Evidence of meeting #119 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vessels.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Manager, Terra Services Inc.
I would say 90%-plus of vessels abandoned on the east coast will be fishing vessels or related to the fishing industry in some way. They may be workboats, or something like that, but, yes, they're directly involved in the fishing industry.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Thank you.
You're clearly out on the water. You're seeing first-hand what's happening. Do you have any ideas as to why we're seeing such an influx of fishing vessels being abandoned along the east coast?
Manager, Terra Services Inc.
These vessels have been abandoned over a period of 20 to 30 years. They didn't just happen overnight. These vessels have been sitting there in coves and beaches. Of course, when the fishing moratorium started 30 years ago, when we lost all our fish through overfishing, it put in disarray four of the Atlantic provinces. Basically, our livelihood was taken from us at that time, and the boats couldn't go fishing, and there were so many of them parked and left for.... We never had any choice. We never had any choice except to do that.
That would be the biggest reason, because, yes, people had to move away from the fishing industry and go somewhere else to work. This was the biggest cause of the boats we see around. It didn't happen overnight; it happened over a period of time.
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Right. Thank you, Mr. Roberts. What you're saying makes a lot of sense.
In the 1990s, of course, we saw an influx of vessels being abandoned because of the cod moratorium. Can you clarify whether now, to date, you are still seeing vessels that are being abandoned?
Manager, Terra Services Inc.
Yes, there are. There are. There are vessels being abandoned every day, every month of the year, in whatever year you want to look at—
NDP
Lisa Marie Barron NDP Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC
Thank you very much, Mr. Roberts. I just want to try to get in as many questions as I possibly can.
You were talking about the waste disposal site, and how that breaks down. Is there any recycling happening through that waste disposal site? How does that work out as far as being able to reuse any of the vessel parts is concerned?
Manager, Terra Services Inc.
When we remove a vessel that, let's say, is a wood and fibreglass boat, with an engine, transmission and all the gear in it, we would take all of the metal from the boat and bring that to a metal recycling place. The oils and lubes and that sort of thing in that vessel would be brought to another recycling place for recycling. The wood would go to another recycling place, and the fibreglass would be broken up and brought to another separate.... Some of these recycling places can look after all of this. They have all this at their site. This would come out of the ocean, come out of the water, the beach, and be brought there. It's completely recycled, and we're clean.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you.
We'll now go to Mr. Arnold for five minutes or less, please.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'd like to bring to the awareness of the committee that abandoned and derelict vessels aren't just an issue on our marine coasts. I'm aware of a situation on Shuswap Lake a few years ago. There was an abandoned houseboat that had been left over the winter. It got frozen into the ice and it sank in the spring.
It became a jurisdictional battle over who would actually be responsible for the removal of that vessel. It got tossed back and forth between Transport Canada as to whether it was a navigation hazard, DFO as to whether it was a fisheries hazard, and the ministry of environment with the province as to whether it was a pollution issue. Eventually, it was the small, regional district that actually ended up footing the bill for removing that sunken vessel from the water.
Fortunately, the costs weren't overly high, but the jurisdictional battle that takes place sometimes is inappropriate.
Mr. Roberts, in terms of the abandoned vessels you're dealing with and you're aware of, are they all of Canadian origin or are they from other countries?
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
They're all Canadian, in your case.
Are you aware of any vessels that aren't of Canadian origin on any coast?
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Thank you.
Traditionally, it was probably the case that wooden boats and fishing boats were allowed to return to the earth, as they decompose and don't have any environmental hazards. I assume that's not possible with the new materials that are involved.
What type of disposal is required for the various types of vessels that you mentioned? You mentioned wood. You mentioned fibreglass, fibreglass over wood, steel and aluminum.
What is required for some of the products used that aren't as easily recycled?
Manager, Terra Services Inc.
For the products that can be recycled.... Let's say it's a wooden boat. Most of the wood would go into a landfill. There's no contamination and no hazardous material there.
The wood from the bottom part of the boat, where the keel is and where your engine and all your oils are, would be contaminated with oil stains over the years and all this stuff. This would go to a hazardous waste disposal site, where they would look after it. That's what they do. They will look after all the hazardous waste.
The oils and the glues would go to another recycling facility. The metals would go to a separate site for recycling. That's how this works.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
What happens to the hazardous materials when they get to a hazardous waste material handling site? Are they incinerated? Are they buried? Are they stockpiled?
What happens to the materials there?
Manager, Terra Services Inc.
What I see thus far is that the hazardous materials are contained at a facility. I don't know if any of them burn this. What I see here now is that it's just contained from moving anywhere else.
That's what I've been seeing.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
It sounds like in time we could run into a storage space issue if there aren't methods of dealing with this hazardous material.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
I guess the next question is around when vessels are abandoned or when they become derelict. It appears that some vessel owners choose to just abandon a vessel rather than deal with the costs or the work of actually disposing of it.
How could vessel owners be encouraged to deal with the disposal of a vessel before they choose to abandon it?
Manager, Terra Services Inc.
I had a call just last week from a fisherman asking me the same question. He asked, “How can I get rid of my boat? I've got to bring her in. I don't know where I'm going to put her. I don't know if I can put her at the marine service centre. I'm not sure where I can put her.” This guy was told that we do this type of work, and this was a question that he asked me, the same question you're asking me now. I couldn't really give him an answer.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Mr. Arnold. We've gone over.
We'll now go to Mr. Hardie for five minutes or less.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks for being with us, Mr. Roberts.
In the same vein as we were just discussing, say I have a boat, let's say a fishing boat, or on the west coast it's more likely to be a pleasure craft of some sort. What's the cost to the owner if they surrender a vessel, or do they just give it to you and away you go? Where does your money come from to cover your operation?
Manager, Terra Services Inc.
The vessels we take up now come from the Government of Canada, through Fisheries and Oceans, Transport Canada, Parks Canada or some federal agency. All federal agencies have the ability to issue a tender for derelict vessels. The cost, as I know it, is paid by the federal government.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
If somebody comes to you and says that they want to surrender their vessel—they're doing the right thing, obviously—is there a cost to the vessel owner of surrendering the vessel?