Protection of Property Act. After they pleaded "not guilty" in August, a trial date of October 13th was set. But then, in early October, the Crown informed the court that it would be unable to have its witnesses present on the day of the proposed trial, and that it wanted to delay the matter further. The four fishermen, through their "legal agent," Acadia University Professor Don Grady, made it known they were anxious to proceed on the 13th as planned. So a hearing was set for the evening of October 8th, when Provincial Court Judge Angus MacIntyre would decide whether to grant the Crown's wish. And so, right around suppertime on the crisp autumn evening of October 8th, outside the Provincial Courthouse on Spring Garden Road in Halifax, Cunningham, Hatfield, and Sears, along with about 20 of their supporters, stand with placards. On them are such phrases as "DFO: Stop Persecuting Fishermen" and "No to Privatizing the Fishery." (The fourth defendant, Scott Nickerson, had let the court know he would be unable to be in Halifax on either the 8th or the 13th.) Being charged under the province's Protection of Property Act is a bit like getting a traffic ticket. There's no criminal record attached to a conviction, and the maximum fine is $500. The fishermen and their supporters suspect that the Crown hoped that, rather than go through a prolonged legal skirmish, that they would simply pay up and get on with other things."We could have done that," says Tony Cunningham, "but if we had, who would there be to fight DFO on this?" "It's a sad day," Fred Sears adds, reflecting on DFO policies, "when the government declares war on its own people." The court time is set for 7:00 p.m., and the trio hopes to gain some sympathetic press coverage from their public picket, but only a few of the local media show up. When the hearing begins, Crown Prosecutor Donna Keats explains to Judge MacIntyre that the officers who had made the original June arrests would be unable to appear on the 13th. MacIntyre says the 13th will go ahead as planned. Cunningham, Hatfield, and Sears would have to make the six-hour round trip again the following week. On the 13th, the Crown admits that its witnesses are not in court and asks to reschedule the trial for January. Judge MacIntyre refuses, instead giving the Crown nine more days to get its case and witnesses together. He does, however, set a date in January to hear the case against Nickerson. After yet another six-hour drive for Cunningham, Hatfield, and Sears, the court convenes again on the 22nd. The Crown abruptly tells the judge that it has no case against the three fishermen. The charges against Cunningham, Hatfield, and Sears are then thrown out of court. Don Grady thinks the Crown was deliberately creating difficulties for the fishermen. "They knew they couldn't have won the case," he says, "yet they went ahead anyway. Because of the legal nuances of the Protection of Property Act, the case would have come down to whether, in the judgement of the arresting officers, the fishermen had been ‘disruptive' at Province House. The Crown knew that the answer to that was ‘No.'" The occupation of the Barrington DFO office and the Province House incident are only part of a broader and ongoing protest against DFO policies by a number of Shelburne County hook-and-line fishermen and their organizations. Other actions have included the occupation of Yarmouth's DFO office, symbolic fishing in a manner considered by DFO to be "illegal," and a suit in federal court, launched by the Canadian Fishermen's Defense Society this past August, in which fishermen claim that DFO's use of Enterprise Allocations and Individual Transferable Quotas is itself illegal. There is strong resistance among many Shelburne County fishermen to what they see as DFO's attempts to use these devices to privatize the fishery, which they view as a public rather than a corporate resource. Many hook-and-line fishermen have been finding it increasingly difficult to earn a living for themselves and their families. In a tragic postscript to this story, one of the four Province House protesters, Scott Nickerson, took his own life in early November. The 26-year-old father of two was known in the community as a likeable young man with a ready smile. His was the third suicide in the Barrington area in recent times: most in the community believe all of them were fisheries-related. Scott left behind him two letters. The last line of one of them reads: "Remember me for what I tried to do, not for what I have done."
Picturing the Fishery, Far and Wideby Scott Milsom A photo-journalist from Mexico City spent much of this past summer in Nova Scotia as part of an artist-exchange program of the Canadian and Mexican governments. Her visit here was coordinated by the Coastal Communities Network. Sylvia Calatayud came here because of her interest in people here who make their living from the sea. While living in communities along Mexico's Pacific coast in the early 1990s, Sylvia became fascinated with capturing the imagery of people engaged in the tuna and shrimp fisheries there. As well as doing lots of freelance photographic work, she began doing the same for the Mexican Fisheries Institute — an organization loosely akin to our own federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. She jumped at the chance to come to Nova Scotia to document the lives of our own fish harvesters as they go about their demanding work. During the first days of her stay, she and I spent some time talking on a June evening over a pleasant supper. She told me that a lot of the problems she's heard about in our fishery have parallels in Mexico. "In Mexico, just like here, there are fewer fish than before," she says, "and corporate concentration in the fishery is on the rise. Whether here or in Mexico, the sea is the sea, everywhere. And it's the same everywhere — it isn't taken proper care of. In both societies, most people are alien to the sea." But she also suspects she'll find differences between the two fisheries. "In Mexico, a lot of people who fish are just trying to feed themselves, or to get a few fish to sell themselves in small town or village markets. I don't think you have the same kind of small markets here." Despite these differences, Sylvia has a sense that fish harvesters everywhere share a lot in common. "Fishermen, no matter where they are, are friendly, special people," she says. "The relationship they have with the sea is very special. It's the nature of fishing, I guess, that makes fishermen quiet, friendly people, no matter where in the world they are." In the weeks following our supper-time meeting, Sylvia went to Pictou Island to spend time with lobster harvesters there. Afterwards, she travelled to Cape Breton, Sambro, the Eastern and South Shores, and to Digby Neck to meet with and set sail with inshore fish harvesters in a variety of sectors. She was also able to get back to Pictou for the town's annual Lobster Carnival. During her travels, she talked with reporters from a number of small-community newspapers, and did an interview for CBC Radio's popular Information Morning program. In mid-August, just a few days before Sylvia was set to leave the province, we met again and she shared with me some of her impressions of her visit here. "When I was back in Mexico City and I imagined coming here, I wasn't quite sure what to expect," she explains. "For one thing, I didn't know the weather could change so fast! Today, for instance, it's too cold." (I'm in a short-sleeved tee-shirt. It seems a fine, sunny day to me, even though it might fairly be described as a bit windy.) "The thing, though, that surprised me the most," she continues, "is that the people are a lot nicer, more relaxed, than I'd expected. There's a lot of people here who I'll miss. In Mexico, people tend to think of norte americanos as a bit cold. But I've learned to have affection for a lot of the people who have welcomed me to into their homes and onto their vessels. "I've found that the fishery in Nova Scotia has a lot in common with what I know of it in Mexico," she tells me. "There are a lot of small fishermen in both places who are facing the same kind of economic forces that make earning a living difficult." Sylvia, as she thought she would, also discovered some differences in the two fisheries. "Here, you can have a boat and still be having a hard time making ends meet. In Mexico, if you've got a boat, you're rich. Maybe it's the fact that there are a lot more poor people in Mexico: the gap between rich and poor is greater, and much more obvious." Once back in Mexico, Sylvia hopes to do photography dealing with working conditions in the maquiladoras, factories just across the border from the United States, most of which were set up by their owners to take advantage of both low Mexican wages and the trade opportunities offered by the North American Free Trade Agreement. "That won't be as easy as getting on a fishing boat here," she says. "The people who run them don't like strangers wandering around their maquiladora, documenting the conditions people have to work under." Sylvia wasn't the only photographer in the province this summer. Two Montreal-area artists, Dominic Morrisette and Catherine Pappas, who have done photographic work focusing on small- craft fish harvesters in India, were also here to capture images of our fishery. The pair spoke with Sylvia, and the three of them are hoping they will be able to mount a joint exhibit in Nova Scotia. It would, while recognizing the differences among the various fisheries around the world, underline just how much fishing people world-wide share in common. If such an exhibit can be put together, quite a few Nova Scotia fishing people will recognize in it a lot of familiar faces and settings. Stay tuned. If their hoped-for joint exhibit becomes a reality, you'll be able to find out about it through the pages of Coastal Communities News.
This issue we are pleased to present a poem, contributed by Cathy Ross, a Grade XII student from Digby Regional High. Thank you Cathy.
Seafood ChowderA mother lobster will have a few sons taken away. We haul hundreds of traps in our modern boats Who will make sure that new ones will grow? The jinx you keep and eat taste very nice. There will be no lobsters left to dine Quotas are put in place for a reason. It's time to stop worrying about the money we make Fishing for these crustaceans is a privilege today, Lobster clean the ocean floor. Let's not wait until the day we hear,
Coastal Communities NewsAcknowledgements Coastal Communities News is published bi-monthly by the Coastal Communities Network, a non-profit society registered in the province of Nova Scotia. Coastal Communities News is made possible by the generous efforts of many volunteers, and by financial contributions from Human Resources Development Canada, and by donations and in-kind contributions from the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Culture, as well as from member groups and organizations. We welcome all articles and submissions, from individuals and groups, with content in keeping with the role and nature of this magazine. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. Except where additional credit has been given, all articles are prepared by the Editor and Editorial Board. Join the Coastal Communities Network
Our Mission StatementThe Coastal Communities Network is a volunteer association of organizations whose mission is to provide a forum to encourage dialogue, share information, and create strategies and actions that promote the survival and development of Nova Scotia's coastal and rural communities.
"A Large Voice for Small Communities"CCN is made up of organizations rooted in Nova Scotia's coastal and
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