Fisheries Committee on June 16th, 2015

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Good luck and thank you very much. You have a resource that I think could be valuable worldwide.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you very much, Mr. MacAulay.

Mr. Sopuck.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Thank you.

Mr. Zealand, you may have answered this, but I missed it. What are the most important non-anadromous fish species to the sport fishing community in the Yukon?

[Gordon Zealand]

I would say that obviously first on the list for the majority of people it's probably lake trout in terms of who's going to get the big fish or whatever, but at the same time probably in terms of the fish species that are the most widely used, I would say that northern pike and the Arctic grayling are the two species that kids get a chance to actually catch and participate with first and foremost.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Okay. Are any of those stocks overfished, and if they are, where are they located?

[Gordon Zealand]

Yes, some of those stocks are overfished.

Where we have lakes that are close to our larger populations, they're all affected and they are affected because 20 or 30 years ago we had people who put a lot of effort into catching the big lake trout, the big pike. They just took too many of those out of the system, and it's going to take us a long time because of our slow-growing lakes to get everything back on track.

We are attempting to do that through these slot limits, through using catch and release, and through the various things that we do have some control over.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Earlier in the study we were given the astonishing statistic that Canadians release some 60 million fish a year. They catch 100 million fish and release 60 million fish, so that has been a remarkable transformation in recreational fishing. Has the catch and release ethic taken hold in the Yukon?

[Gordon Zealand]

It has been part of tradition in this part of the world as long as I've been here. I've only been in the Yukon 35 years, but I remember people doing that when I initially came here. I had only seen it in British Columbia prior to that, but at the same time, yes, it has grown.

I would say the reason it has grown is because people are concerned about the same things that we—when I say we, that's including yourselves and ourselves—are all concerned about in terms of ensuring we have that resource for the rest of Canada.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

In terms of recreational fishing regulations in Yukon, what's your evaluation of the efficacy of the regulations? If there are some deficiencies, what are they and what would you like to see changed?

[Gordon Zealand]

I would say, generally, that they're well put together. They go through a system where the public has input into the changes.

What would I like to see changed? Obviously, we'd all like to see a process that's easier and more common sense to deal with, but at the same time I think we're just stuck with the beasts that we have. If you want the public to have input and to have them participate, then I'm not sure we can change it much in terms of making things happen. That to me would be the biggest thing, making things happen quicker than we currently have in place.

That's only a minor issue. I don't see that we have major ones that I'd want to see changed right now.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Does the Yukon government engage in fish stock assessment programs where biologists go out and do index netting, and creel censuses of anglers' catches, and those kinds of things?

[Gordon Zealand]

Absolutely they do, but at the same time they're a very minor portion of the Yukon government's budget compared to, let's say, the mineral industry.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

What's the interaction between the mineral industry and the recreational fisheries industry?

[Gordon Zealand]

I think most of the miners like to fish too, but at the same time there have been issues over the years in terms of what happens between the industry and the sport fishing groups. I'd say generally it has been reasonable in terms of the interaction between the groups. It has certainly been a lot worse in other areas.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

Do you see the mining industry contributing some resources to the conservation and enhancement of fisheries habitat? Is that something they seem willing to do?

[Gordon Zealand]

They haven't in the past, but I actually had people talking to me at our last get-together in Ottawa about some of the major players in Yukon that could be interested. We have a real problem right now with Yukon chinook salmon. I've heard rumours that some of them may be interested in that, but maybe I'm talking out of turn here now in terms of what's supposed to be in the public and what isn't. In any event, yes, there are some discussions that I certainly haven't heard in the past.

At the same time, I have worked with a lot of industry that are very respectful. They're as concerned about the environment as we are, but they obviously have a different role to play. Often it's that interaction between ourselves and the people who actually call the shots within that particular mining group that can make the difference.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette, MB]

I think my time is nearly up, but what I would recommend is this. We have the recreational fisheries conservation partnerships program. The budget is up to $55 million now and it's a partnering program. These are basically 50¢ dollars for organizations like yours, so if you can get industry to come up with half the money for, let's say, a $30,000 project, the federal government, I would suggest, would be glad to kick in the other amount. I would urge you to have a look at that program.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you very much, Mr. Sopuck.

[Gordon Zealand]

That's a good point.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Mr. Zealand, I want to thank you once again on behalf of the entire committee for being so accommodating with our committee and making sure we had the opportunity to meet together and for you to answer our committee members' questions. We certainly do appreciate it. Once again, thank you very much.

[Gordon Zealand]

Likewise, thank you, folks.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you, Mr. Zealand.

We'll move on now to Monsieur Lapointe. You wanted the floor.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I know that my NDP colleagues are in favour of my motion to examine the effects of the declining American Eel population, but I'd like to know whether all the committee members support the principle that a federal committee should examine the declining American Eel population in Canada.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you, Monsieur Lapointe.

The following motion has been moved by Mr. Lapointe:

That the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans undertake a study as soon as possible to examine the effects of the declining American Eel population in order to develop an action plan, jointly with the plan prepared by the Quebec Department of Energy and Natural Resources, designed to: (1) reverse the decline in the population; (2) increase the economic activity generated both domestically and internationally by this fishery; (3) preserve the eel fishing techniques in Kamouraska as part of our intangible marine heritage; and (4) designate the American Eel as a species of "special concern" under the Species at Risk Act, and that the Committee report its findings and recommendations to the House at the earliest opportunity.

On the motion, Mr. Kamp....

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

First of all, Mr. Chair, I suggest we follow our usual practice and go in camera for the discussion of the motion.