Thank you. It's lovely to see many of you again.
Thank you for inviting me to speak here today.
I work for Oceans North, a Canadian conservation organization focused on ensuring healthy oceans and communities in Canada's Arctic and Atlantic, and with a new organization recently founded in Greenland. We work extensively with indigenous and coastal communities on place-based protection and sustainable fisheries. We also work on shipping impacts and shipping corridor implementation. We have a growing program on oceans and climate change.
My colleagues, whom you've heard from today, are the real experts on the wide variety of work that is being done on the ground to ensure that the North Atlantic right whale does not go extinct on our watch nor at any time in the future.
Oceans North works on place-based protection, fisheries, shipping and, as I mentioned, climate change. The crisis with the North Atlantic right whale population touches all of these issues. It's very hard for us to work on one thing and not take into consideration the measures that are in place with right whales. We know the fishermen are increasingly facing changes in their fisheries, from where they can fish to how they can fish, and sometimes what can be fished. No business likes constant change. However, I would say that the fishing industry is likely one of the more resilient and more used to change, whether imposed by government management or the weather.
This does not make things easier, necessarily. I have heard the testimony of industry colleagues and listened carefully. I know that not one of them, nor the fishermen they represent, want to be implicated in the death of a North Atlantic right whale, or any whale. It is a heartbreaking experience.
I'd like to make three points, many of which have been touched upon by my colleagues.
The first one is on economics. I think while many species in Atlantic Canada have yet to recover from overfishing, those populations that remain healthy, or at least in reasonable shape, have resulted in the fishery being more valuable than ever before. We will always have a market for sustainably caught seafood that originates from comparatively clean waters. In ensuring that these fisheries have as little impact on the North Atlantic right whale as possible—and all whales, for that matter—we'll ensure that they will continue to be seen as sustainable and fished by the people who care for the ocean they depend upon. I think we can do much more to showcase the work being done by our fishers. They should be proud of the changes they have made and, where possible, use this to a market advantage.
My second point is to reiterate that we cannot in any way reduce protection measures. The incredible effort by government, fishers and non-governmental organizations and indigenous fishers must continue. We are in unprecedented times in terms of a changing ocean. The Gulf of St. Lawrence, where most of the North Atlantic right whales have been found for the past several years, is warming faster than any other part of Canada's ocean. It's likely that the prey that the North Atlantic right whale are feeding on will move again, and whales will follow. This means that we have to continue the science, monitoring and stewardship, and expand it so that when whales do move, we are ready. We ended up in the situation we had in 2017 because of a lack of investment in monitoring and stewardship in the preceding years. We also know that things will continue to change and that we need to be ready for those changes as much as possible.
My final point is to emphasize that what Canada does—I think you've heard a lot about the incredible work that has been done—to reduce impacts on the North Atlantic right whale matters. The recent study by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development was clear that the DFO needs to increase its efforts to protect aquatic species at risk and become much more adept at putting measures in place before it is too late.
We're in the midst of a global crisis in biodiversity decline. Countries are going to meet in December in Montreal to set goals for the next 10 to 40 years for how we can halt and reverse this loss. Canada's efforts on the North Atlantic right whale are currently an excellent example of what can be done.
We need to remember that being proactive will cost us less than being reactive. I think we've learned that from the impacts of climate change as well.
Canada needs to continue to lead by example and encourage other countries to do the same. I have no doubt that with the continued collaborative efforts that have been happening, we can have more summers with no North Atlantic right whale deaths.
Thank you for inviting me. Those are my three points. I welcome any of your relevant questions.