Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
It's a pleasure to join you on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation.
Thank you for inviting me to speak today to discuss my mandate and highlight some of the progress my department is making in areas of interest to the committee.
All of the work I'm about to discuss pertains to my ongoing commitment to advancing reconciliation, supporting coastal communities, addressing biodiversity loss and mitigating the effects of climate change.
Before I begin, however, I want to acknowledge two devastating incidents that occurred over the last two months.
In early August, a plane carrying three employees of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, or DFO, who worked at the regional science branch in Mont-Joli, Quebec, crashed during a scientific mission to Newfoundland and Labrador. One employee was killed in the accident and two other mission members were injured. This is a major loss for the DFO family and for the scientific community as a whole.
In addition, just last month, we learned that a crew member of the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Vincent Massey was lost at sea off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.
As you can imagine, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard are a very close-knit family. These are heart-rending tragedies for us. My thoughts are with the families, loved ones and friends of those we lost, and, of course, with everyone in my department who knew them and worked with them.
As Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, I am responsible for supporting sustainable, stable and prosperous fisheries for the benefit of all harvesters, including Indigenous peoples, and for ensuring the safety of mariners in Canadian waters. I take these responsibilities very seriously.
Over the past year, I've made a series of decisions informed by scientists and stakeholders, which led to the opening of new commercial fisheries—whelk, sea cucumber and sea urchin—as well as the reopening of the redfish and northern cod fisheries. I also authorized a bait fishery for Atlantic mackerel for personal use.
Finally, I announced a new pilot program, which will study striped bass and its use as bait for lobster harvesters and as a potential fishery for future development.
Quite recently, I announced that personal-use sealing licences will be made available to potential sealers in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. That hunt is focused on harp and grey seals, whose populations fall within a healthy area of the application of the precautionary approach, or PA.
A limited number of new licences for personal use will be issued for 2024 to conduct this pilot activity in new areas. Each individual sealer who receives a personal use licence will be able to hunt up to six harp or grey seals.
Going forward, I encourage our partners, both at home and abroad, to open their doors to Canadian products from our sustainable commercial seal hunt.
On reconciliation, I am personally committed to working in partnership with Indigenous communities to implement the right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood.
Our government is also supporting Canada's fish and seafood sector in other ways: funding repairs to critical small craft harbour infrastructure; investing in innovative technology and infrastructure; working with partners to reduce threats posed by abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear and to find solutions to reduce future gear losses; developing the first-ever conservation strategy to support and promote wild Atlantic salmon conservation policy; and prioritizing a new review of the Fisheries Act to strengthen the protection of owner-operators and protect the fishing industry for generations to come.
My department is also working closely with provinces and territories, Indigenous partners, fishing associations and affected communities to protect and rebuild Pacific salmon stocks.
Not long ago, my department signed a progressive reconciliation agreement on fisheries resources with five First Nations in British Columbia. This two-year funding agreement provides the framework for an effective and collaborative approach to fisheries resource governance, management and planning for the five First Nations.
Another important component of my mandate is to work with provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, industry, environmentalists and other stakeholders to protect 30% of Canada's oceans by 2030. Before 2015, less than 1% of Canada's oceans were protected. Now it's over 15%, an area roughly the size of British Columbia.
With respect to the Canadian Coast Guard, our government continues to invest in the organization's fleet, land assets, infrastructure and technology.
I'm proud to report to your committee that last August, the Coast Guard and our partners at Seaspan Shipyards launched the new oceanographic research vessel at sea. The vessel will continue to provide critical oceanographic science that will help the Government of Canada address the most pressing oceanographic issues, such as climate change. The data and samples collected on board this vessel will also support Canada's domestic and international commitments to ensure sustainable management of our oceans.
In addition to this work, the Canadian Coast Guard has signed a historic agreement with the Norwegian Coast Guard to strengthen marine safety and environmental protection. It continues to advance its commitments to reconciliation by working with Indigenous groups, who are key partners in the marine search and rescue system. It responds to environmental and marine hazards by providing them with training and funding.
The Coast Guard also unveiled the Arctic strategy. This strategy is a 10-year vision that will allow the Coast Guard, in collaboration with First Nations, Inuit and Métis, to continue to provide marine safety, security, science, sovereignty and environmental protection in an ever-changing operational environment in the North.
Finally, last year was a productive year. Many new commercial fisheries were opened, new scientific data was collected to support new fisheries to come and key Coast Guard objectives were achieved.
I am grateful on a daily basis to the officials at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Coast Guard, as well as all partners from coast to coast to coast, for the hard work we do to deliver on the government's objectives.
I am now pleased to answer your questions.
