Debates of May 30th, 2022

Department of Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates 2022-23

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Chair, for everybody out there, that was 14,000.

Total spending for Fisheries and Oceans Canada increased by 42.3% between 2016-17 and 2020-21, yet we have heard across the board that service levels are at all-time lows. Why?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Chair, the complexity of DFO's mandate is only increasing, especially with the potential pipeline and tanker traffic. We have invested a lot in protecting the oceans through the oceans protection plan.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Chair, over that same period we have seen full-time positions at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans increase by 30%, and the minister has already acknowledged the 14,000 positions, yet we see very little in effective enforcement in British Columbia, which is the reason gillnets are still catching threatened stocks in our waters. Why?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Chair, we are looking into the matter the member has just raised.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Chair, further, we have seen full-time staff in the department in the Pacific region balloon, according to estimates, from 617 since 2016 to 1,949 individuals, yet we saw recently that DFO did nothing with respect to the floods in British Columbia. It was the volunteers who did the work while the executives of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans sat on their hands. With all the additional staff in Vancouver, why did DFO not lift a finger?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Chair, I am very proud of our government's response to the floods and the slides. DFO was there to ensure that the damage to the hatcheries was understood and corrected and to assess the impact on salmon—

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Continuing debate, the hon. member for Whitby.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Chair, it is a great pleasure to rise in the House tonight and participate in this discussion.

Canada is, without a doubt, a proud maritime nation that relies heavily on its oceans as a source of food, jobs, energy, raw materials, maritime trade, tourism and recreation. We are particularly proud of our robust, sustainably managed and well-regulated commercial fisheries, which are important to our economy and coastal communities, but as with all industries, there is room for improvement.

While we strive to understand just how pervasive marine pollution is, we know that a major contributor is lost, abandoned and otherwise discarded fishing gear, also known as “ghost gear”. Ghost gear is one of the deadliest forms of plastic debris found in the world's oceans and has a damaging impact on marine animals like whales and turtles, the coastal and marine environment, and global fish stocks. It is estimated that between 5% and 30% of harvestable fish stocks are captured by ghost gear globally, which poses a major threat to human health, livelihoods and global food security. It also poses a navigation hazard and breaks down into other forms of pollution, such as microplastics.

Gear loss is rarely intentional. Ghost gear is primarily caused by gear snagging on the sea floor, entanglement with other fishing gear, severe weather conditions and gear being incidentally cut or dislodged by marine vessel traffic. Intentional discard by harvesters is less common and could be a result of potential endangerment of the safety of the crew or vessel. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing can also contribute to ghost gear.

The good news is that our government is working closely with the fishing industry to raise standards across Canadian fisheries to promote innovation, so that sustainable and economically viable fisheries can thrive, along with healthy ecosystems and marine species.

A key component of the program is working with stakeholders through the ghost gear fund. This fund is central to the Canadian approach, one that has focused on industry engagement and involvement in the solution to the decades-old issue of lost gear. It focuses on four key areas to address ghost gear, including retrieval of existing ghost gear, building responsible disposal solutions, acquisition of new fishing and retrieval technologies to support prevention, as well as international leadership to support sustainable fisheries practices in areas of high gear loss.

A challenge in ghost gear retrieval is ensuring that adequate disposal facilities are available for proper collection, storage, recycling and disposal of retrieved gear. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is addressing these challenges through the disposal pillar of the ghost gear fund.

For example, the Pacific net recycling initiative, which is led by Steveston Harbour, recycled 28,525 kilograms of nylon and poly end-of-life fishing nets in one year, diverting this plastic waste from potentially entering the oceans and landfills. This initiative benefits the fishing community, as it employs commercial fishers to strip the nets and package them for processing, with the proceeds received used to pay wages for fishers in the off-season. This provides much-needed income and supports industry buy-in to the recycling program. Additionally, this project developed a business plan that could expand the current net recycling program to all of British Columbia's coast.

The ghost gear fund also supported the development of Ocean Legacy's first two ocean plastic depots to collect and process ghost gear and other marine plastics. In 2020, these depots diverted 85 tonnes of waste from landfills. Building on their success, the second phase of this project supported the establishment of localized nylon-processing capacity within British Columbia. This initiative provides critical infrastructure to capture plastic waste, diverting it from landfills and responsibly recycling items. It also furthers the implementation of pragmatic solutions to grow the Canadian plastic circular economy. Additionally, program funding has allowed 36 harbour authorities to participate in the program, creating secure storage areas for gear that could be returned to its owners when identifiable markers are still attached.

The most effective way to address ghost gear is to prevent gear loss in the first place. The third pillar of the ghost gear fund works to prevent future gear loss through supporting the acquisition and piloting of fishing gear technology.

The issue of lost gear is not one unique to Canada. Through the fourth pillar of our fund, Fisheries and Oceans Canada demonstrates its leadership role by providing support for initiatives that further reduce, reuse and recycle fishing and aquaculture gear on a global scale. We have supported the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute's development of a regional Caribbean fisheries management and ghost gear action plan, and extended baseline analysis and hot spot mapping in the Caribbean.

Another successful project that Canada has supported is led by the Stand Out for Environment Restoration Initiative, which engages coastal communities in Nigeria to assist in the development of policies for the prevention and mitigation of ghost gear. They have implemented a ghost gear recovery program with a focus on offshore recovery, as well as installed six end-of-life gear recovery centres for collection, sorting and analysis of retrieved ghost gear in Nigeria and Cameroon. The collected gear is then used to create economic opportunities for fishing communities through educational workshops, using end-of-life ghost gear to produce secondary products.

The ghost gear fund has seen great success, but it is only one component of the greater strategy to address ghost gear in Canada.

In 2020, Fisheries and Oceans Canada implemented mandatory lost gear reporting requirements in all Canadian commercial fisheries. In 2021, the department implemented a user-friendly reporting system for harvesters to report lost gear. This reporting requirement allows the department to quantify the extent of lost gear in Canadian waters and identify priority areas for targeted gear retrieval projects. The additional data on the location, fishery type and incidence of gear loss will enable Fisheries and Oceans Canada to identify other long-term measures to address ghost gear and provide a more robust understanding of the issue in Canada. Through the initial two years of programming, harvesters and other experts have provided a great deal of feedback on how to prevent and mitigate the impacts of lost gear and ways to encourage a shift to a circular economy approach for the industry.

Going forward, Fisheries and Oceans Canada will use the feedback to help inform changes to fisheries management practices, such as the need for enhanced tagging and marking regimes in selected fisheries. Additionally, knowledge gained will support regulatory changes required to modernize the industry and implement best practices in our domestic fisheries. These actions will change how Canada's fisheries operate. This is not something that can be done overnight, requiring forethought, research and consultation with harvesters, fishing industries and experts.

It is the actions currently being researched, developed and piloted in Canadian fisheries that will result in tangible, long-term solutions, allowing Fisheries and Oceans Canada to implement the tools needed to address abandoned, lost or derelict fishing gear in Canadian fisheries. All of this work is a culmination of homegrown innovation and support, further demonstrating Canada's leadership role in addressing ghost gear.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada's commitment to the health of our oceans and marine life is unwavering, and the department is committed to continuing this important work with the support of Canadian fish harvesters. The continued programming made possible through budget 2022 is good news for all Canadians.

As I mentioned, through the ghost gear program, Canada has become a leader in the global effort to eliminate and prevent ghost gear in our oceans. The program supports harvesters, environmental groups, indigenous communities, the aquaculture industry and coastal communities to retrieve harmful ghost gear from Canadian waters.

Can the minister explain how approved projects are funded, which are eligible, and for those interested, when they should apply by?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Chair, that brought me back to a time when I was in opposition, in the opposition lobby, visiting with some representatives from an oceans conservation organization who told me about ghost gear. It was the first time I had heard about it and the idea that this fishing gear is trapping and killing fish and even whales endlessly, because it was abandoned in the ocean.

I am so pleased to say that our government is taking action on that. The member did a great job of laying out how important that is. We have a ghost gear program. The results of this program have been very impressive so far. Approved projects are funded based on activities under four pillars: abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear; responsible disposal, like the one he saw and I have seen at Steveston Harbour; acquiring and piloting innovative technologies to do these things; and international leadership.

This will be available for a wide range of individuals, companies, businesses, not-for-profits, indigenous organizations, research institutions and other levels of government. I really encourage interested parties to apply. The applications are due by June 6 this year at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Chair, the issue of losing fishing gear is not a new one around the world. With decades of old debris in our oceans and along our coastlines, our government recognizes ghost gear as an issue of national importance, which is why, in 2019, Fisheries and Oceans Canada established the ghost gear program. This program is helping to prevent, retrieve and responsibly dispose of this harmful and often unintentional consequence of commercial fishing.

Budget 2022 announced $10 million for the fund. This support will enable the ghost gear fund to see new, exciting and successful projects completed by our partners.

This includes new projects like the DFO's support of the trial of Blue Ocean Gear's GPS-enabled, smart buoy technology in the Maritimes and Pacific regions, assessing its applicability across different wild capture and aquaculture fisheries. Blue Ocean Gear's buoys track deployed gear, monitoring location, movement and environmental conditions. Fishers also receive alerts if their traps, nets or longlines have moved beyond a threshold area, allowing timely retrieval before they become lost or entangled.

The ghost gear fund has led to amazing work with fish harvesters and associations and to technological developments, and is a clear example of the type of innovation we hope to see in this sector.

Can the minister please highlight some of the incredible results, including how much gear has been removed through the first two years of implementing this important fund?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Chair, I thank the member again for his interest in this program. Since its inception, the ghost gear fund has supported retrieval efforts by third party partners, resulting in more than 1,296 tonnes of ghost gear being removed from Canada's oceans, as well as collecting over 153 kilometres of rope. This represents more than 7,000 units of gear removed from our oceans over the past two years, reducing the threat of entrapment and ghost fishing, as well as reducing the threat of entanglement to marine mammals, including the endangered North Atlantic right whales.

These efforts have been undertaken by dedicated and committed industry leaders, such as the Petty Harbour fishermen's association, which removed five tonnes of gear from Newfoundland waters. CSR GeoSurveys used sidescan sonar technology to identify lost gear hot spots and retrieve 14 tonnes of gear in the Gulf and Maritimes regions. On the west coast, the Coastal Restoration Society worked with indigenous partners to perform large-scale ghost gear removals on the west coast of Vancouver Island, removing over 286 tonnes of gear from abandoned aquaculture sites.

The ghost gear fund is helping us clean up our oceans, leading to some amazing innovation in the sector. As a former digital government minister, I love the digital solutions that are being used here. I think we can all agree in this House that this has been a huge success and will continue to be so.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the minister's highlighting the incredible results of this program. It is clearly innovative and paying off for our ocean and marine coastal ecosystems, which are essential to Canada's livelihoods and a good fishery sector.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for his work and his interest on this matter. We will continue to get that ghost gear out of the water for the benefit of the fish and the products that we can make from this recycled gear.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Kelowna—Lake Country.

Is the minister against people owning cottages to relax as a family and/or for their mental health?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Chair, that sounds wonderful. I am for cottages and relaxing with family for mental health.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Chair, cottages are outside the affordability of almost everyone.

What is the difference between owning a cottage, or going to a cottage, and owning a boat, if that is how families choose to spend their leisure time?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Chair, I enjoy boating myself. It is recreation that is important to many Canadians, and I do not know that it is an either/or between a cottage and a boat.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Chair, what does the minister then say to the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which says that the luxury tax does not hurt the rich but rather the employees of this sector?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Chair, I understand that there are some tax increases on luxury goods to help afford things like child care for those who need it.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Chair, the PBO has estimated that about $600 million will be lost in sales and has estimated about $176 million of taxes might be recouped by 2023. Does the minister feel that this is good value for Canadians?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Chair, those are projections that I will not support or contest. Having a luxury tax that helps us support low-income Canadians is worthwhile.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Chair, will the luxury tax apply to vehicles that are just for business purposes?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Chair, I think the associate finance minister may have a quick answer to that question, but the fisheries minister does not.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Chair, how can you then justify supporting such a tax if you do not know if it will apply to businesses? How will you ensure that this will not apply to rental yachts, aerial tour planes, or limousines, or can you justify that the impact of this tax will be positive for Canadians and the boating sector?

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I remind members to run their questions through the Chair.

The hon. minister.