Fisheries Committee on June 2nd, 2015

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much.

So, you do not believe this activity takes place, or it's very limited in Newfoundland.

In your quite interesting presentation, you also indicated a lot of young people were not interested in the fishery. They have a lack of knowledge and do not know anything about the fishery. What needs to be done in order to bring back the interest of the young people?

Also, when you're answering me, on the boat charters that go out, you're talking about the season not being long enough. Does that season also need to be extended?

[Barry Fordham]

Mr. Chair, in response to the member's question about the young people, in my statement I was talking about the inshore fishery, which was a commercial fishery itself, where the skills and knowledge are not being passed down to the sons who would normally strike out on their own.

Sir, with respect to the recreational food fishery, we believe by extending and combining the seasons it would give the youth more opportunity to learn all there is they need to know, all we feel they should know, and all we feel they are missing out on. By educating the young, and especially adopting this gulf recreational fishery for Newfoundland and Labrador, it would allow our youth to fish off the wharves and the rocks, within safe locations, of course. That would teach them all these skills. Then we get them back on track with our history and our culture.

Thank you.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

On the tourism or the boat charters that go out, if I understood you correctly, they can take a bag limit of 15. Also, the length of time, if I understood you correctly, didn't seem to be long enough. As well, this is a very important industry to your economy.

I understand how important it is, because we have a recreational tuna fishery in our area. I can assure you that stores, restaurants, gas bars, hotels, and everything benefit from this.

I would like you to elaborate on what needs to be done, or how the limit needs to be changed, in order to make this.... I know you can't do anything about the wind, but other than that I would think this is valuable to the economy in Newfoundland. How can it be improved?

[Barry Fordham]

Mr. Chair, in response to the member, you're absolutely right, sir. It is very valuable here to the economy.

We cannot do anything about the winds. We cannot do anything about opportunities, but what is common sense, sir, for the federal DFO to do is to extend the overall season. By extending the overall season, sir, we are now allowing people to be able to choose when to go out and when not to go out.

Some people say, “Oh, you're going to extend the season. You're going to have every Tom, Dick, and Harry out there fishing in every kind of vessel, every day, all day long.” I've had some talks with other conservation groups, and we believe and feel if the season is extended.... Usually, as I said in my preamble, at the beginning of each season there is a big rush. Everybody has been waiting all year to get out to get a few fish, to experience what we always had, and to smell the salt sea, as we say. By extending the season, it now gives us more opportunity to get out there.

We believe there is not going to be a big influx of people out fishing. Maybe it would in the first week, sure. After that, when people get used to the new season, they're going to say, “I'm not going out this day. I'm not going out that day. I'm going to shoot ahead to one day next week.” Extending the season is promoting the safety to our provincial fishers and making it fairer and safer for everybody to get out and experience this wonderful joy we have here in this great province of ours, Newfoundland and Labrador.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much.

You indicated that certain people need licences to fish and, if I understood you correctly, certain people do not need licences to fish. You also indicated that the money disappears into a black hole somewhere and you do not see the benefit of whatever dollars come in on the sale of licences.

Would you have any comment on how things would be if everybody had to have a licence? Let's say the fee was increased and with that there would have to be coordination between your organization and the provincial government. How would you feel if that money went to groups like yours and others to make sure that habitat was protected and that type of thing? That's what I'm getting at, if everybody had to pay, and even if everybody had to pay a bit more, but the dollars went into something that was going to make sure the fishery was improved and was better. I'd like you to elaborate on whether you think that would be a good thing.

[Barry Fordham]

Mr. Chairman, first of all, when I referred to the money going into a black hole, that happens everywhere, not only here in Newfoundland and Labrador of course.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Excuse me, I'm certainly not inclined to defend the government, really, since I'm an opposition member, but I believe there are examples across the country where there has been a program put in place and the funds were used for a specific cause. That's what I'd like you to focus on, if you could.

[Barry Fordham]

The money should be allocated and put towards not only the conservation of the stocks, but also public education, including public education aimed at teaching our youth skills that have been lost over the years.

I'd like to speak about the licence for a second, Mr. Member. I must say our group was in favour of the licence. We may still be, but I have to say that when Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and P.E.I. publicly say that they are not in favour of having a licence, why should a licence have to apply to Newfoundland and Labrador?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

I guess that's a fair comment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you very much, Mr. MacAulay.

Ms. Davidson.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Fordham, thanks for being with us this morning.

Certainly we've heard some interesting comments and we've heard some comments that have been different from those we've heard from other regions of the country, and I appreciate that.

I have some very fond memories of going cod fishing many years ago in Newfoundland. At that time we also thought that we might do some inland fishing. I don't know what your rates are today, but I know for non-residents at that time, which was probably 25 years ago, they were pretty steep and so we didn't do that. But I do have some fond memories of cod fishing and certainly you have a beautiful part of the country and I enjoy it.

My riding is in southwestern Ontario and we sit on Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes. Our area is quite different from the areas that you experience.

I want to talk a little bit about the food fishing days. I believe those were eliminated at one point and then they were brought back. Is that correct? Is that when the limits were initiated?

[Barry Fordham]

I'm sorry, I didn't get your question, Ms. Davidson.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

For what you're calling the food fishing days, I believe at one time people were not allowed to catch the cod for food. Is that correct? Is that what you were saying? Then the program was reintroduced and people were then allowed to have the daily catch, the five fish.

[Barry Fordham]

When the moratorium on the commercial inshore fishery was called in 1992, the overall fishery was shut down altogether, both commercially and recreationally.

It wasn't really referred to as a recreational fishery back in the day when the commercial fisheries were on the go. It was more like a God-given right. We now see that it may be a God-granted privilege to be able to do it.

As for when the recreational fishery actually opened up, I don't have that statistic here in front of me, but it is open now.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Okay. And the recreational fishery was opened, then, because of the increasing health of the fish industry, was it?

[Barry Fordham]

Mr. Chairman, in response to the member, I will point out that before the commercial fishery closed down in 1992, we Newfoundlanders and Labradorians had no limit, no season, no restrictions on us whatsoever. We were allowed to go out and catch fish for ourselves and our families and process them and bring them home. There were no guidelines as such.

After the moratorium was announced, and then when the recreational food fishery opened a number of years later, there were restrictions on dates when I could go out and bag them and on how many fish I could retain.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Moving on, then, from that, you said the season should be extended for many reasons and you talked about safety issues. Can you tell me why the season is set the way it is, why it's fragmented, why it isn't a continuous season?

[Barry Fordham]

Mr. Chairman, in response to the member, I'll say on a positive note that we can't understand why for the life of us.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Okay. Can you elaborate a bit more on the reasons you think it would be beneficial to extend it on a continuous basis and what timeframes you think would be good timeframes?

[Barry Fordham]

Mr. Chairman, in response to the member, we would like to see the season extended to not quite three months. It would take in a lapse of time from sometime in July to sometime in September. It promotes safety, promotes fairness, promotes opportunity. It promotes our learning our history and culture again. It promotes families coming home for family vacations. It promotes youth education, and it promotes public education. My God, I could keep on going.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

That's good. Thank you.

Mr. Samson did not seem to be too much in favour of catch-and-release and was quite concerned about the mortality rates with catch-and-release, but I think you made the statement that catch-and-release, when practised properly, does not have a high mortality rate, from what you have seen.

Could you elaborate more on that and on what you mean by “practised properly”? Are there those who try to educate people, or how do people learn how to do it properly?

[Barry Fordham]

Mr. Chairman, in response to the member, yes, there are outdoor conservation groups, fishing conservation groups with high integrity, such as, here in this province, SPAWN, the Salmon Preservation Association for the Waters of Newfoundland, out of western Newfoundland; the SAEN group; and, very infamous in Atlantic Canada, the Atlantic Salmon Federation. They have videos that promote the proper way of catching and releasing the different types of fish.

In my opinion, catch-and-release does work. It is the way of the future. It promotes conservation. It teaches our youth the proper ways to be doing things.

In our society today, we don't need to be out hunting and fishing so much for food. Hunting and fishing is very important here in Newfoundland and Labrador, but for the salmon themselves, what I have witnessed—and I've worked on a very famous river in Newfoundland and Labrador. If you say to anybody who is an Atlantic salmon fisherman “Eagle River”, they will practically shake at their knees. We've witnessed thousands of fish. There are various outfitters there who are talking about weeks on end of fishing, with thousands of fish being released, because it's such a magnificent river that holds such high numbers.

We don't see fish floating belly up going down the river. In the case of most sport people, if the fish is going to be released and it's done properly, the fish swims away. If the fish upon release is not doing well, we as ethical recreational fishers would retain that fish. There's no sense letting it go just to let it go to waste like that.

If there were a high mortality rate, then it would be more on public display, I believe. It would be in the newspapers. It would be on the TV. It would be everywhere, and you would see all of these fish floating downriver belly up. Well, guess what? We're not seeing that. That's why we think that catch-and-release does work. However, we at the Newfoundland Federation of Hunters and Anglers support the retention of a fish for the table as well. It's very important that people understand that.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Okay.

[Barry Fordham]

Catch-and-release is the way of the future.

Our great Lee Wulff, who is a very famous fly-fishing pioneer, has said, and if you look at his home shows and his writings from years and years ago he was saying the same thing, that catch-and-release is the way of the future.

[Patricia Davidson, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Thank you very much.