Fisheries Committee on May 5th, 2015

[Darrell Crabbe]

I think it's been instrumental in a number of different avenues, but I would comment that, like any other newly established advisory panel or specific stakeholder group, we took a while to get a little bit of traction, though not that long considering all the Type A personalities you might have on a committee like that. I would say that we are now very much starting to recognize some of the benefits, and realize some real gains in that area.

The areas we're looking at right now are so diverse and there are so many different opportunities there that I think it's a matter of picking the low-hanging fruit to begin with and then moving down the path.

But I think as far as the venue or the vehicle to make those things move ahead goes, it's been wonderful.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

In your opening remarks you mentioned a little bit about what recreational fishing brings to Canadian quality of life. We often talk about its contribution to conservation, and we try our best to celebrate the great work that people in the outdoors, particularly with angling and hunting pursuits, do for conservation.

The one thing that does get overlooked a little bit, I think—and I'll invite you to comment—is its contribution to the community, and what recreational angling opportunities provide for community growth, family growth, and positive and healthy engagement for youth in the community. Do you have any specific examples of how you engage youth? Also, what is your own personal position on the value of outdoor pursuits to healthy and prosperous communities?

[Darrell Crabbe]

In Saskatchewan 15 years ago, I was fortunate enough to be on a small committee [Technical difficulty—Editor] a new strategy here in the province called “Classrooms On Ice”. Of course, Saskatchewan has a fairly lengthy winter—7 months, I think, is the average length—so we spent a great deal of time ice fishing. We decided we would utilize that opportunity by actually placing three large buildings on several lakes across Saskatchewan and having a grade 4-to-6 curriculum, grade 7-to-9 curriculum, and grade 9-to-12 curriculum. Students would come out and spend the day doing benthic water-quality sampling and studying fish physiology and, of course, also spend some time angling. That program has put thousands of youth through that educational process. I was an instructor for the first couple of years in there. It started 15 years ago, and I can tell you that I still occasionally meet young people walking down the street somewhere who recognize me and say that was a turning point in their lives.

The conservation officers in Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation have another program called “Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs” that's designed primarily to be promoted within our two major areas, Saskatoon and Regina. It's the same type of thing. It's an opportunity to take different youth, different classrooms, out to learn how to fish and to have fishing in the outdoors as a very viable option for them in their lives and their futures.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Thank you for that. It's an interesting program and an interesting program name.

There is a focus on outdoor pursuits now, when you consider the hunting and angling advisory panel, the recreational fisheries partnership fund that's now going to total $50 million in just a handful of years, this study on recreational fishing by the parliamentary committee, the one going on currently in the environment committee on the value of hunting to conservation, and MP Norlock successfully introducing a private member's bill enacting a national day respecting hunting and trapping and heritage culture. I've been involved in hunting, angling, trapping, and outdoor pursuits my entire life as well, and I don't ever recall a time when a government has focused so much on outdoor pursuits.

I have a twofold question. Do you recall a time when the federal government has been as actively involved in celebrating and promoting and supporting hunting, angling, trapping, and outdoor pursuits in the past? Two, largely because we align these things as provincial responsibilities—most often wildlife management, wildlife laws, wildlife investment, conservation investment come at the provincial level—do you think it's just nice to have the federal government paying attention to this? Is it something we need to have, or do you believe it's essential that the federal government be involved in the way it is in this kind of discussion now?

[Darrell Crabbe]

It's absolutely essential. You know, the natural resources transfer agreements of Saskatchewan from 1929, I believe, moved those natural resources under the umbrella of the province, but we still have a great deal of regulation. There are so many areas where the federal government is still heavily involved, and certainly supporting fisheries and wildlife habitat programs is essential in Saskatchewan. Again, we only have a tax base of 1.1 million people, so being able to access federal dollars is going to really have a huge impact on us over the next decade for protecting some of those areas.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

In your licence sale program, which is probably much like some of the other provinces I have experience with, you have 250,000 anglers, including all licences, not just licence sales. I guess what I'm driving at is that you offer free licences for children under a particular age and for seniors over another age, but this 250,000 encapsulates all of them as well.

[Darrell Crabbe]

Yes, it does.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

So the percentage of anglers in the population is fairly significant.

[Darrell Crabbe]

Absolutely.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

In terms of your local communities, I know you mentioned about $400 million in economic growth in Saskatchewan from angling pursuits, if I've got the number right. Does that number include direct and indirect economic return?

[Darrell Crabbe]

Yes.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

So that includes hotels and fuel purchases and weekend stays in communities and meals and travel.

[Darrell Crabbe]

Yes, Mr. Leef, we found another interesting byproduct in the process of doing our study with the provincial government. Normally in most economic activities the vast majority of the moneys run from the rural areas back towards the urban areas, but with hunting and angling the pipeline is actually reversed, if you like, moving dollars from urban centres out to the rural areas. So it certainly is a great equalizer when it comes to economic activity.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Excellent. You mentioned you've got a lot of lakes in Saskatchewan and that you've got a couple of neighbouring provinces that have equal opportunities in terms of outdoor pursuits. Does your federation get involved much in promoting or marketing Saskatchewan as a destination point for recreational fishing opportunities?

[Darrell Crabbe]

Of course, the majority of our members in the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation are residents of Saskatchewan, so most of our pursuits are developed with them in mind, but of course, there's an immediate byproduct to enhancing any fishing opportunities. We also own 67,000 acres of land and manage another 100,000, so even though our focus might be on the opportunities for our residents and members, the byproduct is other Canadian residents and a lot of American folks who come and visit us. So it plays out well for everybody.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Thank you for your time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you very much, Mr. Leef.

Mr. MacAulay.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Welcome, sir.

Could you comment on the mortality rate with the catch-and-release in the recreational fishery in your province and advise if there is enough data? What species would the high mortality be a problem with, and how could that be improved?

[Darrell Crabbe]

We're actually helping U of R, the University of Regina. We've just adopted some research with them on barometric trauma, which is a nice term for releasing fish that are caught, to see within a water column.... I don't want to get into the science of it too much.

A lot of tournaments are held in Saskatchewan for walleye, and we see people catching walleye and releasing them. Bringing them from deep water into shallow water and then trying to release them causes a lot of mortality. One of the avenues we're going to look at is on trying to get some definitive answer on catch-and-release and what kind of mortality is created by it.

All of our research that we've helped fund to this date would support that catch-and-release boils down to how a fish is handled when it's brought into a boat or on a shore and how quickly it can be placed back in the water.

There's a lot of research that we're trying to help fund right now, and hopefully we can come to some definitive answers.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much.

In our province, one of the biggest catch-and-release is the bluefin tuna, which of course is of great interest where I come from. I understand the mortality rate is quite low in that fishery.

What other species in your province are highly used for recreational fishery? Do you see any other emergent species coming on? Basically, do you see the expansion of the recreational fishery in your province?

[Darrell Crabbe]

I absolutely do.

Saskatchewan has all of the normal species for prairie provinces. Our three major fish would be walleye, pike, and perch. We also have lake trout as our only native trout species, but within our fish culture station we also produce 10 other varieties of fish that are populated throughout our province.

Carp is an invasive species in Saskatchewan, but it has suddenly become very attractive for people from Europe to fly over to Saskatchewan to fish for our carp. We're in somewhat of a dilemma. It's a great economic opportunity, but it's also an invasive species that's causing some damage.

There are always changes in the aquatic world.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much. It's interesting indeed. At first you were fighting it, and now it could possibly become an asset to your economy.

Could you comment on DFO's capacity in science and enforcement? Is there enough science, research, and enforcement in the recreational fishery? You mentioned that some fish were taken into certain areas and released, and probably areas that they should not have been released in. Is there a way that you plan to deal with this issue? You certainly do not want the fish to die after they're released.

I wonder if you could expand on that.

[Darrell Crabbe]

On DFO's role in our province?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Yes, and would DFO have a role in...?

You're indicating that carp or a certain species are taken into shallow water and let go, and probably do not survive.

[Darrell Crabbe]

I mentioned that our fish hatchery is a hundred years old this year. It was first held and controlled by the federal government. It put whitefish into several lakes where they had never existed before. We were fortunate that they all eventually died off because they shouldn't have been there to begin with. A century of experimentation has created a lot of issues. Some have become very positive, and some we're still dealing with.

I would think that DFO's role in our province is that they only have access to enforce on habitat, not on fish itself. Our one DFO office that we have in Saskatchewan doesn't deal with linear development. If we have issues with DFO and need their assistance, we have to go to Ontario, to Burlington, to try to get some assistance.