Fisheries Group Director (And Captain) Resigns After A Dozen Cases Brought Of Observer Intimidation

A skipper accused by several fisheries observers of abuse aboard his trawlers has resigned his position as a director of the Canadian Groundfish Research and Conservation Society, The Narwhal has learned. Kelly Andersen resigned on May 19, two weeks after The Narwhal published an investigation into workplace harassment within the at-sea fisheries observer program. According to his resignation letter, Andersen said he held the director position for more than 20 years. He did not respond to a request for a comment.

Andersen was one of several skippers named by more than a dozen whistleblowers who reported facing threats and harassment while gathering data at sea. They said that led them to underreport bycatch pulled up in bottom trawler nets, resulting in a vastly underestimated quantity of wasted and illegally harvested fish.

“Recently, I have unfortunately become the focal point of negative discourse within and around the industry I have grown up in and care deeply for,” Andersen wrote in the May 19 letter obtained by The Narwhal. During the reporting for the investigation, Fisheries and Oceans Canada told The Narwhal that an investigation into allegations made against Andersen is ongoing.

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A freedom of information request for documents related to enforcement of at-sea observer laws and regulations submitted to Fisheries and Oceans Canada yielded a heavily redacted 37-page document. (The Narwhal is pursuing a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada regarding the redactions.) The documents contained references to court summonses for crew of the Raw Spirit — a bottom trawling ship co-owned by Andersen, Jim Pattison’s Canadian Fishing Company and two others — dating back to August of 2017, more than a year before Eis submitted an official complaint with the federal department. The Canadian Fishing Company has not responded to a request for comment regarding its ongoing business relationship with Andersen following his resignation from the trawl society.



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https://thenarwhal.ca/fisheries-society-director-resigns-allegations-abuse-observers-b-c-trawl-industry/