NAFF II B- planning, leadership and governance - Waubetek fisheries initiative - Dawn Madahbee & Irene Altiman

NAFF II – Nanaimo, BC

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

PRESENTED BY:

Dawn Madahbee, General Manager

Irene Altiman, Regional Initiatives Coordinator

WAUBETEK BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

About Waubetek

Established in 1989 as Aboriginal Financial

Institution that provides business and economic

services to 25 First Nations and Aboriginal people

(on and off reserve) throughout North-East Ontario.

Waubetek has invested more than $50 million in

1200 Aboriginal businesses in all economic sectors

realizing a 94% business success rate

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About Waubetek Economic services include providing

financial/advisory support for community economic development, hosting regional initiatives, developing sector strategies in Tourism, Fisheries, Mining as well as building human capacity through Aboriginal youth training/employment initiatives.

Since December 2000, operating as a third party deliverer of the Aboriginal Business Canada Program

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About Waubetek

Part of the network of more than 250 Community

Futures Development Corporations in Canada and

58 Aboriginal Financial Institutions in Canada.

Hosted international delegations from Australia,

Bangladesh, Germany, Scotland, and Russia who all

wanted to learn about our model of regional

economic development. Also recognized as a

national role model in developmental lending.

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Waubetek Aboriginal

Fisheries Initiative

(WAFI)

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WAFI Timeline

2004 Ad hoc committee established to look at meaningful business opportunities in fisheries and aquaculture

2005 two day meeting to formalize ad hoc process and establish the Waubetek Aboriginal Fisheries Initiative Committee (WAFIC)

WAFIC established a process to develop a long-term strategic plan

2010 Funding received by FEDNOR to begin development of a Strategic Plan

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WAFI Timeline continued

2012 March, two day conference held with

Aboriginal fishers from across Waubetek’s service

area

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WAFI Timeline

2012 August, draft strategy developed and

distributed to the 45 participants at the March

fisheries conference

2012 September, follow up meeting held to make

changes, additions and deletions to the draft strategy

Strategy completed and an implementation

committee struck

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Objectives of WAFIC

Enable Aboriginal communities and individuals to

become meaningfully engaged as leaders in the

regional fisheries sector

Pursuit of cultural, business, and economic

development to support a sustainable economy and

community self-determination

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Objectives of WAFIC

Creation of employment and wealth through primary

production in fisheries, aquaculture, and recreational

fishing and in related secondary activities

Responsible resource management for environmental

conservation and economic development

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IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS

Commercial Fisheries Factors

Aboriginal fishers are often not able to fill their quotas

Allocation of quota to Aboriginal fisheries is nominal

Populations of high-value food fish populations in the

Great Lakes are changing (size, distribution, numbers,

etc.)

Insufficient awareness regarding employment

opportunities in the sector

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IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS

Recreational Fisheries Factors

Recreational fishing is in decline

Aquaculture Factors

Insufficient awareness of the opportunities in

aquaculture

Barriers to entry can be significant

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IDENTIFIED PROBLEMS

Processing and Marketing Factors

Most post-harvest value from fisheries does not

accrue to First Nations and Aboriginal fishers

Socio-Political & Governance Factors

Concern about how OMNR allocates quota and

manages fisheries with regard to First Nations’

interests

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Underlying Causes

1. Aboriginal fishery is fragmented and most

participants lack sufficient volume to support

investment into better equipment, technology,

processing, and/or marketing

2. Lack of objective information regarding economic

development opportunities in fisheries and

aquaculture

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Underlying Causes

3. Lack of capacity to identify, explore and develop

potential opportunities

4. Insufficient infrastructure to support the fisheries

and aquaculture sectors

5. Access to capital

6. Insufficient First Nations’ autonomy regarding

fisheries management in traditional Aboriginal

territories

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Implementation of WAFI Strategic Plan

is intended to:

advance Aboriginal participation in the sector

stimulate capital investment and

stimulate community economic development

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ACTION PLAN

Capacity building

1. Establish a Waubetek Fisheries Development

Committee (WFDC) to coordinate efforts amongst

fish harvesters, producers, suppliers, First Nations

and government agencies and to manage the

implementation of the Waubetek Strategic Plan for

Aboriginal Fisheries

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ACTION PLAN

Capacity building

2. Develop and implement a business plan for the

North Channel Fisheries Improvement Project

3. Conduct an asset mapping exercise within the

Waubetek service area to enhance fisheries and

aquaculture development and aquatic resource

management

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ACTION PLAN

Capacity building

5. Develop cold chain infrastructure (eg. Ice making,

refrigerated storage and transport, freezing capacity, etc) to

improve product quality and value

6. Facilitate access to business capital for Aboriginal fisheries

and aquaculture initiatives (ie. processing plant, net

manufacturing, cooperative, etc.)

7. Facilitate capacity development through identification of a

pool of technical expertise and advancement of

opportunities for effective partnerships.

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ACTION PLAN

Awareness and Training

1. Assess opportunities to develop alternative

fisheries

2. Disseminate objective information about

aquaculture development amongst First Nations

communities

3. Develop and promote an inventory of the types of

jobs available in the regional fisheries and

aquaculture sectors 20

ACTION PLAN

Awareness and Training

4. Develop and coordinate delivery of skills

development training programs specific to the

needs of the Anishinabek people in relation to

fisheries and aquaculture development.

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ACTION PLAN

More Autonomous Fisheries Management

1. Prepare a comprehensive plan to empower the

Anishinabek people to deliver fisheries

management, enhancement and enforcement within

the Waubetek service area.

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NEXT STEPS Distribution of the plan to the Waubetek First Nations

via community meetings and Chief and Council meetings

WAFI Strategic Plan Committee to begin implementation of the plan (comprised of individuals involved in fisheries)

Support from the Union of Ontario Indians to help implement the strategy for North-East Ontario

Begin work on items in the strategy within our own financial means and secure funding to help implement other aspects of the plan requiring additional resources

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Dawn Madahbee, General Manager

[email protected]

Irene Altiman, Regional Initiatives Coordinator

[email protected]

www.waubetek.com

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