Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the standing committee.
My name is Paul Demenok. I'm chair of the Shuswap Watershed Council, and with me is Erin Vieira, who is our program manager.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide our input to this program. We have some very significant concerns about potential new introductions of aquatic invasive species. Our concern is with two species in particular, namely zebra and quagga mussels.
Since our formation as a watershed council in 2014, we've been concerned about the threat that these mussels pose and the risks to our aquatic ecosystems and our regional economy. Preventing an invasion of these mussels in our area is of the utmost importance.
Zebra and quagga mussels have not been detected in British Columbia, but our waters are at great risk because of our proximity to infested waterways, the high volume of boat traffic and recreational tourism in and out of our watershed, and our water-quality conditions, which are ideal for zebra and quagga mussels to establish and thrive.
There is very much at stake. The Shuswap watershed has been described as the most socially, economically and ecologically important large-lake aquatic ecosystem in British Columbia. It is the drinking water source for tens of thousands of people. It's the centre of a thriving tourism community and an expanding residential and commercial property market, and it provides migration, spawning and juvenile rearing habitat for four species of Pacific salmon, including the world famous Adams River sockeye salmon. The Shuswap watershed is a tributary to the Fraser, a watershed that is also well known and of great significance.
The zebra mussel, in particular, is thought to be the most destructive aquatic invasive species ever to have invaded North American fresh water, and its impacts are well known. Costs associated with the maintenance requirements that would be imposed by an invasion in British Columbia are estimated to be $43 million per year. Additionally, the impacts suffered by Pacific salmon in the Shuswap watershed, and potentially downstream in the Fraser watershed, are not well understood or as yet estimated in these totals.
We are very gravely concerned about the risk of an invasion of these mussels to the Shuswap and to all of British Columbia, and are very dissatisfied by the measures taken to date to prevent new invasions in Canada. In light of our concern, last year our council spent $43,000 on invasive mussel prevention in the Shuswap watershed, derived from local tax revenues. This year, we will spend close to $46,000.
In 2017, DFO budgeted $43.8 million over five years to prevent and manage aquatic invasive species. Of that, 86% is allocated to just two species in Ontario, neither of which are invasive mussels. In August 2018, Minister Jonathan Wilkinson announced an additional $400,000, spread out over three years, for zebra and quagga mussel research, education and outreach. We believe that these are grossly disproportionate funding allocations, both geographically and by priority.
We feel very strongly that the department should invest much more to prevent further spread of invasive mussels. Federal funding ought to go toward collaboratively supporting the following three prevention strategies in British Columbia.
First is a contribution to the province's watercraft inspection program to enable the establishment of more inspection stations around B.C.'s perimeter and longer operating seasons and hours for the stations. B.C.'s borders ought to be better guarded from potentially contaminated incoming watercraft from both the United States and the rest of Canada.
We also need more robust measures to ensure that aircraft, such as float planes, coming into B.C. aren't contaminated with invasive mussels. To our knowledge, so far nothing has been done in this regard at all.
A contribution to the early detection monitoring programs to enable more water bodies to be regularly tested for invasive mussels is a third step.
In addition to supporting a stronger partnership with the Province of B.C. in preventing an invasion, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans needs to take more action on containing mussel infestations and to fully enact the aquatic invasive species regulations of the federal Fisheries Act. One such measure ought to be that all watercraft leaving invasive mussel-infested jurisdictions be inspected and decontaminated as necessary, thereby closing primary pathways for new invasions.
A recently released audit report on AIS, from the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, is consistent with our concerns about the lack of urgency and intervention by DFO. The audit found that DFO lacked a strategic approach to prevent AIS from entering and spreading within Canada. lt was also found that DFO and the Canada Border Services Agency did not adequately enforce the AIS regulations. It also found that DFO did not respond rapidly to known threats.
Our belief that the investment and actions by the federal government on invasive mussels have been inadequate and disproportionate, combined with recent findings of the audit report, leads us to conclude that the national aquatic invasive species program is not effective in protecting ecosystems in B.C., nor is it serving the socio-economic interests and values of British Columbians.
British Columbia, the home province of lake ecosystems of significant ecological and economic importance, is at risk of being invaded by the most impactful and devastating aquatic invasive species. When one considers all that is at risk in the Shuswap watershed and the rest of B.C., and the current likelihood of an invasion due to gaps in the preventative measures, one wonders why more is not being done. Prevention is a more sensible and responsible, and less costly, approach than trying to control it afterward. The old expression is an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
We are asking today that a larger proportion of federal investment and effort be directed to protect British Columbia from zebra and quagga mussels immediately.
Thank you very much for your consideration of our input. We hope that your committee can determine a more effective and prioritized method of distributing federal funds in an effort to prevent and manage aquatic invasive species.
Thank you.