'We're doing everything right': Clearwater defends its lobster fishery

With afisheries conviction in the news and an important eco-sustainability certification at stake, Halifax-based Clearwater Seafoods is defending the way it conducts its offshore Canadian lobster fishery.

The company offered media atour this week on board its 40-metre offshore lobster vessel, theRandell Dominaux,at its home port in Shelburne.

"This is, I think, a model fishery," said Capt.Randall Scott in a wheelhouse interview. "We're doing everything right."

To support the claim, Clearwater released statistics showing a 50 per cent cut in the number of traps deployed and vertical lines in the water since 2013.

Deployed traps fell to 5,200 from 10,200 in 2018,while buoy lines running from bottom to surface have dropped to 104 from 204.

"Less lines means less risk to whales and less risk of entanglement," said Christine Penney,Clearwater's vice-president.

Fewer traps needed

Thanks to positioning technology, the Randell Dominaux targets highest catch-rate areas allowing it to catch the company's 720-tonne quota with fewer traps.

Clearwater holds all licences in Canada's offshore Lobster Fishing Area 41. The boundary begins 50 miles from shore to Canada's 200-mile limit. In practice, the fishery takes place off southern Nova Scotia.

The offshore quota accounts for 15 per centof Clearwater's lobster sales, but one per cent of total Canadian landings.

Citing a recent Fisheries Department science document, Clearwater saidthe accidental catch of non-lobster species dropped by 83 per cent between2008 and2016 down to21 tonnesfrom 128 tonnes.

"We are making improvements," said Penney.

'Gross violation'in lobster fishery

Clearwater was convicted last fall for storing 3,800 unbaited lobster traps on the ocean floor over a two-month period in the fall of 2017.

The September 2018 guilty plea was made public by CBC News in January.

The incident was described in court as a "gross violation" of Canada's so-called 72-hour soak rule a fishery regulation requiring gear to be tended every 72 hours.

Worse, the Crown said, Clearwater ignored warnings issued in 2016 from the Department of Fisheries to stop the practice.

"We no longer store gear on the bottom. That's been stopped for a couple of years," saidCapt.Scott.

72-hourrule unresolved

He saidDFO was aware of the practice for 30 years and did not object until 2016, when the department issued a directive to stop storing traps at sea. The directive followed a two-year "compliance review," that included a boarding at sea by DFO conservation and protection fishery officers.

Both Scott and Penney insisted Clearwater complied and said the episodes in 2017 leading to the conviction were the result of "unforeseen" issues involving mechanical breakdown, spare parts or weather.

"They highlighted concerns around the historical practice of storing gear at sea in 2016, and we have addressed that and stopped that practice. So for us, this is an ongoing dialogue with DFO," saidPenney.

DFO is considering amending the rule, but insists Clearwater follow it until any changes are made.

"It's widely known in the fishery that it's not practical for the offshore fishery to stay in that 72-hour rule. It's an outdated rule," said Scott.

In fact, he admittedthe company is still non-compliant with an estimated average of fivedays between tending the 4,300 traps in the water today.

CBC kicked off wharf

The company's public relations outreach in Shelburne was different from the reception it gave CBC News in January, the day it revealed Clearwater had been convicted of the "gross violation" in the lobster fishery.

Randell Dominaux crewmen told CBC not to take pictures of the boat and the Shelburne Port manager ordered CBC off the wharf on the orders of Clearwater.

The increased scrutiny of the fishery also includes an audit by the influential Marine Stewardship Council.

On Feb. 15, the seafood sustainability certification body said a third-party audit of Clearwater's offshore lobster fishery wasbeing moved ahead by two months and wouldinclude a review of the conviction.

Clearwater saidit asked for the audit to be moved up and is confident it will confirm the offshore lobster fishery is sustainably managed.

The audit will be carried out by Acoura, a company that has consistently certified the Clearwater fishery as sustainable.

Results will be released publicly in June.

At stake is the MSC eco-friendly label currently displayed on Clearwater's packaging.