Fisheries Committee on Feb. 17th, 2022

[Jean-Guy Forgeron]

Yes, that's perfect.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Morrissey.

We will now go to Madame Desbiens for two and a half minutes, please.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to get clarification on area 12B, which I believe is east of Anticosti Island, where there's a problem with the indicative crab fishery. Three of the eight fishers in that area, who are basically the most active fishers, have had their licences revoked. They're experiencing anxiety because their licence won't be renewed. Departmental decisions are vague.

Can you give us any information about this problem?

[Timothy Sargent]

I'm not aware of this situation, but I can certainly inquire and provide the committee with details, if you'd like.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Thank you very much. It's a very urgent issue, so I hope we'll get the information soon.

I'd like to come back to labelling by addressing the officials.

Do you think your government will have significant funds to support a labelling and traceability task force and frame the desire to align with EU methods and models, for example?

[Timothy Sargent]

That's a very good question.

As the minister said earlier, we aren't primarily responsible for this work, but rather the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. So that would be a question for them.

I'm not saying that we don't work together, but it's the agency that is leading the file.

[Caroline Desbiens, Bloc, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Would you support the creation of a working group where all stakeholders could talk to each other? This would maximize the effectiveness of the communications and lead to a comparable model fairly quickly. The idea would be to bring all the representative organizations and associations together around the same table to make their submissions and discuss an effective plan.

Do you like that idea?

[Jean-Guy Forgeron]

As the deputy minister mentioned, this is more than a DFO file, but a CFIA file. We've been engaging with all the interested stakeholders in this process. The process began as one of simply looking at mislabelling of fish in, probably, a tricking-the-consumer sort of way.

The departments have decided to engage more broadly on this and had a discussion paper put out to the public to engage all interested stakeholders. One of the things we expected, and we were correct in that expectation, was that different stakeholders see the opportunity for a complete or different traceability system that goes beyond whether your cod is cod and not tilapia when you're at the grocery store, to the other benefits, be they conservation or anti-IUU fishing and whatnot. I believe the minister for CFIA will be putting out a “what we heard” report shortly on this, which, of course, is the beginning of the next round of consultations with interested stakeholders. The scope of the final program has yet to be determined.

I think the honourable member's question was whether we are engaging with stakeholders in the development of the program, and the answer to that would be yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

It was a long “yes”. Thank you for that.

We'll now go to Ms. Barron for two and a half minutes, please.

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

I believe this question is perhaps best for Deputy Minister Sargent, but it's to whomever can best respond. I want to follow up on my question to the minister around the removal of open-net pen fish farming in B.C. waters by the end of 2025. I specifically want to reference Mr. Beech's “as was heard” report from 2021 that states:

any responsible transition strategy must position the sector for growth and job creation, with particular attention to rural and coastal economies.

Unfortunately, I'm hearing from first nations, coastal communities and impacted workers who have been left in the dark and aren't seeing any action on a responsible transition plan.

Can you speak to when a timeline will be set for a responsible transition plan, and will the government set aside emergency funds for the workers and communities to help with this transition?

[Timothy Sargent]

We are hard at work on the plan.

I'm going to ask our ADM for aquatic ecosystems, Alex Dostal, if she can respond directly to the question.

[Alexandra Dostal, Assistant Deputy Minister, Department of Fisheries and Oceans]

Mr. Chair, thank you so much for the question.

In terms of the net-pen transition plan, as the minister indicated during her remarks a little earlier, we will be going out and undertaking consultations on a proposed plan so we can hear from interested partners and stakeholders throughout British Columbia on the development of the plan.

In addition to that, I want to flag that in terms of, as you had mentioned, impacted stakeholders, for example, there is a suite of economic programs that we have for impacted workers. Again, as we think forward on the transition plan and the net-pen plan, we will be consulting and hearing from British Columbians before the plan is finalized.

Thank you.

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Thank you. I hope this is clearly communicated to those who are wanting to make plans around how they are going to keep food on their table moving forward.

I believe my other question is best suited for Mr. Pelletier.

I want to touch briefly on the MV Zim Kingston cargo spill on the west coast of Vancouver Island, as we're still feeling the aftermath of the spill. Just last weekend, volunteers led by Epic Exeo were working hard to clean up even more debris that they suspect came from another broken cargo container from the spill.

I'm not sure if this question is directly for you here, but as the government looks towards a potential extension of the oceans protection plan after 2022, will you ensure that it includes provisions for an integrated response plan that includes a local task force to help address cargo container spills, as I proposed in my motion, M-41?

[Mario Pelletier, Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans]

Yes, obviously we're working on the extension of the oceans protection plan in order to address some of the remaining gaps. We've done a huge lessons learned on the OPP1 and we've done great things in OPP1 that allowed us a good response to the Zim Kingston. We're going forward with a request for an extension.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

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

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Thank you, officials, for staying for the full two hours.

The minister in her testimony said that fishing continues in all marine protected areas with the existing marine protected areas that have been put in place for the country. Is that correct?

[Timothy Sargent]

I'll ask Alex if she would take this one, please.

[Alexandra Dostal]

With respect to marine protected areas and existing marine protected areas, what activities are allowed in a protected area is predicated on the conservation objectives outlined and determined for that particular area, so that's based on science and stakeholder engagement. What is disallowed in particular marine protected areas is really contingent on—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I don't have a lot of time. I'm sorry.

My question was that the minister said that fishing is allowed. My understanding is that the three existing MPAs in Nova Scotia and the one in the Gaspé have no-take zones where no fishing is allowed. Can the officials confirm that this is the case?

[Timothy Sargent]

Specifically on Nova Scotia, I'll ask our DG, Doug Wentzell, to answer that.

[Doug Wentzell, Regional Director General, Maritimes Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans]

We do have different measures of protection in each of our marine protected areas in this region. What I can say is that, as the assistant deputy minister just commented, it really depends on the individual area. We do have fishing that occurs in marine protected areas. It depends on the exact location of that area—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

With respect, that's not the question I asked. I asked about the existing three marine protected areas in Nova Scotia, so it's very specific, as is the one in the Gaspé.

I'll move on because you don't seem to want to answer the question about whether or not fishing is not allowed. I understand that there are no-take zones in all four of those marine protected areas.

The minister's mandate letter, Mr. Sargent, calls for us to achieve a “full recovery for nature by 2050”. Can you tell me what that means? Is that back to what the oceans were like with John Cabot, or what does that mean?

[Niall O'Dea, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy, Department of Fisheries and Oceans]

I'd be happy to take that question.

The objective of the full recovery of nature is one that is aligned with a broader commitment by the Government of Canada in the context of multilateral negotiations on the Convention on Biological Diversity that are happening currently. The objective there is to restore the resilience and sustainability of those ecosystems to support livelihoods.

I don't think, in frankness, that means returning to the time of John Cabot, but it does mean restoring the capacity of those ecosystems whether they be on land or in the water to provide the goods and services on which we as human populations depend.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Thank you very much.

The commitment to go to 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030, what international agreement requires that?