Fisheries Committee on Feb. 15th, 2024

[Dr. Bathsheba Demuth]

Absolutely. Thank you, because I had to rush that at the end.

What I was referring to was the design of the Yukon River Panel. Many people here have spoken about how it's been quite effective at bringing the United States and Canada together and bringing first nations and Alaskan native voices to the discussion. It's also designed in such a way that it regulates salmon only within the Yukon River itself, rather than having jurisdiction and a remit over the ocean where they spend so much of their lives.

The Yukon River Panel can do everything it possibly can—and it is doing that in many cases—within the river system itself, but where the Yukon River salmon spend so much of their lives is in the oceans. Therefore, they are subject to other kinds of regulation or a lack of regulation, as the case may be, in that space. Does that clarify?

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

It does. Thank you. I'll update my notes accordingly.

I wonder if you could expand a little bit more on what you were referencing around the bycatch, what you're seeing and perhaps some solutions you can see around that issue.

[Dr. Bathsheba Demuth]

Sure. I'm sure the other panellists here can also speak to this.

The issue of bycatch primarily has to do with the pollock fishery, which is a large-scale trawling fishery in the Bering Sea that removes about three billion pounds of pollock per year. That's just the pollock. That's actually not counting the various other species that get caught up in the process. Those include lots of other kinds of fish. Those sometimes include orca, and it is a very invasive fishery from a biological standpoint.

Like most fisheries, it's regulated and assessed in terms of whether or not the single species it harvests is sustainable. Yes, you can take three billion pounds of pollock out of the Bering Sea every year and you will have three billion pounds next year, but that does not assess the Bering Sea as an ecological space, which means fish like salmon can get caught up in it literally as bycatch when they're hauled in with the nets for pollock.

That process has been improved in the past 15 years, so there's more emphasis on not catching chinook in particular. There are also lots of reports of that monitoring process being less than perfect. It also does not account for the ways in which that fishery changes the entire Bering Sea ecosystem more generally in ways that are compounding the climate change issue with respect to the success of chinook when they're at sea.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Ms. Barron.

Thank you to our witnesses for sharing their valuable information with the committee as we work our way through this study. That concludes everything.

I just want to remind everyone that today we approved the motion that February 27 and 29 would be for the study that was referenced by Madame Desbiens, but I'd like to carve off some time in that first meeting for committee business—even 45 minutes.

Mr. Arnold.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I recognize that Mrs. Desbiens had some urgency around her study. On Mr. Perkins' motion that we look at the elver fishery because of the timeline of when that season was to open, there are apparently only 10 days of consultation taking place right now on that. I think we need to have discussion amongst the committee as to what comes first before we....

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Okay, but like I said, we've already approved the 27th and the 29th. What I'd like to do is to take 45 minutes on the 27th to discuss that very issue and the schedule going forward—say, the last 45 minutes. If we need a bit of extra time, maybe we can rob a little bit of it, with 15 minutes or something added on if we can. If there's nothing pressing behind us, we can do it that way. I do know that the motion includes the 27th and the 29th.

Madame Desbiens, go ahead quickly, please.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Um...

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

What does that mean?

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Let me take this opportunity to thank our interpreters, who do amazing work. Thank you very much.

I feel that 45 minutes is a lot, especially since that's going to be cut from my time.

Would it be possible to shorten that to 15 minutes?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

It might be, if everything goes quickly and smoothly, but we have yours to deal with, which we know is for the 27th and 29th. We have to know what's coming next, because Ms. Barron had a motion, Mr. Arnold has indicated that he wants to discuss the elver fishery and, of course, we still have the Yukon study on the go as well. We'll use as little time as possible for committee business, but if we could start.... Because your motion indicated the 27th, we have to start on the 27th and the 29th. That was in your motion.

Mr. Cormier, go ahead quickly, please.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Chair, I think if you read the motion of Mrs. Desbiens very carefully, it said the 27th for two hours and the 29th for two hours. This is what we voted on, and I think we should respect that.

The bells are ringing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

If I can find some extra time to add to one of the meetings, we'll do some committee business.

Ms. Barron, go ahead quickly.

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you.

I was just going to say as well that I don't know if it's actually necessary, because we already know the order of when the studies are happening. If there's an additional motion to come forward, then it can come forward for us to debate, but I don't know if we really need time to go through it when we already know the order of the studies as listed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Mr. Hanley, go ahead quickly, please.

[Brendan Hanley, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

I'm sorry. I was so excited about salmon I forgot to ask during my speaking time for the consent of the committee to resubmit the travel submission we had previously submitted. This is as part of the Yukon study. It's already been all costed out.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

You're determined to try it again.

[Brendan Hanley, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

I'm determined to try it again if the committee would support the travel submission.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

I'm not seeing any noes, so that will be submitted again, Mr. Hanley, at your leisure.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you to our witnesses. Thank you to our clerk, our analysts and, of course, our translation team and the team at the table who make it possible for this meeting to take place each and every day.

Madame Desbiens.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

How can we be sure the minister will be here on the 27th? Will this go as planned?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

I can check it with the clerk.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

The meeting is adjourned.