Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I will briefly introduce myself. I am a professor and research chair in fisheries ecology at the Université du Québec à Rimouski. As part of my research program, I regularly work with researchers from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, DFO, in the regions of Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, the Maritimes and the Gulf. I have also participated in the work of the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, or CSAS, in all of these regions. I participated in these processes as a university researcher, and sometimes as an external reviewer. So I consider myself to have good experience with these types of processes in eastern Canada for various fish stocks.
First of all, I would like to commend the quality of the work of DFO researchers, who I believe are highly qualified to carry out the scientific work in their mandate. When conducting stock assessments, data are rigorously presented and conclusions are reached by consensus. They are generally based on available scientific data. However, the quality of available data varies greatly between stocks. The assessment of some historically and culturally important species, such as Atlantic cod in eastern Canada, relies on high quality data from multiple sources. Other stocks, however, such as forage species, are data poor. Basic measures, such as their spawning biomass, are sometimes unknown. The quality of the recommendations that scientists can make is therefore directly dependent on the data available.
A limitation to collecting sufficient data on some stocks is the ability of DFO to undertake new surveys. Despite the recent arrival of new coastal vessels and trawlers, the Canadian Coast Guard fleet, on which DFO relies for its monitoring activities, is aging and overused. It is clearly insufficient to consider adding major new surveys. This problem is particularly acute in the Arctic regions, where increased fishing activity is expected in the coming years due to global warming. I believe that DFO needs modern research platforms to better fulfill its resource assessment mandate.
The rapid ecosystem changes we are currently experiencing because of global warming also require the consideration of ecosystem variables in stock assessments to ensure sustainable management of our resources. The ecosystem approach to fisheries management is a major component of the new Fisheries Act, passed in 2019. That same year, the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat published a DFO research paper. This report, written in 2019 by Pierre Pepin and his associates, presented the state of affairs on including ecosystem variables in stock assessments.
The report concluded that, out of 178 stock assessments, less than half considered ecosystem aspects, even in a qualitative way. Given the scale of the effects of climate change, it seems crucial to consider the recommendations of this report in the short term. Three years after publication, however, it is hard for me to know what kind of plan DFO has put in place based on the elements of the report. I recommend accelerating the implementation of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management in Canada.
One of the interesting aspects of this report is the need to better consider the social and economic impacts of climate change. To be more flexible and effective, management approaches should integrate the economic and social context of fisheries, both explicitly and scientifically, as well as information on stock dynamics. This capacity does not currently exist within the department. I therefore recommend that, upstream of management decisions, economists and sociologists be involved in the scientific process.
Finally, as several witnesses have already mentioned during this study, I support and recommend the establishment of a decision-making structure that would include a ministerial obligation to make decisions based on the findings of scientific stock assessment processes, with no room for discretionary intervention.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.