Fisheries Committee on June 4th, 2015

[Jean Boudreault]

We're talking about Greenland. First, it's important that there is a decrease in catches. Second, research also needs to be done to document what is happening in the ocean. Third, a massive investment is needed, like we have done for the North Shore through our salmon habitat creation program.

The $10 million that we are investing in the North Shore will help generate 10,000 new salmon a year. We aren't using fish stocking. We are simply freeing up habitats to give salmon access to new habitats, which were previously limited because of obstacles like impassable waterfalls and things like that. We open up sections of the river and give salmon access. We are improving the habitat. So there is greater production, which increases the populations.

Fourth, fish stocking might be a worthwhile approach in some regions where populations are very low in order to generate a new population, which is what we did for the Romaine River.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you, Mr. MacAulay.

Now we'll move to Mr. Kamp.

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC]

Thank you very much.

Thank you, gentlemen, for appearing. I appreciate your testimony and the work that you do.

Mr. Boudreault, I think you said in your remarks that you consider the approach to management of Atlantic salmon to be unique in North America. I wonder if you could elaborate on that a little more?

[Jean Boudreault]

We use river-by-river management. We identify the biological features of the river. We describe each salmon population and its habitat is catalogued and counted. We then use a digital model to assess the capacity the river can support. We can assess each salmon river's conservation threshold and prescribe the potential harvest or conservation, depending on the condition of each river.

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC]

When you say “we”, who are you referring to? I think you used the word “organization”. Are these non-governmental organizations like yourselves, or are the Quebec government and DFO involved? Who and at what point is somebody deciding how many fish? Who sets the escapement targets and the allowable catches, if there are any?

[Jean Boudreault]

Quebec manages all activities related to salmon in rivers. In freshwater, the federal government delegates the power to the provincial government. So the Quebec government is the one managing the resource and sport fishing. However, for sport fishing, the provincial minister signs agreements with river management organizations. Each river in Quebec has an organization managing it. Its mission is to manage the development of the river and sport fishing, according to the conservation rules prescribed by the Government of Quebec. In that regard, in terms of the development, power is delegated from the federal level to the provincial level, and from the provincial level to the salmon river managers. For instance, managers will allow fishing based on the context and the dynamics of the river's salmon population, in partnership with the Quebec department.

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC]

Forgive my ignorance here, but are the organizations you refer to created for the purpose of doing that, or are they existing organizations delegated by the Government of Quebec to be the manager of the resource on their behalf?

[Jean Boudreault]

These are non-profit organizations specifically created for managing salmon in Quebec. The term used is “controlled harvesting zone”, which we call ZECs. There are controlled harvesting zones for salmon, just like for hunting and fishing in Quebec. The government has made salmon management organizations out of them. An agreement was signed with the government on various points, including management and salmon development, all the sport fishing infrastructure, lotteries, accessibility for anglers, and so on.

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC]

It's an interesting model. I'd like to ask you more about that, but I want to share my time with my colleague, Mrs. Davidson.

Let me ask you about one more area, and that's the whole process around species at risk. What is your involvement in the process that's been ongoing now for a number of years to designate Atlantic salmon or populations of Atlantic salmon as species at risk?

[Jean Boudreault]

When the federal government expressed its interest in registering salmon on the list of endangered species, the FQSA prepared a brief, which was actually presented to the federal government. In the brief, we criticized this approach. We find that it is not necessary.

First, there are two different management levels between the federal government and us. The study carried out by COSEWIC contains items that we think are debatable. We don't think adding salmon to a list of endangered species will help us. We think that the attention we give to our rivers in Quebec is important and unique, in addition to allowing for good salmon concentration.

If we can receive assistance from the federal government for the black box in the sea and commercial fisheries, I am sure that we will be able to bring back the salmon. There is no doubt about that. I don't think we need a procedure that endangers our salmon to achieve that objective. Furthermore, our brief includes the comments I am sharing with you today.

[Randy Kamp, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge—Mission, BC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Mrs. Davidson.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, gentlemen, for appearing before us today.

Part of the mandate of this committee, when the study was approved, was to study participation in recreational fishing. During your opening remarks, if I understood you correctly, I think you commented that salmon fishing is seen as a public right in Quebec; that you do have an aging population of fishermen; and that you're seeing a decline in activity. Could you confirm that I understood you correctly?

If so, could you talk a bit about who is participating and where you see the decline? Are the young people not participating? Is that the issue? Or is the issue the aging of existing fishermen? And what could be done to turn that around?

[Jean Boudreault]

That is a very good question. It is a major issue. Are we seeing a decline? I think so. In fact, this decline is partly related to the catch and release system imposed in other rivers. Not all people are educated to catch and release. So people stop doing it.

In terms of the new generation, the average age of Quebec anglers is about 55. However, since we are talking about the average, many of our anglers are aged 55 or 70 and over. This baby boomer generation will be out of the picture around 2018 or 2020. We expect to see them leave our rivers then. Right now, the biggest concern of all wildlife stakeholders in Quebec is to focus on the next generation.

Why is there no next generation? We can answer this question in a number of ways, but I would say that the FQSA is making a great deal of effort in that sense. Every year, we develop mentorship programs across Quebec so that young people can participate. There is a lot of training right now in Quebec.

Will we be able to make up for the shortfall? It is very difficult to say. Earlier, in my comments, I said that it would help if the government supported us through funding, promotion and fishing development programs. That is very important because it would help us. We could then make sure that we maintain an economic activity that often comes from urban centres and whose economic benefits are good for the regions in Quebec where the need is greater.

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

Thank you.

We've also had a fair amount of discussion this morning on the difference in the regulations between, say, Quebec and New Brunswick when we're talking about the river-based approach of management and the catch-and-release management regulations that are in place in New Brunswick. You've also talked about how much catch and release is now being used in Quebec, and the success you feel that's having when it comes to repopulating and sustaining the stock.

Would you be in favour of a harmonization of salmon management regulations for Atlantic salmon?

[Jean Boudreault]

What types of regulations are you talking about? Are you talking about tighter regulations?

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

No, I'm talking about harmonization between the New Brunswick rules, which are strictly catch and release, and Quebec's, which are river-based.

[Jean Boudreault]

I think those two contexts are different. The problem that we see in the Maritimes—I am talking about New Brunswick and Nova Scotia—is much more dramatic than what we experience in Quebec.

In Quebec, our rivers are almost natural. The water is pure, the salmon habitat is in very good condition and our rivers' production is excellent. So we don't see the same threat to salmon as in New Brunswick or elsewhere. I think there is a way to keep the activity in its current form.

The catch and release measures apply to adult salmon, the large salmon. When we talk about small salmon, the grilse, you can always catch them in Quebec. By the way, more and more people release them back in the water. In that sense, we prefer a voluntary approach to a legal approach.

The question was not asked this morning, but I'd like you to note that when you buy a salmon licence in Quebec, there are seven stamps. Anglers are able to catch seven salmon, big or small. Of course, there are 15,000 anglers, but not all of them catch seven salmon every year. Most of them take one or two.

So we would like to review the number of stamps. However, there is a small problem and I think this is a good place to talk about it this morning. In the transfer of the salmon stock management between the federal government and provincial government, one aspect was forgotten: the stamps. The forestry, wildlife and parks minister does not have the legal ability to change the number of stamps per licence. That still falls under federal authority, so under Ms. Shea. However, the power needs to be delegated from that level so that the Quebec minister has that ability.

Right now, we are working with the office of the federal minister and the office of the provincial minister to try to establish a single channel, or a fast lane to be able to deal specifically with this aspect. By 2016, we want to be able to reduce the number of stamps by 50% and to perhaps have three or four stamps. We will see what the anglers are ready to accept. We would therefore have a direct impact on the number of catches in our rivers. Right now, we are stuck because of the political circumstances and we are not able to do anything about it.

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

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you, Ms. Davidson.

Gentlemen, on behalf of the entire committee, thank you for appearing today before our committee and taking the time to answer our questions. It was greatly appreciated.

This committee will suspend for a few moments as we prepare for our next witnesses. Thank you, gentlemen.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

I'll call this meeting back to order. I'd like to thank our guests for appearing before us today and taking the time to make presentations, opening remarks and comments, and answering committee members' questions.

As you're no doubt aware, we're studying recreational fishing in Canada, and I know committee members are quite anxious to hear from you about your perspective on the situation here today.

I will ask that when we go into questions, perhaps you could keep your responses as concise as possible, as committee members are constrained by certain time limits and want to get in as many questions as possible in that timeframe.

We generally allow about 10 minutes for opening comments and remarks by our presenters. Once again, we do appreciate your taking the time to appear before us.

I'll ask Monsieur Plourde to start. If you're prepared to make your opening statements at this time, the floor is yours.

[Marc Plourde, Chief Executive Officer, Quebec Outfitters Federation Inc.]

Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me to appear before your committee today.

My name is Marc Plourde. I am the CEO of Quebec Outfitters Federation, which has been in existence since 1948. The federation represents a group of 350 outfitters and 12 regional associations. Its mission is to represent and promote the collective interests of its members from a sustainable development perspective.

Quebec has a legal definition of what an outfitter is. An outfitter is a company that provides, for a fee, accommodation or services, equipment for the recreational practice of hunting, fishing and trapping activities. There are just over 600 active outfitters in Quebec. Our network welcomes over 425,000 people annually who come for hunting, fishing, trapping and outdoors recreational activities. The Quebec Outfitters Federation is the largest network of accommodation in nature. In Quebec, this means 5,000 shelter units and over 32,000 beds.

There are two types of outfitters in Quebec. In both cases, they provide accommodation since that's part of the legal definition. We have outfitters with non-exclusive rights, whose mandate is economic development. They are mostly located on public lands. There are also outfitters with exclusive rights. In addition to having a mandate for economic development, they have to protect the land.

The term “outfitter with exclusive rights” does not mean that they have exclusive access to lands, but that the exclusivity applies to the practice of hunting and fishing activities.

There are around 180 outfitters with exclusive rights in Quebec. In Quebec, lands where outfitters have exclusive rights range from 2 km² to 400 km², for a total of almost 25,000 km².

There are almost 420 companies with non-exclusive rights that are, as I said, mainly located on public lands. However, some of them are on private lands. A number of those companies are also located around salmon rivers.

Let's talk about the management of fish by outfitters. First of all, outfitters are required to produce an annual activity report. All outfitters therefore provide the government with a registry of the clients and a registry of catch. They also list the wildlife development sites and the stocks on their land. The outfitters with exclusive rights have a management plan that is revised every three years and submitted to the department. The management plan is based on inventories and on the knowledge available on the ecology and the biology of the bodies of water on the land. Each outfitter has management objectives that are set according to the knowledge and operational monitoring carried out every year. All our member outfitters provide fishing opportunities. Over 256,000 fishers go to our outfitters. The estimated revenues are over $75 million.

Among the most sought-after species, the most popular in our outfitters in Quebec is the brook trout, commonly known as speckled trout. There is also walleye and pike, the predatory fish that are extremely popular, as well as lake trout. In northern Quebec, you find the Arctic char. Clearly, as I was saying, about 30 outfitters provide salmon fishing opportunities.

Let me turn to the profile of our outfitters' clients. Our most recent numbers are from 2011. The visitors to the outfitters contributed to almost 1,200,000 days of activity. Almost 80% of those activities are performed by Quebec residents, and almost 5% by people from the rest of Canada, 10% from the U.S. and 6% by people from abroad. We see that just over 20% of clients who come to the outfitters are from outside Quebec.

Clearly, outfitter fishing is the most popular activity, generating over 65% of all the days of activity with outfitters.

In terms of fishing management, the QOF is one of the founding members of the Quebec round table on freshwater aquaculture. Almost all the fish stocked in our water comes from private fish farms.

Outfitters represent about 60% of the stocked fish market in Quebec, so about 425 tonnes a year. There are 125 outfitters that stock some of their waters, primarily with brook trout. In those outfitters, the most popular technique is the put-and-take. We work with our people to increase the recapture rate by sport fishing, so that there is maximum return on the stocking. The economic benefits of outfitter stocking are estimated at over $40 million a year.

I will now talk about the issues in our sector.

In Quebec, there is an issue with the protection of indigenous sources. We are particularly vigilant when it comes to maintaining the indigenous populations and strains. We make sure that we don't use more bodies of water for stocking than necessary. There is a particular issue with allopatric brook trout pools. Those are pure brook trout populations, meaning that they don't live with other species. We are talking about the Croissant Vermeil and the Monts-Valin in the regions of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean and the North Shore. That is characteristic of Quebec and we hope to protect it.

Invasive species are a different issue. This includes the diseases that those species can bring because of the use of bait fish, among others. In Quebec, there are discussions about the need to be cautious about that. The importing of bait fish has been banned recently in Quebec. Once again, we need to preserve the indigenous species.

People are afraid for the river system. The Asian carp seems to have reached the Great Lakes. For us, that is a very clear threat.

In terms of the issues that we are starting to think about, I would add the impact of new technology on the success of fishing. The sonar is increasingly sophisticated, which significantly increases the success of fishing. Clearly, we need to err on the side of caution in that respect.

Let me turn to the major outfitter trends. Fly fishing has regained popularity. It used to be associated with catching salmon, but it is increasingly developed for other species. Young people are particularly drawn to this type of fishing. As I said earlier, there is an issue with the next generation of clients. The baby boomers are getting old and they represent a major part of the clientele. So there is a concern about renewing the clientele.

Fly fishing is growing. It is appealing to us because it attracts young people in particular. Fly fishing is often associated with the practice of non-retention or catch and release. This practice could reduce the pressure on fish populations in our bodies of water.

Fishing is increasingly being practised in a context of multiple activities. Young people between 25 and 44 are still interested in fishing, but much more in a context where they can do other outdoor activities.

That is bringing about a change in our clients' traditional practices. Usually, they came on three-, four- and five-day trips to fish, pure and simple. Today, outfitters have to have a range of products, providing the opportunity to discover nature and observe wildlife, as well as the more sporting activities. Finally, we are seeing—

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Monsieur Plourde, I'm going to have to ask you to start to bring your remarks to a conclusion.

[Marc Plourde]

I was on my last sentence, Mr. Chair.

Finally, in terms of our clients' behaviour, the sport angling population seems to be holding steady, but habits in the way it is practised are changing and its intensity is dropping. That translates into shorter stays. We have to adjust to those new trends.

That's it, Mr. Chair.