Fisheries Committee on Nov. 20th, 2018

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

As you noted, we announced the new lifeboat stations, three in Newfoundland and Labrador and four on the Pacific coast. The station at Old Perlican, I believe, will be open in the summer of 2019, with construction already weighing in on schedule. Maybe I can ask the commissioner to talk about the other two.

[Jeffery Hutchinson]

The station at St. Anthony has already been refurbished, and there has been a bay-class boat delivered to that station. It's operational today, as we speak. As the Minister said, the station at Old Perlican is on schedule to be opened and functioning next year, and Twillingate will follow after that. I think we would have it operational for summer 2020.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Minister, in the last election we made a commitment to reopen the maritime rescue sub-centre in St. John's, Newfoundland, which was closed by the Harper government. In May it reopened—a promise made, a promise kept. Could you comment on the importance of these maritime rescue stations and how government is investing to keep our oceans safe through significant investments in the Canadian Coast Guard?

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

The reopening of the sub-centre in St. John's was very important. It was a commitment that we made. It was very similar to the reopening of the Kitsilano Coast Guard base on the west coast, which had been closed previously. Since becoming operational, the rescue sub-centre in St. John's has worked on 452 incidents, and some were fairly high-profile cases. Less than a week after opening, the Coast Guard provided humanitarian support to the local Royal Newfoundland Constabulary to assist with rescuing an individual who had fallen off the Signal Hill trail, and there are a whole range of others that I could go through where having that sub-station in place has been incredibly important from a safety perspective.

Did you want to add anything there?

[Jeffery Hutchinson]

I would simply add that the sub-station has received in excess of 22,000 calls, and I think that indicates that there's a volume to be managed through that office. Very important to us is the 24-7 capacity that it offers, and while it supplements the work of the JRCC in Halifax, having that 24-7 backup is.... Any world-class system has to have backups in place.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Living on the island, and of course seeing the impact the ocean can have on major storms as we saw this past week, I truly appreciate the commitment you made to the work we're doing here.

Minister, as you know, snow crab is a valuable resource for many fishers on the east coast, particularly Newfoundland and Labrador. Today many have major concerns about the 2019 total allowable catch and the references to the precautionary approach to management principles and so on. I've heard from some of them following some meetings with some DFO officials.

Could you comment on your department's plans to address the concerns of fishers who are calling us and asking about the 2019 quota for snow crab?

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

As you know, the snow crab stocks have been declining for some time. Obviously that is a significant concern. We need to be relying on science-based decision-making for ensuring sustainable harvest of our oceans. The current research suggests that the snow crab stock may be challenged to maintain the current level of fishing, given the declines we are seeing. I think a precautionary approach is essential to prevent long-term damage to the stock.

We're developing a framework for snow crab. It was published initially in October, and we're now holding consultations with fishers to ensure we are incorporating their thoughts on the path forward.

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

I would ask the minister that your officials and you, certainly, pay close attention to the fishers in the industry and the local knowledge they bring to the management of this resource and this stock. They obviously rely heavily on it for their livelihood.

Thank you.

[The Chair]

Thank you, Mr. Rogers.

Now we move to the Conservative side, Mr. Calkins, for five minutes or less, please.

[Blaine Calkins, Red Deer—Lacombe, CPC]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here.

I'm going to throw some questions straight at you without much preamble.

In determining your strategy to increase the populations of the southern resident killer whale, what are the desired population targets that your department and you have agreed upon for the short, medium and long term?

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

The southern resident killer whales face three different sources of threats: the contaminants in the water; the lack of availability of prey, which is largely chinook salmon; and physical and acoustic disturbance from ships.

The measures we have taken are intent on addressing the declines in numbers we've seen. The focus for all species at risk is initially stopping the decline and then starting to turn that around over time. That's exactly what we are intent on doing through the measures we've put in place.

[Blaine Calkins]

So you don't have any numbers per se because the population is in its normal range between 70 and 90 right now, even though it has been in decline for several years.

You don't have a hard and fast number other than just stopping the decline and waiting and seeing what happens?

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

I'm not sure the population is in its normal range. Only 15 to 20 years ago there were 95. They are now 74.

If you look at the distribution of males and females and those of calf-bearing age, there are significant concerns about the viability of the species going forward.

If we are going to act to save this species, we need to act now.

[Blaine Calkins]

I would argue that out of the three pillars you're talking about, the most important one is the availability of prey. Ships have been present while the population of the killer whales has been increasing and decreasing. I'm not going to get into whether the contaminants, the long-term bioaccumulations, are a direct or imminent threat, but I think food and starvation are considered an imminent threat.

Certain salmon hatcheries have been utilizing various methods to rear chinook salmon that are demonstrably more resilient. This would be like an S-1 chinook salmon, for example, that doesn't get into the ocean until it's at least two years of age. It's much larger. It's much more resilient. It's much more able to evade predation, and so on.

Some of these hatcheries I know of on Vancouver Island specifically are not being used by the salmonid enhancement program. You have allocated some more money recently for this, some $60 million. Will these hatcheries be enveloped into the Department of Fisheries and Oceans? A couple of hundred thousand chinook salmon are sitting in a hatchery right now that should be released, and they are not getting anywhere with the department.

Can you explain why?

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

Part of the whales initiative we announced a couple of weeks ago was more money for hatcheries. We're in the process of assessing exactly which hatcheries would have the greatest impact. Certainly the primary source of food is the Fraser runs, and we're looking primarily at those, but we have not yet firmly decided.

I would not agree with your characterization that prey is the single largest issue. Prey and transportation are inextricably linked because the whales do not forage when they are disturbed. It's simply not true to say that the same number of ships that were there 20 years ago are there today. There has been a significant increase in volume every year out of the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Seattle.

[Blaine Calkins]

Can you provide the committee with a breakdown of the costs associated with the decision to cancel the expropriation of the quota from Clearwater and can you assure this committee that any new process to award contracts will be above board and transparent?

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

I can assure you that we are continuing with a plan to encourage indigenous participation in the fishery. As I announced a few months ago, we will be moving forward with a process that will be transparent and informed by third parties, to ensure we get it right.

[Blaine Calkins]

Have you considered increasing the availability of the preferred prey, the chinook salmon, for the southern resident killer whale through any science-based targeted predator control program? I am talking about a program to reduce the pinniped predation around the estuaries and river environments where young salmon are present.

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

We're looking at all ways to increase the number of chinook, whether by reducing the take from recreational commercial fisheries or through hatcheries and investments in habitat. We're also looking at pinnipeds and whether they represent a significant issue. The science to date would suggest they're not as big an issue as many think, but there is more science being done. We are doing it ourselves. I know the Pacific Salmon Foundation is doing its own study on this issue. We're certainly looking at that.

[Blaine Calkins]

My last question is on the illegal, unreported and unregulated catch. What are you going to do to resolve the issue of unreported catch, specifically unreported catch on the Fraser River?

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

I think it gets back to one of the questions we had earlier around enforcement. It's important that we have rules, and it's important that we have rules that are respected. We are enhancing our enforcement capacity across the country—from coast to coast to coast—to ensure that we can address any issues that might arise with respect to unreported catch.

[The Chair]

Thank you, Mr. Calkins.

Now we will go back to the government side. Mr. Finnigan, you have five minutes or less, please.

[Pat Finnigan, Liberal, Miramichi—Grand Lake, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here.

As you know, the Atlantic salmon is in trouble. It has been declining, up and down, for the last number of years. This is certainly attributable to many factors, some that we can take action on and some that we're not even sure about, for instance, why the returns are very low. There are other factors such as predators, whether it be the striped bass, the grey seal or others. There are other actions we can take, such as repairing the river banks and creating cold pools so that it has habitat, especially during these last few summers, some of the hottest in history. In the short term, we can certainly take some of those actions.

With 2019 being the International Year of the Salmon, I'm wondering if there is a new initiative—or any initiative—that we could put in place to protect this salmon. It's a very economic industry, especially with the recreational for my area, the Miramichi, but also other rivers are starting to see lower numbers. Being the International Year of the Salmon, is there anything that the department has planned to ensure we are doing all we can to help the salmon survive and expand?

[Jonathan Wilkinson]

The Atlantic salmon is an iconic species. It's very important. Clearly, some of the things we have been seeing are cause for significant concern. The department has been doing quite a lot to try to address some of the issues that have arisen. Maybe I can ask the parliamentary secretary to talk a little bit about the International Year of the Salmon and some of the things you've been working on.

[Sean Casey]

Mr. Finnigan, I had occasion last week to attend an event put on by the Maliseet Nation Conservation Council to kick off the International Year of the Salmon and to talk about some of the things the government is doing. They specifically relate to investments in science. There is an Atlantic salmon research joint venture partnership with indigenous communities, academia and conservation organizations. There is also the catch-and-release regulation that was put in place in the Restigouche, Miramichi and Margaree rivers, as well as in some Newfoundland rivers.

Finally, significant work is being done around habitat as part of the oceans protection plan and the coastal restoration fund. Those things were highlighted in that presentation and will form a significant part of the government's initiatives going forward.