Evidence of meeting #59 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 recommendations.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I'll have to get back to you on the exact numbers.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our departmental officials for being here today to answer our questions on this important topic, on Cohen.
I have just one question. I think you may have mentioned it, but I'm not sure I caught it. When was the last progress report updated?
Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Minister Leblanc provided an update on Cohen in August 2016.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
One of the recommendations Justice Cohen talked about was separating the department's mandate from protecting wild salmon and promoting aquaculture. How has the department reacted to that, and where are we on that recommendation?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Oceans Science and Oceans Protection Plan, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
As far as changing the mandate of the department is concerned, we are not on that track right now. Essentially the way the department has approached this is that if you embrace the concept of sustainability, as distinct from the traditional economy-environment trade-off, a big part of what we're about in regulating and managing this industry and the fishery overall is to play quite heavily on regulatory provisions. We don't see a fundamental conflict in our engagement on aquaculture right now.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Recommendation 6 talks about the Government of Canada providing funding for DFO to carry out its wild salmon policy implementation. Has there been any funding in any budgets to implement this recommendation?
Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
I can respond to that. The way we deliver on the wild salmon policy is, as Mr. Swerdfager said, in a very integrated way. When looking at the budget supporting the wild salmon policy implementation, you need to look at the various inputs to it—for example, science, and we spoke about some of the capacity areas: fisheries management, conservation and protection, and habitat. Each of those elements and staff and programs is used to support wild salmon policy. You're thus not going to see a single line item that says “wild salmon policy”; what you're going to see is a number of inputs supporting the overall recommendations of the report.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Have you been putting money toward this wild salmon policy, then?
Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Absolutely we have. We're doing that, since the report was developed, by responding to the specific recommendations, and so you can see the progress being made.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
I first ran in 2009 in a by-election, and during my campaign I called for a judicial inquiry. That summer we had one of the worst returns, and I was very happy when then-prime minister Harper announced the Cohen inquiry that year. However, since 2012 I'm not sure we're really any further ahead in determining and addressing the threats to the health of Fraser River sockeye.
Here is a general comment, because there have been comments about the 2010 run being a record year. I don't believe it was a record year; it was a high return. Over the past century, while there have been a few good returns of sockeye, I believe the overall trend of the Fraser River fishery has been downward.
I'd like to ask whether you feel the department is making progress in determining the decline of the Fraser River sockeye.
Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Is the question about determining the decline?
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Yes, it's about whether you're making progress. If you look at this century—and you alluded to it, Rebecca, as well—in the past there were returns of 100 million. Now we think that 20 million or 30 million is a “record run”; I have heard that referred to. It's definitely a high run. Now, when we look at a million returning, when you do the overall trend from pre-1950 to now it's obviously not as strong as it was.
Are we making any progress at determining why that is?
Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
The report has a graph that illustrates your point exactly, showing the change from the early 1900s to now. The question of the causes for the decline is exactly what we've been talking about: what those causes are and how we address them.
Are we getting any closer to understanding it? It's a complex question. We have a good sense of the reasons for the decline. For example, a lot has to do with marine survival and those types of aspects that are obviously hard to control. I think, however, that the system we have for managing salmon is a good one. We have good information. We worked well with our stakeholders and first nations groups to come up with an integrated plan to manage the returns that we do have.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
You mention marine survival, and that's fair enough. A hundred years ago, were the marine conditions fundamentally different? Can we point to that as an obvious major factor? Can we point to the last century of industrial activity or human activity as having affected salmon returns?
Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
There are factors that we can point to. One element we particularly care about these days is the impacts of climate change as it affects temperature and flows in the river. You have marine issues around the types of feed available for the salmon. You also have the impacts on the rivers as the salmon return. It is thus a complex issue. It's one that requires more science to really understand, and those are some of the investments we're making in the species.
NDP
Fin Donnelly NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
I heard there was a record investment in science, so I'm hoping that we are going to get a lot closer to determining—
I'm sorry, is that not the case, that it was a record investment?
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Oceans Science and Oceans Protection Plan, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
No, I was just saying to Rebecca that I can offer a quick comment on that before Mr. Simms beeps you—or me, rather.
Essentially what we're trying to do through the new investments is substantially increase our understanding of what's happening in the ocean. One of the big challenges in salmon science is that once they leave a particular periphery of the coast, so to speak, we don't actually know where they go, who's eating them, what's doing good, bad, or whatever to them. What we're trying to do is increase our ability to monitor change in the ocean. Our oceanography, which we don't talk about an awful lot in the context of salmon conservation, is really critical to understanding the changes in the system.
We are seeing changes in temperature, pH, and salinity over time. Can we crosswalk that back into specific salmon population responses? We can't yet, but that's a fair bit of what we're trying to figure out. With some of the new investments, particularly in budget 2016 but even more substantially in budget 2017, our ability to monitor the ocean is increased, in particular with substantial new investments in ocean monitoring technology.
We put $12 million into technology last year, the biggest technology buy we've made in our history, to put gear in the water to understand what's happening in the ocean, because what we want to better understand, when these animals go there, what the nature of their environment is. We will not have an immediate answer to that question, but the activity there is high.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Thank you all for being here this morning.
One recommendation, which I want to start off with, and then we'll do a quick tick box of some of the recommendations that have been in the report, said that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans should immediately create a new position in the Pacific region at the associate regional director general level, with responsibility for developing and implementing the wild salmon policy.
Ms. Reid, is that you?
Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
No, it's not me. I'm the regional director general. The suggestion had been that we would create an additional associate regional director general focused entirely on the wild salmon policy.
Regional Director General, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
We do not intend to create a new position to do it, but we have responded in a way that we think meets the intent of that recommendation, which I can explain, if you like.
Liberal
