Ottawa, ON - Since its creation over 50 years ago, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC) has played an important role in the lives of inland fish harvesters, including those in remote and northern Indigenous communities.
Today, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced receipt of the report from Kevin G. Anderson, the Interlocutor on the Transformation of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation.
Since his appointment in 2019, Mr. Anderson held more than 30 engagement sessions with harvesters and other stakeholders in the freshwater fishery, as well as Indigenous leaders, economic development organizations, and representatives from federal, provincial, territorial and Indigenous governments and groups. In March 2020, he established an Interim Committee of Inland Fish Harvesters to assess the feasibility of transforming the FFMC into a harvester-led marketing entity.
The report recommends that DFO commit to continue working with the Interim Committee to transform the FFMC. For this work to continue, the Interlocutor recommended that the Department provide support to the Interim Committee in securing administrative and technical expertise to allow it to formalize its role in representing fish harvesters in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.
The Government of Canada welcomes the recommendations and is committed to working with the Interim Committee over the next year as it explores transforming the FFMC to a harvester-led entity, that supports all communities. DFO will continue to work with the Interim Committee to assess and support the next steps in the process.
During this time, the FFMC will continue to operate in support of freshwater fish harvesters.
Source : Canada.ca