Evidence of meeting #64 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was seal.
A video is available from Parliament.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Ms. Shears.
We've gone over the allotted time now, so hopefully anything you didn't get out will come out in questioning.
We'll move on now to Mr. Zeman for five minutes or less, please.
4:40 p.m.
Jesse Zeman Executive Director, B.C. Wildlife Federation
Thank you, Chair. Thanks for the opportunity to be a witness.
The B.C. Wildlife Federation is British Columbia's leading conservation organization. We are the largest and oldest conservation organization, with over 41,000 members in 100 clubs across the province.
As it relates to watersheds, wetlands, salmon, steelhead and sturgeon, our clubs and members spend hundreds of thousands of volunteer dollars and hours conducting habitat restoration across the province, operating hatcheries that were defunded by DFO and advocating for legislative, regulatory and policy changes to support a future that includes abundant salmon and steelhead. As it relates to water, wetlands and fish, the BCWF invests millions of dollars annually in projects working with first nations and other partner groups.
Considering most B.C. presenters will be discussing salmon and pinnipeds today, I will stick to steelhead.
I'd like to remind the committee that steelhead are slightly different from other salmon species in the sense that they survive after spawning. These fish are called kelts. Kelts are capable of returning to the ocean and coming back to spawn a second time as older, bigger fish. Bigger fish means more eggs, which means more offspring.
In the past I've spoken to you regarding the peer-reviewed process through the Canadian science advisory secretariat, which is supposed to be a formal, transparent process for providing peer-reviewed science advice to DFO and the public. This process is integral to Canada's Species at Risk Act, and as it relates to endangered interior Fraser steelhead, this process was completely undermined.
In that process, pinniped predation on smolts and adult steelhead, competition with other salmon in the ocean, interception through fishing, ocean conditions and freshwater conditions were all identified as factors that could support recovery. Out of all those factors, pinniped predation was identified as the single largest driver, but in the report all factors were lumped together without identifying the relative importance of each, which will likely keep DFO off the hook for doing something meaningful to recover these endangered fish.
In the Puget Sound, south of the border, steelhead populations have declined to less than 5% of their historical levels. South of the border, they invest orders of magnitude more into monitoring, research and generally into science and management. The indicators that explain the most variance in steelhead smolt survival included harbour seal abundance, hatchery chinook, salinity of marine waters and river discharge. Seal abundance was the strongest predictor.
As it relates to pinnipeds and steelhead in B.C., the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project has shown extensive predation of steelhead smolts and adults by harbour seals. In the past we have discussed the crash of interior Fraser steelhead, mainly the Thompson River and Chilcotin River fish, which respectively outnumbered 3,000 fish each in 1985 but saw just an estimated 19 and 104 fish in 2022.
These are not the only steelhead populations that are rapidly being managed to zero. On Vancouver Island the story is much the same, but in some watersheds the outcome is even worse. The Gold River on Vancouver Island's west coast was once famous for its steelhead fishing. Winter steelhead snorkel counts were as high as 909 fish in 1999. Since 2019, the annual snorkel count was four, zero, two and zero fish, respectively. The current steelhead population in the Gold River is less than 10% of the watershed's carrying capacity.
Over the past decade, monitoring on the Gold River by provincial biologists and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation has identified consistent use of the river and estuary by harbour seals, when the only notable prey available would have been steelhead, despite being nearly extirpated. Even when there are thousands of tonnes of herring spawning in front of the Gold River, seals have been observed hunting in the river for the few steelhead that remain.
In rivers, steelhead were historically found using runs and pools in the river, and they are now found hiding in rocks in extremely shallow parts of the river to avoid predation. This has recently been noted by anglers and biologists on rivers across Vancouver Island. The Gold River fish are headed for extirpation and will not recover without intervention.
At home with the B.C. Wildlife Federation, after years of webinars and presentations from academics and researchers on salmon regarding the trends around steelhead as well, last week the B.C. Wildlife Federation passed a resolution at its convention and annual general meeting in Nanaimo to support a sustainable and managed harvest of pinnipeds. Our organization and member clubs—which again spend millions of dollars restoring habitat, operating hatcheries and advocating for policies that support a future for salmon, steelhead and sturgeon—now officially supports the management of pinnipeds.
As it relates to steelhead and a number of salmon populations, we are in a crisis. We need to use all of the tools in the tool box in employing adaptive management and, as a country, we need to be laser-focused on outcomes, not process.
I'll end to say that steelhead are endangered; pinnipeds are not.
Thank you for your time.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you. That was right on the mark for timing.
We'll now go to Mr. Ned-Kwilosintun for five minutes or less, please.
4:45 p.m.
Murray Ned-Kwilosintun Executive Director, Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon to all, and thanks for the invitation.
My name is Murray Ned. I am the executive director of the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance, and I have been with the organization since its inception in 2010.
We currently have a small program staff of four, and 10 biologists and technicians who oversee work that includes habitat restoration, resource management, stewardship and science activities. The Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance provides coordination, communications, advisory and technical support to 30 of the Lower Fraser first nations.
Today I am speaking to you from Sumas First Nation, British Columbia, to offer a Lower Fraser first nation's perspective on the impacts of pinniped populations. The Lower Fraser region spans 200 kilometres, from the mouth of the Fraser River to Yale, British Columbia, and includes five watersheds with hundreds of tributaries, of course.
Seals and sea lions have always been part of the Fraser River ecosystem, and their relationship with salmon has existed since time immemorial. Unlike salmon, pinnipeds have been able to sustain a consistent and healthy population since the nineties, and perhaps even before that.
We have seen them regularly at the mouth of the Fraser River, right up to the Yale canyon, but now their presence is observed in many of our shallow tributaries, just several kilometres from the Fraser main stem. The assumption is that they are feeding on juvenile and adult salmon and other resident species, but that is yet to be determined.
We all know that Fraser salmon have been in a crisis for the last few decades across many stocks and species, and face an overwhelming number of impacts, including habitat degradation, climate change, pollution, disease and most recently the 2021 atmospheric rivers that wreaked havoc during spawning migration in all of the tributaries and in the Fraser, to some extent.
We also know that pinniped predation has an impact on salmon and that this was identified as a limiting factor during the recent species at risk assessment process for Fraser chinook, Fraser sockeye, interior Fraser coho and interior Fraser steelhead. What we don't know is the extent of pinniped impacts, as there has been limited government interest in investing in this important work.
Any proposed pinniped management strategy should prioritize the collection of baseline data in order to be able to produce accurate population estimates and determine what their predation impacts are on Lower Fraser salmon and passing stocks to the Upper Fraser and Middle Fraser.
The strategy must also consider and respect inherent rights of Lower Fraser first nations, which have the capacity and expertise to lead this work, if properly resourced. A study and methodology framework has been developed by the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance to conduct this study. There is strong support from the Lower Fraser collaborative table, which complements the area E commercial sector—seven recreational agencies and 23 first nations.
With the enactment of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we see a great opportunity for the federal government and others to partner with the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance to conduct this work within the territories of the nations. Further, we see this as a form of guardianship and much needed technical work that would further develop the capacity of nations and their members, and produce valuable data and conclusive research in the best interests of all British Columbians, and of course the salmon.
Fraser salmon have been in a crisis for far too long, and it's imperative that we determine if pinniped predation is contributing to their decline. Time is of the essence. We must act now.
Thank you, again, for the time, Mr. Chair.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you for that.
We'll now go to our round of questions.
We'll start off with Mr. Arnold for six minutes or less, please.
4:45 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses.
I'll start off with Mr. Zeman, if I could.
Mr. Zeman, you mentioned what I believe you said was a series of evidence and science information. I believe that fed into a CSAS process on the assessment of the probability of recovery for the Thompson and Chilcotin steelhead. We've also heard in this committee previously about what went into that process versus what came out of it.
Could you elaborate a little further on what you may know about that process on the recovery chances of steelhead?
4:50 p.m.
Executive Director, B.C. Wildlife Federation
Yes, certainly, and we have talked to the committee about this a number of times.
The reality is that it is supposed to give us all—you folks in Ottawa and all the rest of us in Canada— the best available science. We know what happened behind the scenes was that the peer-reviewed document had been altered. It has only recently been released after years and years of ATIPs and media attention.
As I said in this presentation today, when we look at the covariants that were examined, we see that seal and sea lion adult predation and seal smolt predation come up as two of the most significant factors.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
The most significant factors for steelhead recovery.... Is that correct?
4:50 p.m.
Executive Director, B.C. Wildlife Federation
Yes, driving the declines.... They came in at number one and number two. It looks like number three was salmon competition in the Pacific. A lot of that revolves around international regulations and other countries dumping millions of pink and chum salmon into the Pacific.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Would that be what is referred to as “salmon ranching”?
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Can you confirm that so that we have it in the testimony?
4:50 p.m.
Executive Director, B.C. Wildlife Federation
Yes, that is what is referred to as “salmon ranching”.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
The limiting factors on steelhead recovery.... Would it correlate that those same limiting factors would apply to other salmonids we are seeing struggling? I believe Mr. Ned mentioned chinook and other species.
4:50 p.m.
Executive Director, B.C. Wildlife Federation
Yes. There has been a ton of work. You have all heard from the experts. My colleague Mr. Ned mentioned the chinook review as well. Pinniped predation is coming up regularly for most species being evaluated.
Once we get into the land of CSAS and the Species at Risk Act, we are jumping into a very large pool with a very small bit of water left in it. Once we get into this time, when we're looking at endangered fish, we are probably a few decades behind. The message there is that it costs orders of magnitude more to bring those fish back from the brink than it does to manage them sustainably and get ahead of the curve.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Thank you.
I'll switch to Mr. Ned, if I can.
Mr. Ned, your first nations have been witnessing and seeing pinnipeds in the main stream of the Fraser for millennia, basically. How far up the Fraser, and how extensive are the observations in the tributaries now?
April 27th, 2023 / 4:50 p.m.
Executive Director, Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
It's pretty vast. On the Fraser main stem, when I fish, it doesn't take long before they accompany me to my net. Then, they're harvesting on their own. Whenever we get opportunities, they are front and centre. They are very smart animals. They know the sound of boats and they know what you're doing, so it doesn't take long for them to be attracted to both the sound and the fishery.
In terms of tributaries, from my territory, where I am in the Sumas-Vedder-Chilliwack region.... The Vedder-Chilliwack system has plenty of pinnipeds, but also the Sumas River and Marshall Creek. Marshall Creek is a small creek that is only about a foot and a half deep—maybe two feet at the best of times—and maybe six feet wide. I've witnessed pinnipeds in that system.
They are anywhere and everywhere there is a food source.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
That would not be typical pinniped habitat. What would drive them into that habitat? Would it be lack of food elsewhere, or is there something more attractive there?
4:50 p.m.
Executive Director, Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance
That's the kind of work we would love to be able to do on behalf of Canada, B.C. and our nations to determine why they are there, number one. My assumption is that they are following food, just like us. If we find a food source, we're going to follow it. I think that is what they're doing.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC
Okay. Thank you.
Ms. Shears, if you can, could you briefly describe a little further how you have been victimized by the anti-seal harvest associations?
4:50 p.m.
Owner, Natural Boutique, As an Individual
Thanks for the question.
It's sometimes pretty intense, the onslaught. My daughter and I—she was 18 months at the time—were threatened to be dissolved in acid. We get threats that they are going to come and track us down at our house and things like that.
It's very unfortunate, because we're just living sustainably off the land. As a human species, if we stop doing that.... If we stop relying on renewable resources that are abundant and yield biodegradable, healthy and sustainable products, what else do we have? If we stop doing that, what else do we have as a planet?
It's very short-sighted and pretty vicious at times, I will say.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ken McDonald
Thank you, Mr. Arnold.
We'll now go to Mr. Hardie for six minutes or less.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
In listening and reading all of the testimony, certain things start to triangulate.
There was a particularly interesting piece out of Washington state that I'd like some reaction to. In Puget Sound, they did a little bit of work on, basically, their allowance to enact what they call “specific lethal management strategies”. Under the MMPA, states can request this.
They played off something we heard in earlier testimony here. Sometimes it's man-made infrastructure like fish ladders, log booms or other things that provide a nice spot for the seals to hang out so that they can feed on the fish that are concentrated in that area. Somebody just recently said that pinnipeds are very clever; they're very smart.
This sentence from the Washington state report maybe leads us somewhere. It says:
The removal of individual California sea lions with specific knowledge of sites at Willamette Falls also reported successful reduction in the use of the sites by sea lions and in the recruitment of new individuals. These outcomes suggest it may be feasible to disrupt socially transmitted predation behaviours among pinnipeds by removing individual specialists.
That sort of says something about, again, how clever these animals are. It also perhaps suggests that we don't need to go down the route that the representative from the David Suzuki Foundation was concerned about, that we would go out and willy-nilly cull seals with a massive reduction. It's to do something that we've heard referenced before, and that is to go after the problem animals.
I'm wondering, Mr. Zeman, if you could comment on that and the potential for something that would allow for a reasonably sized harvest, given current market conditions. It's a useful outcome for what we harvest, and it would avoid doing the sort of things that would clearly get activists on the case, as Ms. Shears has experienced.
4:55 p.m.
Executive Director, B.C. Wildlife Federation
Certainly. I can share that I've also received more than my fair share of death threats relating to endangered caribou recovery. I live in that world. Quite frankly, I don't think there's room for that in our society. There needs to be a broader discussion about what's okay and what's not.
As it relates to what's going on down south, when I refer to the Gold River—Mr. Hardie, you probably know where that is—that is not a system that has a whole bunch of “man-made” or anthropogenic change on it. In essence, what you're saying is that those seals are specializing. We experience this with mountain caribou and cougars at times, too.
We can take it a step farther. There's the in-river piece and log booms. I'm sure that's all contributing. With our steelhead, we've put transmitters on about 35 kelts before they go out to the ocean. Not one of those has come back and made it back to the river. Half of those are not making it from the inshore environment. Within a kilometre, essentially, of the coast, half of them are dying.
I'll defer to Dr. Carl Walters. I'll defer to Murray on that.
We had first nations attend our AGM on the weekend. From their perspective, they've always harvested seals, and they've always managed seals. I think there's the in-river and closed in environment, but I think there's also the environment in the Pacific. The big thing is—