Fisheries Committee on Dec. 10th, 2013

[Kevin Stringer]

We have good standards, good best practices. It's not just us; the world does. One of the objectives of the new act is to put those standards into regulation. That will come with time, but those best practices are there.

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

In terms of the Cohen commission, it ended in 2009, but in 2010 there was a record sockeye run in the Fraser, as I recall. That tells me that the system as a whole is capable of producing that record run and that other things limit fish production. It varies, whether it's ocean or whether it's smolt survival and so on.

Basically, the conclusion is that the system is capable of producing a heck of a lot of fish.

[Kevin Stringer]

Yes, it was a record run in 2010. This last year, there have been low numbers of sockeye in some areas, but very high numbers of pinks and chum in some other fisheries. It is variable each year.

[David Bevan]

The sockeye passed us by.

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

I understand that.

[David Bevan]

That's my short answer.

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

I have one last quick question, if I may.

Given that net-pen aquaculture, especially on the east and west coasts, produces primarily Atlantic salmon, it's conceivable that if the production is allowed to increase, we will never have to fish wild Atlantic salmon stocks ever again. Is that a fair conclusion?

[David Bevan]

At this point in time we don't want to fish wild Atlantic salmon stocks, because they are not capable of supporting a commercial fishery. But that is a fish that supports a tremendous recreational fishery and an industry, so we want to derive wealth from those populations. We'd like to stop the commercial fishing that other jurisdictions are continuing to do.

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

You mean by other countries.

Excellent. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rodney Weston]

Thank you very much, Mr. Sopuck.

Mr. Chisholm.

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Thank you very much.

I want to go back to the last point I discussed before, and that was the MOU with the B.C. first nations. I want to ask you specifically about negotiations with the Nuu-chah-nulth on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that DFO should negotiate with them on their claim to have access, and DFO has been saying, “We don't have a mandate.” I'm wondering whether this MOU that was signed with political organizations and first nations organizations now means that you have a mandate and that you will commence negotiations with the Nuu-chah-nulth.

[Nadia Bouffard]

The negotiations have been ongoing with the Ahousaht groups that have been part of litigation with the departments, where the courts have determined that to date they have a constitutionally protected right to fish and sell their fish. We've been under negotiations with these groups for at least two years now, since the court decision. The negotiations to date have fallen within the mandate of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. We have accommodated their rights as well as we have been able to within our mandate through our various Fisheries programs with aboriginal groups, including PICFI on the west coast.

[Kevin Stringer]

So negotiations have been taking place—

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Are you saying that everything's good?

[David Bevan]

No, but negotiations have been taking place over the past couple of years. The MOU doesn't change that.

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

It doesn't change that. Okay

I'm curious. The plans and priorities and the departmental performance review mentioned that the department had 23 conflict management workshops across the country last year. I know there was a bit made of that. A reporter that I know in Nova Scotia had some fun with that, but it's very serious. I'm wondering if you could elaborate on what that was all about.

[David Bevan]

We have a centre for values and ethics and conflict resolution that's designed to prevent problems rather than to come in and fix them afterwards. The workshops are not there to say that we have a horrible problem; they're there to prevent problems and to have a more harmonious workplace. If friction starts between employees or between management and an employee, we want to have a process whereby we can defuse it and keep things on an even keel.

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Was this number less or more than your previous one?

[David Bevan]

I think what they were trying to do was to just get out there and say, “Here's the kind of process you can follow. Here's how to contact us. If there's friction building in the workplace, here's how to resolve it.”

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

It didn't have anything to do with the contact with the community and with the stakeholder groups?

[David Bevan]

No, it's not to deal with that. It's to keep a healthy organization going.

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

I want to ask you about the Maritime Lobster Panel and whether the department supports its recommendations. Will you be, or are you, involved with the LFAs to help them organize? I'm thinking particularly about 34. That was, I think, something specifically following the recommendations.

[David Bevan]

I would point out that the organization of fishers and all of those kinds of on-land issues do rest with the provinces. They are the ones who help with the structures, such as the FFAW in Newfoundland, the MFU in New Brunswick, etc.

[Robert Chisholm, NDP, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Are you telling me that DFO is not at all involved with those organizations on that issue?

[David Bevan]

We will be involved. What we would like is to have a way to talk to fishermen in LFAs where they're organized by some structure that would be approved by the province, so that we could have a conversation without having to deal with multiple different voices within one LFA.