Evidence of meeting #22 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was year.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
You're right on time.
I know we use the word “population” quite a bit, as well as biomass and whatnot. For the sake of the human population, and a point of clarification, could you very quickly tell us—and perhaps you can weigh in on this—what the difference is between an r and a K population?
Research Scientist, Newfoundland and Labrador Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I'm getting really grilled on first year biology now.
K-selected populations tend to be short-lived species that reproduce rapidly. They can build their populations up very quickly, and they can also die off very quickly. Things like cod and some of the other big flat fish like Atlantic halibut and redfish are much slower growing. They're very long-lived. They persist for a long time, and their population dynamics are more damped. They don't go through these big annual ups and downs; there tend to be smoother ups and downs or they are stretched out over a longer time frame.
Research Scientist, Newfoundland and Labrador Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
The other one is the opposite.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Scott Simms
I'll just leave it at that.
I'm not cutting into your time; I'm just prolonging the game here. My apologies.
Thank you, Doctor.
Mr. Donnelly, go ahead for seven minutes, please.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to the officials for being here for this important study.
Twenty-four years after the moratorium in 1992, why is there still no recovery plan for cod?
Philippe Morel Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
You're probably referring to a species at risk recovery plan. We're managing the resource through the Fisheries Act, not through the Species at Risk Act. That's why there's no recovery plan as per SARA. We have what is called under the Fisheries Act a rebuilding plan, which achieves the same goal of reinstating and making sure the resource is more abundant every year with targets. So it's more about controlling the fishing than it is a plan under SARA.
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
So you don't have a recovery plan, but you have a rebuilding plan.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
It's rebuilding plan, because it's done under the Fisheries Act, not under the Species at Risk Act.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes, I'm sure it is.
Brian Lester Assistant Director, Integrated Resource Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I'm not a member of the committee that's working on it, but there is a recovery plan. Much as they did in 3Ps cod, as you might be aware, the WWF, the Government of Canada, industry processors, and the Government of Newfoundland are all working together in development of this recovery plan. When the minister made his announcement this year, that's one of the things he asked for. He made a one-year announcement asking them to continue to work to try to complete it for future years to assist in making decisions. Part of that is the precautionary approach Dr. Brattey talked about. How do we get out of the zone we're in and into the next zone? Part of that will be the development of harvest control rules. Harvest control rules are developed in line with the limit reference point, where industry works with the department on goals and setting short-, medium- and long-term goals. That will help decide future harvest levels.
I don't know if that confuses the issue more, but it's to say that it's not a recovery plan under SARA, but it is a rebuilding plan of the department.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
I think you've answered this. There is a timeline then? The minister has set a one-year timeline? When does that conclude?
Assistant Director, Integrated Resource Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
The working group's been working on this one, I think, for almost two years, but the minister made a one-year decision this year. I'm asking that working group to continue its work and to try to complete it in advance to assist in making a decision for 2017.
Assistant Director, Integrated Resource Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Do you mean the date by which the decision will have to be made? Decisions for northern cod are normally made by May or June of the year. Decisions on recreational cod would normally have to be made in advance of that.
I think the timeline is there. It's a question of whether the group will be able to achieve consensus between now and May on what that process is, because it will dictate a fairly long run of what happens to the stock going forward. It's a matter of getting everyone on board. As Dr. Brattey said, we try to work on a consensus. We hope to make it.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
This committee would have to wait a year, or half a year, to May of 2017, before we see a draft report or some evidence of the study.
Assistant Director, Integrated Resource Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I don't know if you would call it a study. I think we would call it “how do we implement the precautionary approach in the stock”. I can't tell you what the chair is committed to, but I know the minister's hope was that they could achieve something and some consensus by the time he has to make a decision in 2017. I think that would be the timeline. We would hope to have something more public by then. It is public in a sense that participation on that working group is broad.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Thank you.
The government has committed to greater transparency, and this is a critical time for the department to be fully transparent about management decisions on northern cod. Has the department made its decision-making pathway for northern cod public?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes, it is on the website.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
It's available and we also communicate it to fishermen through their association when we make a decision, which is usually a day or two after the minister approves his decision, just to build the communications package.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes, the industry, in this case FFAW, is involved.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Okay, thanks.
I want to ask for a little more information on this 2015 graph on page 8. It seems to concentrate in 3K. Maybe Dr. Brattey could explain a bit more about why there has been success in that area and not in the adjacent areas.