The pioneer of wild algae harvesting in Quebec has stopped his harvests in Gaspésie, because he lives in fear of being pursued by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He requests the intervention of the new Minister Diane Lebouthillier so that the ministry she heads stops applying “intransigent” and “without scientific basis” regulations which threaten the survival of his company.
What there is to know
A company that harvests algae that ends up on the plates of the biggest restaurants in Quebec considers itself “asphyxiated” by Fisheries and Oceans Canada regulations.
Accidental removal of algae during harvesting is prohibited, but impossible to avoid in practice, believes a pioneer in the sector.
The office of the new Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Diane Lebouthillier, reiterates that manual harvesting of algae using a cutting tool is the only method authorized in Quebec.
“Each harvest could send us to court,” laments Antoine Nicolas, of the Gaspé company Un Océan de flavors, whose edible algae is sold in nearly 500 points of sale and 150 restaurants, including the largest restaurants in Quebec.
At the heart of his dispute with the Ministry: the accidental uprooting of algae during harvesting while freediving. Algae is harvested with a knife and the plant’s holdfasts must remain attached to the bottom. A 0% margin of error is simply impossible to achieve, he says.
“The target will always be zero, but the reality cannot be zero,” explains the CEO of the company founded in 2011.
In September 2021, he says that one of his divers – a biologist by training – received a visit from fisheries officers on the beach. They found that some of the algae collected had been torn up.
[Une plongeuse] had collected 44 kilos of algae and on 4.2 kilos, there were still the crampons. We are dealing with particularly derisory quantities for commercial fishing.
Antoine Nicolas, CEO and founder of the company An Ocean of Flavors, about a case that occurred in 2021
Antoine Nicolas and his employee both received a criminal charge under the Fisheries Act in connection with the ban on grubbing up. The charges were eventually dropped in May 2023, but the strict ban remains the same.
This sword of Damocles led him, in the spring, to transfer his harvesting activities entirely to New Brunswick where, he says, the regulations are applied differently and grubbing is permitted.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada did not respond to our questions sent by email on Wednesday.
Minister’s intervention requested
Antoine Nicolas is calling for a change in regulations that would authorize the uprooting of green algae and red algae.
In the halibut fishery, they have the right to catch 30% of cod, which is a species at risk, by accident. And we, the algae of the same species, but whose holdfast has accidentally been torn off, are not allowed to collect it.
Antoine Nicolas, CEO and founder of the company An Ocean of Flavors
He also adds that certain species of algae fall naturally with the waves and the movement of the ice.
“There are three families of algae: green, brown and red. The green and red ones tend to be annuals and will pull themselves up in the fall. Naturally, they have completed their life cycle, so they go away with the storms. […] You can’t be more Catholic than nature. »
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Antoine Nicolas in July 2018
The diver is now asking for help from Minister Lebouthillier, who is also the MP for his constituency.
“The confusion surrounding the application of regulations by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the arbitrary decisions of its regional officials have put my business at risk. The orientations maintained by regional MPO officials destabilize the business conditions of the sector, threaten to slow down its development and its contribution to the growth of Quebec’s food autonomy,” writes Mr. Nicolas in a letter addressed to the Minister Lebouthillier.
Response from the minister’s office
Called to govern, Minister Lebouthillier’s office indicated that it did not comment on specific cases. In a written statement he sent to us, he indicates that kelp forests are essential for many marine species in the St. Lawrence, “providing them with a place to live, take refuge, feed and reproduce.”
It is impossible to know if and why the rules differ from one province to another.
“The granting of permits for algae harvesting by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) constitutes a privilege accompanied by significant responsibilities,” his office said in this statement. “In order to guarantee the long-term protection of this precious resource, manual harvesting of algae using a cutting tool is the only method authorized in Quebec. The removal of algae, even accidental, considerably harms their regrowth, an impact amplified by ice and predators, such as sea urchins, in the St. Lawrence. »