Fisheries Committee on Nov. 20th, 2024

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Okay, great. Maybe I'll quickly ask about the Bay of Fundy.

I met with FORCE, which is doing a study on tidal energy in the Bay of Fundy, and with other folks in that region. They had some concerns about how DFO was applying legislation and policy in different regions and about how that could hinder the development of some clean energy projects we have in Canada.

Do you know anything about some of the concerns they had there? Can you speak a bit about that recommendation to make sure that we have consistency across regions?

[Francis Bradley]

I don't have anything specific to that project. As I said earlier, it isn't just hydroelectric dams that are potentially impacted by the Fisheries Act. It could impact these sorts of facilities as well.

However, you raise an important question, and that is around inconsistent approaches to how this legislation is implemented. In addition to the concerns that we have, overall, in terms of the lack of guidance and the lack of ability to have a pathway forward, we also see—and have seen for quite some time, even under the previous Fisheries Act—that there has always been an inconsistent approach to how this act is administered across the country. There is no consistency from region to region.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you for that.

We'll go to Mr. Bragdon for five minutes or less, please.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

I'll yield the first couple of questions to Mr. Small, and then I'll take it from there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

You only get five minutes. You might not get to speak at all.

Go ahead, Mr. Small.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll go back to Mr. Kennedy or to Ms. Parker.

Philanthropists who have practised scorched earth all their lives are trying to buy their penance, I guess, by supporting ENGOs. In terms of our seal harvest in Newfoundland and Labrador, they still say that we're harvesting whitecoats, which hasn't happened since 1983.

You mentioned that there's a portrayal of your industry that's no longer accurate. Can you speak to that?

[Tim Kennedy]

Sure. We have done research, and I think the story needs to be told more broadly. We know that tens of millions of dollars have been brought into Canada from U.S. foundations in the early 2000s and have been also mixed in with Alaskan salmon interests to demarket farm salmon. This happened in the early 2000s. Since then, opposition to the sector has been picked up, but all of that seed funding has resulted in what I think Ms. Collins was talking about, which is this broader antagonism towards the sector based on practices that....

The sector is 50 years old in British Columbia. It's not very old. It's about 45 years old. That's only a few generations of production. When we started the production in British Columbia, was it perfect? Absolutely not. Has it been massively improved? Yes, it has. What we find in social media, for instance, in the criticisms, is that they always recycle. It's very hard to stop these things and to correct these things. It's reached a point, obviously, where the Liberal government believed this opposition was so strong that it needed to shut things down.

That is really not what public polling says. Public polling says there are concerns, which we recognize. We can make changes to our industry, quite dramatic changes, with existing technology. You do not need to shut down net pens. That is so extreme. This is what I think all of this opposition has been pointing to.

Can you imagine? Again, on the science perspective, we go from CSAS reports saying that we pose no more than “minimal risk” to wild salmon to suddenly saying that we have to shut down, that it's 100% risk and it has to go away. That's exactly what this decision is, banning open-net salmon farms. It seems like there is almost a shadow government of environmentalists that is trying to control the minister to shut us down, which is, again, so extreme. I'm sorry, but I will say that the NDP has been a big part of that.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

You mentioned the Alaskan wild fishery. In 1990, before fish farming really took off worldwide, what do you think Alaskans were receiving for sockeye salmon at the wharf?

[Tim Kennedy]

Did you say back in the 1990s?

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Yes.

[Tim Kennedy]

I don't know. I'm sorry.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

It was $6 a pound.

[Tim Kennedy]

Okay.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

What do you think they got last year?

[Tim Kennedy]

I believe it was under a buck.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

It was 70¢ a pound last year. That's quite the drop. Six dollars a pound in 1990 would be $12 a pound right now, with 2% inflation.

Do you think that was U.S. money? I've heard figures as high as $200 million. Those came in via the NGOs and philanthropists. Do you think that was on purpose, in order to disadvantage your industry in the marketplace, in favour of the American wild fishery?

[Tim Kennedy]

We certainly have evidence of that. We know there were demarketing campaigns in the early 2000s that were targeted at B.C. salmon farms as a competitive industry. There's no question there was a lot of money that flowed into Canada for those purposes.

We'd agree with that.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Bragdon, do you have a question?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

You have 25 seconds. You can do what you like with it.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

I'm down to 15 or 10 seconds.

Thanks to each of you for your insightful testimony.

Mr. Kennedy, let's wrap up. I know how important the aquaculture industry is to many of our coastal communities on the east coast and in the Atlantic provinces. Would you be able to briefly share with us how many jobs and coastal communities—in terms of their vitality and future vitality—are somewhat interconnected with the aquaculture industry?

[Tim Kennedy]

I'll use one very quick example. Mayor Steve Crewe from Hermitage, Newfoundland, said something like this: “What would our community be without aquaculture? It would be a cemetery.” We're seeing communities that declined over years and years coming back and having new vitality. Families are coming back. This applies to the west coast, as well, and many first nations communities where salmon farming has been, in particular, a huge driver of family and community renewal.

That's the future of seafood production in Canada. I think it's critical for this committee to embrace that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you.

We'll now go to Mr. Morrissey to finish up in five minutes or less.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Thank you, Chair.

The committee is reviewing the Fisheries Act. We've been hearing a lot about economics and finger pointing. I'd like to come back to the act.

Mr. Kennedy, you referenced that change needs to happen, and that operations have changed. What would your key recommendation be for a change in the Fisheries Act that supports your industry while protecting the environment and those coastal communities at the same time?

[Tim Kennedy]

I would say that the most important change for us in the Fisheries Act is mentioning the word “aquaculture” and having a definition of aquaculture that coexists with international definitions at the United Nations food agency. There are definitions. Recognizing us as a food-producing sector is very important.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Could you supply to the committee some of those international definitions you may have access to? I would like to see them go in.