Fisheries Committee on Feb. 17th, 2022

[Niall O'Dea]

It is a commitment that the federal government has made in respect of the negotiation of the new Convention on Biological Diversity, global biodiversity framework. That convention is still under negotiation, but Canada shares that objective with key countries around the world.

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

It's a self-imposed one by the Canadian government, not one that's been determined by an international agreement. My understanding is that there's only one agreement currently, which requires 10%.

[Niall O'Dea]

The current Aichi targets are lower. The emerging consensus among international governments is to move towards those higher targets that you've mentioned.

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

Thank you.

I'll switch gears. Regarding the temporary moderate livelihood licences that were issued, I have two questions on that.

One, how temporary are they? Two, in reaching that understanding, is there an understanding that, in granting those very valuable licences, no fishing for lobster will occur outside of the DFO regulated seasons?

[Timothy Sargent]

Those understandings covered last season, so not this coming season. I think this minister and the previous minister as well as the department were very clear that the fishing that takes place under these licences needs to take place in the regulated DFO seasons.

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

We're in the middle of the season in LFA 33 and 34 where these are granted, so I can expect that when that season is over those bands and the bands in Nova Scotia will not be fishing out of the DFO regulated season.

[Timothy Sargent]

Any licences that they receive from us, for moderate livelihood or other purposes, will be inside the regulated season, except for food, social and ceremonial, which has its own system.

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

Okay, I have one last question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Perkins. You've gone over time.

We'll now go for five minutes or less to Mr. Kelloway.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the department officials once again for being here.

I have two questions. One is around redfish. We know there's a moratorium. It's been in place, I think, for about 25 years. There are two types of redfish. There's great interest in the fishing community as to what the next steps will be in terms of redfish. There is the belief that there is a bounty of redfish, and that it's an opportunity for another economic driver in coastal communities, like where I live and like where many of the people here live, especially on the east coast, of course.

I'm just wondering if you could give us an update on where we are in the process of reviewing the redfish quota, Jean-Guy.

[Jean-Guy Forgeron]

Thank you for the question. This is an interesting stock for us because this is probably the first time we've taken a major commercial stock that's been in moratorium for a long time out of moratorium.

The fishery is not a new fishery or an emerging fishery. It is actually an ongoing established fishery. It so happens that the fisheries management is in moratorium due to the nature of the stock. The honourable member is correct in that one of the species is in the healthy zone. Another one looks like it's about to emerge out of the cautious zone into the healthy zone. At the end of the day, all access and allocation decisions are for the minister to make.

There are those in the traditional organizations who have been fishing this stock and have been a part of this fishery. Before we make any final access and allocation decisions, we undertook an extensive consultation with stakeholders, those who have traditionally been attached to this fishery as well as those who have an interest in joining the fishery. Those consultations have come to a conclusion.

We'll be making recommendations soon, we hope, to the minister, based on our analysis and these consultations on access and allocation, to develop an integrated fisheries management plan for the prosecution of the fishery for those who will be participating in the fishery of the future when it comes out of moratorium, which we expect will be in the not too distant future.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Thank you very much for that answer.

My second question is in relation to the minister's mandate and its applicability to the work that you do. The minister's mandate letter speaks to advancing consistent, sustainable and collaborative fisheries arrangements with indigenous and non-indigenous fish harvesters, so I'm wondering—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Excuse me, Mr. Kelloway.

Mr. Zimmer, there's questioning of witnesses taking place. Could we tone it down or take it outside, one or the other?

Go ahead, Mr, Kelloway.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

In relation to that question around developing a sustainable, collaborative, consistent fishery with indigenous and non-indigenous fishers, perhaps I'll look at the question of where we are right now. If we take a sliver of that contextual piece that I just presented around understandings and rights and reconciliation agreements in Atlantic Canada, where are we in terms of the numbers? How is the process going? What's left to do? I would assume there's plenty, but I'll give you an opportunity to give us a sense, a contextual piece, of where we are right now.

[Jean-Guy Forgeron]

There are basically two processes that we're undertaking at the moment to advance the implementation of the moderate livelihood right of the 35 treaty nations of the Maritimes and Gaspé. Currently we have three RRAs—rights reconciliation agreements—that cover off four first nations that represent 25% of the population of the treaty nations writ large.

We are undertaking negotiations with probably a third who are still pursuing the RRA course as their preferred means of advancing the implementation of the right. This is largely in Quebec through New Brunswick and P.E.I.

In Nova Scotia, the assembly has rejected the RRA process as their preferred means to advance it at this point in time, though they have the opportunity to return to it. In the communities of Nova Scotia and in some communities in P.E.I., where they're reflecting on this, we are working on the moderate livelihood fisheries plans as a pilot providing temporary access. It allows us to have the arrangements like we saw with Potlotek or, most recently, with the four southwestern first nations in Nova Scotia.

We have re-engaged with the different first nations who are interested in those plans, including those who've already had these plans because—to a question that was asked earlier—the plans exist only for that fishery for that season, and then they cease to exist.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

The understandings are year to year or season to season.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Kelloway. Your time is up.

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

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to first pose a question to Mr. Sargent.

I want to confirm that the committee will be provided with the written answer to the question on how much of the Pacific salmon strategy initiative funding has already been committed, to whom and for what purposes.

[Timothy Sargent]

Just clarify, exactly what is meant by “submitted” here? Is this a reference to internal government processes or is this something else? I just want to understand what was said.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

This was a question to the minister earlier this morning on how much of the strategic Pacific salmon initiative funding had been already allocated, to whom and for what purposes.

[Timothy Sargent]

To the extent that it's been allocated to stakeholders, we can certainly provide that.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Will you be providing that?

[Timothy Sargent]

We are still at the early stages with the Pacific salmon strategic initiative, so—

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

The question was this: How much has already been allocated?

[Timothy Sargent]

Yes, we can provide that.