Fisheries Committee on April 1st, 2019

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Do you think you have enough resources to get the right data? Clearly there have been fluctuations that have been well above or under DFO predictions. In terms of the modelling that you're using, it's kind of hard to see that it's been successful so far. Is that correct?

[Doug Bliss]

One thing that we're doing, for example, is something called the Atlantic salmon research joint venture, which was started by the department. It's basically a coalition of the science community working on Atlantic salmon to study these kinds of issues. It's pretty clear that the extent of expertise in any single agency such as ours is not sufficient, because you need a whole range of different expertise.

We're now working in broad collaboration with experts in the academic community and other communities to bring the resources to bear—mostly the intellectual capacity—to be able to tackle these questions.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Can you correct me if I'm wrong here?

The 2017 spawner abundance assessment is no longer on DFO's website. Why was the 2017 spawner abundance assessment removed from DFO's website?

Can you clarify that?

[Doug Bliss]

I'm sorry, sir. I don't have an answer to that question.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Thanks.

In terms of DFO's consultation with first nations, how did you calculate 25,000 as the total allowable catch of striped bass?

[Serge Doucet]

The allocation for the first nations communities is 50,000 striped bass: 25,000 in the spring and 25,000 in the fall.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Okay, thank you.

[Serge Doucet]

It's calculated by working through our science and our resource management folks to find a model that would allow for sufficient fish to be viable, but also to give us a good idea of the impact on the population as a whole.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Is the department resourcing the nations with assistance or grants to help the nations enter into commercial striped bass fisheries, or are any resources being allocated?

[Serge Doucet]

We haven't, to this point, but it's something we're exploring, yes.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Okay.

In terms of the striped bass population in the Miramichi growing at a dramatic rate, the populations in neighbouring rivers and jurisdictions are varying. Obviously, we saw that in Maine they handle it differently. Can you maybe talk about some of the best practices that you learned from Maine and how they're doing things differently, which can be applied in the southern gulf?

[Doug Bliss]

Are you talking about fishing practices or management practices?

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Sorry, that's right; I meant management practices, yes.

[Doug Bliss]

What we do know about the States is that they have a completely different management regime. They have fisheries commissions of the various states.

Actually, in our opinion, because we have a consistent approach in Canada and even in Quebec.... Because we work closely with our colleagues in Quebec on regulations, you'll note that fishing regulations between us and the Province of Quebec are very similar. You won't find the same homogeneity in regulations in the United States, so it varies quite a bit from state to state. We actually think that the system in Canada is more robust than the system in the United States.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Do you want to speak maybe about some of the factors that should be considered to maintain a healthy population of the striped bass in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence? Is there anything you would like to bring forward?

[Doug Bliss]

It's an open question.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Yes, well, what factors, really, do you think should be considered the most as the high priority?

[Doug Bliss]

Well, as I mentioned, ecological change and trying to understand where that is going, I think is the biggest question for us, not only of striped bass but of salmon as well, because their survival at sea—which is the major issue for Atlantic salmon from the consensus of the science community—is also centred on what's happening in the ocean and why.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

It leads me back to this question. Do you feel that you're adequately resourced in the department to do that important work to ensure they're protected?

[Doug Bliss]

I know in my particular organization we have an adequate number of resources. But as I said before, to use the expression “It takes a village”, it really does at this point in time take a collaborative effort among all the expertise in many different institutions to be able to tackle these problems.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Okay.

I think I've finished. Thanks.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Johns.

Thank you to our guests today for their patience in getting through the first session.

I would like to thank Mr. Bliss for mentioning prospecting in the Labrador region. Labrador is no stranger to prospecting, by any means.

Again, thank you for your appearance here before committee today.

[Serge Doucet]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

We'll suspend for a moment just to change for the next group.

We'll get started again.

Here with us for the next hour we have a number of witnesses.

From the Miramichi Salmon Association Inc., we have Mr. Mark Hambrook, president. From the Miramichi Watershed Management Committee Inc., we have Deborah Norton, president. From the North Shore Micmac District Council, we have chief executive officer Chief George Ginnish. From the Atlantic Salmon Federation, we have Mr. Bill Taylor, president and chief executive officer.

As well, there was a last-minute addition. There are two witnesses from the New Brunswick Salmon Council joining us by telephone, Mr. John Pugh and Mr. John Bagnall.

We'll go to Mr. Taylor, first, for seven minutes or less, please.

[Bill Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer, Atlantic Salmon Federation]

Great. Thank you, and good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, vice-chairs, and members of the committee.

I'm Bill Taylor, president of the Atlantic Salmon Federation. It's a pleasure of mine to present to you today on the topic of striped bass in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and in particular their impact on wild Atlantic salmon.

First, as a bit of history on the Atlantic Salmon Federation, we've been around for 71 years. We're a true federation. We have regional councils in each of the five eastern provinces and the state of Maine. We represent more than 100 local, river-based conservation organizations with more than 25,000 members and volunteers; and throughout our history, we've made a number of important contributions to Atlantic salmon conservation both in Canada and internationally.

Today, one of the greatest challenges facing Atlantic salmon conservation, especially on the Miramichi, comes from striped bass.

I ask you to picture this just for a second, if you would. Three weeks every spring from the end of May or early June the entire population of striped bass in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, up to a million spawners, are jammed into a six-and-a-half kilometre stretch of the northwest Miramichi. At the same time, little salmon smolts are trying to migrate out to sea. What happens when the two meet? Well, ASF is in a pretty good position to shed some light on that.

Since 2003 we've tagged and tracked nearly 3,000 smolt leaving four Gulf of St. Lawrence rivers. In recent years the number of smolt from the Miramichi that survive their migration to the estuary has spiralled downward. Survival in other rivers has remained relatively constant.

We know striped bass aren't fussy eaters. They eat juvenile salmon and species like alewives and smelt. There have been several studies carried out and discussed by this committee. However, their results are often taken out of context and sometimes misunderstood.

Take, for example, DFO's stomach analysis content study that you heard about just recently. It was never designed as a salmon predation study. It was a very first look at what the bass eat and it had its limitations. The takeaway is 2%. Two per cent of the stomach content was Atlantic salmon. Okay, so that's not a big number, but obviously as the striped bass population increases, the predation of smolt, the number of smolt eaten, increases.

You've also heard about ASF's predation study, and we built upon our existing smolt tracking program to determine when smolt are eaten by bass, based on movement patterns.

You often hear of the figure in our study of 2% to 18% predation of salmon smolts in any given year. Those are absolute minimum values. The bass had to hold the tag smolt in its belly for four days for the model to work. This is a significant limitation and it needs to be recognized. So, the study shed more light on striped bass predation of smolt, but it's not the full story.

The best and most complete picture to date comes from ASF's long-term smolt tracking data. Using this information, ASF and DFO recently published the world's longest peer-reviewed study on wild Atlantic salmon, looking at 14 years of smolt tracking from the Gulf of St. Lawrence rivers: the northwest Miramichi, southwest Miramichi, the Restigouche and the Grand Cascapédia. We found that in the Restigouche and Cascapédia, smolt survival through their estuaries was relatively high and consistent, ranging between 70% and 95% over the length of the study.

On the Miramichi, smolt survival was similar to the Cascapédia and Restigouche up until about 2010 when the striped bass population exploded. Between 2010 and 2017, bass abundance climbed from 60,000 to a million spawners, and smolt survival plummeted.

Through the estuary, from a consistent 70%—the same as the Cascapédia and Restigouche—smolt survival went down to just 8%. All the while, in Restigouche and Cascapédia the survival rate stayed at that same 70% or so.

How can we expect the Miramichi to recover, if only 8% of the smolt are making it out through the estuary?

Your committee is studying where to set many different reference points, where humans should intervene when it comes to striped bass for the benefit of the overall ecosystem. We're encouraged by this inquiry, and we have been requesting clear management direction, information and objectives from DFO for a long time.

The number of adult spawning striped bass in 2018 was estimated at 330,000—the second-highest on record. So, despite the one-year decline from 2017 from a million to 333,000, that 333,000 is still 10 times the recovery target that was set back by DFO, and this warrants action.

It's reasonable for people to ask for a mix of species in their fisheries and for DFO to manage towards that. We're not asking for favouritism of one species over another, but in effect, this is exactly was has happened as a result of DFO inaction. Striped bass have recovered and are still protected to the point where native fish populations like salmon, alewife, smelt, and sea-run brook trout are at risk.

ln fairness, we have been encouraged by the small steps the department has taken, such as increased recreational bag limits and the issuance of the licence for Eel Ground First Nation's commercial bass fishery. However, in our view, this is not enough given the urgency of the salmon crisis on the Miramichi.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation recommends that DFO immediately establish an upper stock reference point for striped bass and a management target for the benefit of the broader native ecosystem. The primary mechanism for controlling the striped bass population should be Eel Ground's commercial fishery. It provides an economic opportunity while helping achieve management targets. DFO should eliminate the slot size altogether in Eel Ground's commercial fishery, eliminate the upper slot size for the recreational fishery and allow any bass in inland waters to be retained as a precautionary measure to help salmon.

ln conclusion, I ask that you consider what's at stake. The Miramichi alone supports important indigenous food fisheries, as well as a recreational salmon fishery valued at $20 million that supports more than 600 full-time equivalent jobs.

Yes, Atlantic salmon on the Miramichi face a lot of challenges. We know that. Salmon populations throughout the north Atlantic face challenges, but predation by striped bass is by far the biggest threat right now. There are general declines, but if you look at the Miramichi compared with the Restigouche and Gaspé rivers, the north shore rivers or the Labrador and Newfoundland rivers, there is a general decline, but nowhere is that decline more pronounced than on the Miramichi.

We may not be able to do anything about climate change and some of the problems of the north Atlantic, but on the issue of striped bass in home waters, right in our backyard, we can do something about it.

Thank you.