Community Supported Fisheries (CSF) Project


If you’re interested in the CSF project and would like to volunteer to help out or partner with us, please do not hesitate to contact Tyler, the project leader, at Tyler (at) fishlaw.org

The Fisheries Law Centre is developing a guide which will offer Canadian fishermen and NGOs the support and information required for starting Community Supported Fisheries (CSFs).

CSFs are based on developing less intensive fishing practices by helping fishermen reduce harvesting pressure through the delivery of smaller quantities of high quality seafood to local consumers willing to pay more for ethical food. CSFs are based on the Community Supported Agriculture model.

The guide will go through important factors and details that fishermen should know before starting a CSF. Beyond explaining the potential beneficial environmental, social and economic aspects of CSFs, the guide addresses issues that are commonly neglected. For example, fishermen interested in starting a CSF are often attentive to operating with ethical marine stewardship and the preservation of their local economies, but they may not be very knowledgeable about all applicable regulations and marketing strategies associated with operating a CSF.

On top of registration and complying with tax requirements, CSFs also should comply with applicable federal, provincial, and local fisheries, and with health and safety regulations, which include permits, licenses and anti-competition laws.

In particular, fishermen belonging to a CSF should know that federal and provincial laws prohibit certain anti-competitive activity, which include competitors agreeing on comparable product pricing across the board. Also, not every activity will qualify for an exemption, so CSF operators need to get legal guidance before engaging in collective marketing. Another function of the guide is to help operators of CSFs better understand the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).

Furthermore, the guide also explains to operators risk management measures, such as liability insurance for covering costs incurred from accidents, or product liability insurance that protect against financial loss if a product harms consumers.

Finally, the Guide intends to offer various marketing strategies and avenues for CSFs so that these sustainable fisheries can both obtain and maintain satisfactory profit margins.

The Fisheries Law Centre welcomes contributions from a trans-disciplinary group and is willing to collaborate with interested institutions on building creating this guide.

 

Contributors:

Dana Miller, PhD., Post-Doc, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia

Lauren Bernadett, LLM Candidate, University of Arkansas

Sonia Strobel, Skipper Otto CSF

Sadie Beaton,  Ecology Action Centre

Daniel Zummo, Research Fellow, FLC

Allison Witter, Research Fellow, FLC

Jean Terranova, Research Fellow, FLC

Lynn Long, Research Fellow, FLC

Brenda Schwab

Simon Joo

Caleigh Glawson

Kevin Lin

Jalal Alawes

Naiha Shahzad

Kevin So

Azhar Khan

 

We would like to thank and acknowledge our supporters:

TBuck