• 1970s - Start of Sablefish Fishery

    The directed fishery began in the late 1970’s when Canadian fishermen pursued overseas markets in Japan and experimented with trap fishing gear. A viable fishery emerged as consumer demand increased and fishing methods improved.

  • 1981 - Introduction of Sablefish Fishing Licences

    In 1981 Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) placed controls on the fishery limiting it to the 48 existing licences and implementing an annual total allowable catch (TAC) for the season. Under this management approach there was a compelling incentive for each fisherman to continually strive for increased catching power through bigger and better boats and gear to catch as much fish as possible before the fishery closed.

  • 1980s - The Derby Style Fishery

    The intensity of the competition grew, and the fleet became more and more efficient. By the late 1980’s the small fleet could harvest the entire TAC in a matter of a few weeks.

    This “derby style” fishery gave rise to problems controlling the catches of such a high-capacity fleet and concern over the manageability of the fishery. And with vessels fishing around the clock in all kinds of weather serious safety concerns arose for vessels and crews pushing the limits of their fishing operations.

  • 1987 - Formation of the Canadian Sablefish Association (CSA)

    In 1987 Sablefish fishermen formed the Canadian Sablefish Association (CSA), to collaborate with government to protect the long-term sustainability of the fishery. An early pioneer of the concept of sustainability in fisheries, we were one of the first commercial industry signatories to a collaborative agreement with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

  • 1990 - Move to Individual Vessel Quota (IVQ) System

    In 1990 the Sablefish fishery switched from a fleet-wide quota system to an Individual Vessel Quota (IVQ) system where each fisherman was allocated a share of the annual TAC to catch any time throughout the fishing year.

    Under the IVQ system, long-term sustainability became a tangible concern to each fisherman because the value of their investment was measured in the long-term health of the resource, not in their immediate catch. Furthermore, if harvesters exceeded their vessel’s annual allocation, they would receive less in the following year.

    The incentive, under IVQ management, turned from each vessel catching as much fish as possible to maximizing net income from the annual share allocated to each vessel. With the “race for fish” eliminated, fishermen gained more control over factors that affect the value of the fish, such as seasonal supply and product quality.

  • 1990s - CSA-DFO Co-Management of Fishery Begins

    In the new IVQ system, Sablefish fishermen directly saw the long-term benefit of a sustainable fishery and actively engaged the DFO in a co-management relationship formalized by a Collaborative Agreement.

    Funds from the Sablefish fishermen are set aside annually to increase scientific research, complete fishery-independent surveys, conduct fisheries modelling, and continually evolve management practices to help ensure sustainability of the Sablefish stock and resource.

  • 2004 - CSA Recommends Closure of BC Mainland Inlets

    Canadian Sablefish Association recommends closing mainland inlets to the directed Sablefish fishery to protect juvenile Sablefish. This recommendation is adopted by DFO in management plan.

  • 2006 - An Integrated Groundfish Fishery

    The integrated Pacific groundfish fishery management “pilot project” is implemented in 2006. This project formalized a requirement for the Pacific groundfish fleet to be accountable and responsible for the catch of all species, target or incidentally caught (bycatch). Accountability means that the catch of all species, regardless of whether the species was retained or released at sea, must be reported. Responsibility means that license holders would have to own or acquire IVQ for those species that are quota-managed and adhere to other limitations imposed on non-quota species. The Commercial Industry Caucus is formed by the DFO, which established the requirements of Integrated Fisheries Management. However, the Caucus was industry driven and determined how catch was to be accounted for by developing 100% at-sea monitoring.

  • 2006 - 100% At-sea Electronic Monitoring

    A key component of the pilot project was the implementation of at-sea Electronic Monitoring for longline hook and trap fisheries. This was accomplished via deployment of at-sea cameras that record video of the catches on 100% of fishing vessels. Ten percent of the video is reviewed by a third-party company to provide an audit function for at-sea logbooks. Discrepancies between the video audit and at-sea logbook generate a report that is reviewed by DFO to determine if corrective or enforcement actions are required. These actions include a requirement for increased video review, prohibitions from fishing, or enforcement actions which may lead to legal charges. The at-sea component of catch monitoring, along with 100% dockside monitoring of retained catches (landings) provide the means of ensuring accountability and responsibility for fishing activities.

  • 2006 - Wild Canadian Sablefish Ltd. established

    The CSA establishes “Wild Canadian Sablefish Ltd.” for the purpose of enhancing funding for Sablefish research and development activities to support fisheries management.

  • 2006 - Management Strategy Evaluation

    A Canadian industry-leading management strategy evaluation process begins as a collaboration between the CSA, DFO fishery scientists and academic researchers. This work was motivated by an independent review of the Sablefish science program commissioned under the collaborative agreement with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

  • 2007 - BC First Nations Direct Involvement in Sablefish Fishery

    The Pacific Integrated Commercial Fisheries Initiative (PICFI) was launched in 2007. It was created to increase First Nations’ access to the commercial fisheries in British Columbia by developing common and transparent rules that apply to all participants. The PICFI helps improve the management of the commercial fisheries through greater collaboration among fishery participants.

    The federal government, through the PICFI program, purchased fishing assets, licences, vessels, and equipment. These are provided to First Nations bands up and down the coast to increase First Nations involvement into the Sablefish fishery and other BC coast fisheries.

  • 2009 - Integrated Groundfish Fishery formally implemented by DFO

    Integrated Groundfish Fishery formally implemented by DFO.

  • 2011 - Formal management procedure identified by the Management Strategy Evaluation process

    A formal management procedure identified by the Management Strategy Evaluation process is implemented. The Sablefish management procedure (MP) is a specific, repeatable algorithm for computing a recommended annual catch limit. Industry recommends that DFO adopts the catch limit generated by the management procedure. This is the first example of the application of MSE to a fishery in Canada.

  • 2017-2022 - Sablefish MP is revised

    The Sablefish MP is revised to progressively reduce TACs over five years in response to updated estimates of stock productivity estimates from stock assessments. The CSA supports adoption of the revised MP and recommended TACs.

  • 2022 - Improved Sablefish recruitment

    Updated modelling shows several years of improved Sablefish recruitment from the 2016-2018 year classes. Stock abundance is estimated to be above the target level. A revised management procedure is adopted beginning in 2023 for application over the next several years.