Thank you.
Jackie's sentiment is similar across the regions where we work. However, there is a much larger problem that needs addressing.
Scientific and environmental knowledge gaps have become endemic in the Arctic. There is a dangerous lack of waterway and flood-plain mapping, a poor understanding of beluga health in the Beaufort Sea, a shortage of studies on ice freeze and breakup in Great Slave Lake, and a broad lack of research into microplastics contamination and invasive fish species, to name just a small fraction of issues facing Arctic marine science. These challenges are compounded by the fact that scientific research is far more expensive in the Arctic than in the south.
However, DFO and the federal government at large continue to underfund this critical work. To give one example, our largest ship is the research vessel Nahidik II. It is the only full-sized research vessel dedicated to Great Slave Lake, the Mackenzie River and the Beaufort Sea. This year, for the third year in a row, it will be staying in dry dock due to a lack of federal investment in marine science. This is despite ARF subsidizing its operations with $1 million of our own core funds and calls from the region's hunters' and trappers' committees for proper federal science funding.
Moving back to pinnipeds, Canada lacks a clear picture on the extent of the damage they cause throughout our waters. What is clear is that the issue is being exacerbated because DFO has not been conducting fulsome fish stock assessments in much of Canada. The department announced it was completely cancelling fall fish stock surveys in certain regions last year, for example, and has consistently failed to properly assess stocks in most of the Arctic. That is a triple shot of a dangerous lack of funding for these studies.
The most recent stock assessments on DFO's website are from 2020. Of the 180 stocks listed, 21 are from the central and Arctic region. Only three species are categorized as healthy, cautious or critical, and the remaining 18 are listed as uncertain. Only three of 18 of these fish species are able to be categorized.
This lack of knowledge is unacceptable and unnecessary.
A core part of assessments in their current form is trawling with large vessels and massive nets. This process is expensive and environmentally damaging. Proven technologies exist that can get the same or better results done at a minimal cost with minimal environmental impact.
For years, Scandinavian countries have been using bioacoustics mapping equipment, similar technology to that found in fish-finders, and the hydrographic equipment used to map seabeds to effectively conduct fish stock assessments. We use this kind of equipment on our ships every day, and the methods for adapting them to stock assessments have been proven effective in other jurisdictions. These surveys could be made even more accurate, while also providing meaningful employment to local fishers, by ground-truthing through small-scale trawling from low-cost local boats.
Our recommendations are that the federal government do the following: Immediately create a pilot project for fish stock assessments using bioacoustics equipment and local trawling, where appropriate. Increase investment in Arctic marine science to match investments in the rest of the country. Add a northern top-up to grants for marine science in the Arctic that reflects the increased expense of operating ships in that region. Meaningfully engage local fishers, hunters and trappers, and indigenous wildlife stewards in wildlife management strategies. Continue to place more power in the hands of northern communities by ensuring that they are able to direct how Arctic science grants are spent.
We have the ships, the technology, the methods and the expertise to solve one major aspect of the pinniped problem by resuming fish stock assessments in an affordable, minimally invasive way. The other issues we’ve mentioned have similar solutions, although we don’t have the time to fully address them in this form. What they do all have in common is the need for action from the federal government.
Thank you.