Fisheries Committee on Sept. 29th, 2016

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

This would have been a deepwater refuge.

[David LeBlanc]

It would have been one of the good salmon pools on the Matapedia River, so you can see that the priority was the railway, not the salmon habitat.

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

Was there any remediation work done there—

[David LeBlanc]

Because of the local group complaining about it, with the support from all the salmon organizations, Canadian National had to apply and do some restoration work on another tributary to compensate for that, but that was not the plan at the beginning. They just did that with three steps instead of one, just to divert from the environmental study process.

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

Thank you.

I'll leave this open to anyone in the group this morning. What are the trends for the recreational fishery participation, both by the residents and from the tourism part of it since you've started to see the decline? Is one growing and another one shrinking? Are there any differences in trends with the fishery on the river, whether it be tourism-related or local-interest related?

[David LeBlanc]

For the Restigouche River, what we've seen is that the public waters have seen a reduction of users. As I said, it was 35% last year for the crown reserve in New Brunswick, and in Quebec, with the adjustment to the new management plan not allowing retention of large salmon, we saw a 31% reduction on the Matapedia River for that organization. In Quebec, it's a river-by-river management plan and the management is through local groups, so the Matapedia River is called the CGRMP. Last year at this time of year, they had 6,400 rod days, but with the impact of this new change, this year they lost 2,000 rod days. For an organization with a $1-million budget, it's probably a loss of $150,000. Since they have to provide protection, we expect that next year there might be some cuts into their protection resources.

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

Thank you.

[Deborah Norton]

For non-residents on the Miramichi, it doesn't appear to be having an impact. However, the first year that we went catch-and-release, there was a real impact on residents deciding that they didn't want to fish that year.

I just returned from a wildlife trust fund meeting, where we get revenue based on licence sales. The revenue on fishing licences is up quite dramatically in 2016 compared with 2015. It appears that numbers of people have decided to come back and go fishing again.

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

Thank you.

I have only a minute left, so it's probably not enough time to ask this. I'm just wondering, does anybody have any idea if there's a single smoking gun out there? We heard about the Cohen commission on the Fraser River sockeye, with pages and pages, volumes, of testimony, but there was no single smoking gun that anyone could point at. We also haven't heard whether you feel there's any impact from aquaculture in the area as well.

There's no single smoking gun? Is there any one thing you could target to turn things around?

[David LeBlanc]

For us on the Restigouche, being a forestry watershed, the impact of forestry is major. The change in peak flows is amazing. This year especially, with the ice run we had last year, we've had peak flows and floods. That's changed the river system big time in terms of debris, siltation, and sedimentation. That's a big concern for the Restigouche River.

With regard to the salmon, as everybody knows, so many things are having an impact on the rivers, the estuaries, the oceans. We cannot point at one thing.

[The Chair, Liberal, Scott Simms]

Thank you, Mr. LeBlanc.

Thank you, Mr. Arnold.

Mr. Johns, you have seven minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for coming today. It's been so valuable to get your insight and opinion. I'll try to be as quick as I can in my questions.

Ms. Koizumi, you talked about aboriginal fishing rights. I'm wondering if there's a co-management model that respects aboriginal fishing rights here in your region.

[Catherine Lambert Koizumi]

It's our mission to help improve the co-management model. I think it really varies region by region. The model we have in our region in Quebec might be different from the one they have in the gulf and in different areas of the country. Generally the salmon in Quebec are also managed with the provincial government. That adds a bit of difficulty, because it's quite complex. It goes river by river.

I think there have been some great successes. In general, first nations are involved in the management of the river. That's the case for the Cascapedia River and it's the case for the Restigouche River as well. I think that can be further improved, of course, and I think first nations ought to be part of each step in the management process, in collaboration with scientists, other local users, and government.

[David LeBlanc]

Can I add something to that?

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

Yes, please.

[David LeBlanc]

For the Restigouche River, there is agreement between the governments. The Listuguj government, as an example, has a contract. There would be a service contract with the Province of Quebec and also an agreement with Fisheries and Oceans. These are mainly contracts—$430,000 with Quebec, $430,000 with the feds—so that they can have rangers, they can have resources for science, and they can have equipment and subcontracts to help them manage their fishing plan.

As an example, for Listuguj that money allows them to have 40 rangers to manage their fisheries: 40 rangers is more human power than all protection officers on the whole Gaspé coast. That's a lot of people available for protection, but they are concentrated only in the estuary. That's why I said there might be some program for capacity-building to involve them in protection upstream from the only sector where they're fishing.

There is also an agreement with Eel River Bar where licences are issued by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans through quotas. Again, I think there should be more involvement from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to help first nations adopt a fishing plan, to have them understand all aspects of their fishery on all tributaries. There are also problems where licences are given to other first nations without consultation in the territories of some first nations.

There are some things to address in regard to these issues.

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

Thank you. I really appreciate the comments.

We talked about salmon farming, and you talked about the introduction of GMOs in the region. Has there been consultation, accommodation, or consent through that process?

[Catherine Lambert Koizumi]

No, zero. That's why I was concerned, because we heard about it through the media and through some other groups in Nova Scotia and in the maritimes. I think there should have been some consultation. I think the risk to the wild salmon population was clearly minimized, but there is a risk. Those eggs are hatched in P.E.I. They are going to be grown in Panama, I think, and they will get back on the market, but if there is an opening to do it here, it could be done in other places. In our view, there is a risk that this genetically modified salmon, by mistake, can get dropped in the water. That could happen; it's not impossible. We fear that there might be an undervaluation of the wild salmon, and also a potential risk of genetic contamination.

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

Thank you.

You talked about the salmon pool that was filled up. We talk about environmental protection, and we've seen changes to the Fisheries Act.

Would you like to elaborate on the impact? I'll open it to any of you who want to speak to these issues.

Mr. Collins, you talked about the environmental review process and different impacts—industry that has left and industry that's coming. We talked about hydrocarbons. Is the Fisheries Act part of the umbrella that your organization looks at as well?

[Harry Collins]

Well, it's certainly a factor. The erosion of fisheries management in recent years was a major hit—again, the appropriate management that we need to see in the river. That being the case, we are more concerned about the lack of credible science that's good to go forward. That's a recurring theme with our organization, and we would certainly like to see that rekindled.

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

We heard that in Newfoundland, and we hear that at home, on Vancouver Island, as well. It's certainly something that we are hearing about.

Mr. LeBlanc, would you like to add to any of that?

[David LeBlanc]

Yes, the deterioration of habitat.... We feel that with these latest changes to the Fisheries Act the government is walking away from its responsibility. The feeling is that the priority is on economic development and major industrial projects—there is actually one in Belledune—so there is little consideration of the impact of the salmon for local communities and the local economy.

Yes, it's important to protect the habitat.

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

What kinds of investments have there been in salmon restoration, in terms of the impact from forestry? You talked about that.

[David LeBlanc]

Do you mean how much money we would need?

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

Have there been investments?