Fisheries Committee on Sept. 21st, 2016

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

I noticed a difference, and I think others did as well, in the recoveries of the northern regions versus the southern regions. Is there an impact from international fisheries in those northern regions? Is there any correlation there between those recoveries, non-recoveries, and other commercial catches?

[John Brattey]

No, there isn't with respect to northern cod because, of the three NAFO divisions within the northern cod population, the two northern ones don't extend out beyond the 200-mile limit. There is basically no fishing by foreign fleets in areas 2J and 3K on the shelf, where the cod are. There is some fishing in area 3L, on the nose of the Grand Banks.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

That's what I was wondering.

[John Brattey]

For those catches, there are NAFO observers on those vessels, I believe. Perhaps my colleagues can expand on this, but the catches by foreign fleets have been quite low, generally less than a couple of hundred tonnes—80 tonnes, things like that—so I don't think they are of major significance at the moment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Okay, we'll have to leave it at that. I'm sorry.

Thank you, Mr. Arnold.

We're going to go to Mr. Finnigan, for five minutes, please.

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

I read a report somewhere that the samples, especially this year, are a lot leaner than they were in the past. If that is true, is that a cyclic occurrence, or is it just an anomaly this year?

[John Brattey]

No. You're obviously well up on the latest information on northern cod, because this is something we've just been hearing in the last month or so. Fishermen have been calling us.

It started in southern Labrador when the fishermen called and said: “The cod are really skinny this year. What's going on? Also, there's no capelin here this summer, whereas last year there were many capelin and the cod were fat.”

After that call was reported in the media, more calls started to come in to us, and I was asked to comment on it on CBC's Fisheries Broadcast.

We've had several reports of cod this year in the fishery around the coast being a bit thin. Some of them are not looking very healthy, and the fishermen are also commenting that there don't seem to be as many capelin around this year as there were last year.

We're not totally surprised to hear this, because the last capelin assessment said that there were a couple of year classes of capelin coming in that looked quite weak. Those would be into the sizes that cod eat, so we weren't overly surprised to hear this. But it is a little bit of a concern, because when cod don't have good feeding, that situation tends to affect their reproduction, and it can affect their survival as well.

We're certainly very aware of these comments, and we are sampling the fish this year. Our research vessel survey has just begun—the big survey in the autumn. The sentinel fishermen have been collecting and freezing samples of cod for us throughout the summer. We'll be looking at all of that information to see whether there are any indications that the condition of the cod this year is of concern or not. Maybe they are just a little bit thin, but if they are extremely thin, then it would be a hint of a concern that we'd have to look at very carefully, because it could affect recovery down the road.

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

Would that be its only food? What else would it feed on?

[John Brattey]

They feed on a wide variety of organisms on the bottom, but capelin seems to be the key with respect to their growth and spawning potential. It's so high in calories; it comes right in to the coast to spawn; it's so aggregated that it is easy for cod to catch. It is certainly one of the most important things for the northern cod in particular, especially to sustain a large population.

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

I'm not too familiar with the migration of the cod itself. Are there commercial fisheries occurring beyond the 200-mile limit? Of course, the cod doesn't know that there is a limit. Can you tell us whether there are commercial fisheries? Do you have the numbers on those?

[John Brattey]

Yes, there are some fisheries beyond the 200-mile limit, but the only portion of the northern cod stock area where the water is at a depth at which cod would reside is in the nose of the Grand Banks. That's in southern area 3L, which is the lower division in the chart.

There still is foreign activity there: they have allocations of other species. They have some bycatch of cod, but the values we're presented with show typically, as I mentioned, around 80 to 100 tonnes—something like that—of cod being reported.

I don't know whether my colleagues can substantiate that.

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

You said there was also cod in the Boston area in the U.S., but did I understand that the cod is starting to disappear in that—?

[John Brattey]

Yes, in the southern end of the range of the species, right down to Cape Cod, they are really not doing well at all. They are really struggling to persist down there. As I mentioned, there could be many reasons. Grey seals have been implicated, but also climate change and warming. That's the southern end of the range of the species, where the waters in the Gulf of Maine and that area have become extremely warm and simply may be unfavourable for cod.

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

We talked about logbooks a little while ago. Those are for commercial fishers. What about the recreational? Do you have any numbers as to how much cod is caught by recreational fisheries, and would those be effective?

[John Brattey]

We do have some information, and there's a program coming into play next year that will address that further. At the moment, we do have some estimates of the recreational catch, which comes from our work with tagging. We release large numbers of live cod with numbered plastic tags, which the recreational fishers know all about, and if they catch one with a tag they send it back to us for a reward.

When we look at the commercial fishery and the proportion of the total tags that the commercial fishermen send back to us, we know what the commercial fishermen are catching. Then we can look at the number of tags we get from recreational fishers, and it gives us a comparison to get some idea of the recreational catch. It has been fairly substantial, in the order of maybe 1,500 tonnes in the last few years.

There's a new program coming into play now.

[Philippe Morel]

Yes, there's a new program starting next year under which licences and tags will be allocated, and then we'll be able to have better monitoring. We estimate that there is between 1,500 and 2,000 tonnes caught by the recreational fishery annually. Obviously, with tags and licences next year, we'll be able to control that, and also have a better reporting mechanism to know about the impact of recreational fishing. That will be starting in 2017.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Sorry, Mr. Finnigan, you'll have to leave it at that.

Mr. Sopuck, go ahead for five minutes, please.

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

Dr. Brattey, did I hear you say earlier in your testimony that you don't think seal predation is that significant in terms of the cod stock decline or recovery?

[John Brattey]

With respect to northern cod and the harp seals, yes, but I would not say that about other cod stocks and the grey seal.

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

Good, because I just found the report from your department. It's called, Grey seals and cod, and it says

While much research remains to be done, the lack of cod recovery in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence appears to be due to high mortality among larger cod. Predation by grey seals make account for up to 50 percent of this natural mortality, making them a major factor limiting the recovery of this cod stock.

I'm very well aware of different regions, and things happen in different places, but I think that perhaps you're being overly cautious in terms of the effect of seals on cod. I would hope that political correctness doesn't play any role in the conclusions of the work that the department is doing.

It is possible that seals, in terms of northern cod, could be a significant factor. When a species is driven down to such a level, even if the number of prey species taken is the same but they're a much higher percentage of the total stock, obviously the effect of predation can be a dampening factor on any recovery.

Is that a fair comment?

[John Brattey]

Presumably.

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

Again, the seal issue is one that we're going to be looking at very carefully.

I've read and heard that the cod stocks off Iceland are in quite good shape. Is that correct?

[John Brattey]

Yes.

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

What is Iceland doing that is different from what Canada is doing? Why did this collapse not occur in Iceland and it did happen here?

[John Brattey]

The Icelandic stocks are doing well, and so are the ones off northern Norway. I think the fundamental reasons are that they did go through a period of decline, but they didn't decline anywhere near as much as ours did. There was a much greater, I guess you'd call it, spawning biomass still in the water to generate a recovery.

They also had very favourable environmental conditions in those two areas, and both of these factors together generated good recovery of those stocks.