Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to the committee for the opportunity to be a witness today.
The B.C. Wildlife Federation is British Columbia's largest and oldest conservation organization, with over 41,000 members and 100 member clubs across the province. Our clubs and members spend hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours and dollars conducting wetland and fish habitat restoration across the province, as well as advocating for legislative, regulatory and policy changes to support a future that includes healthy watersheds and vibrant fish populations.
In the world of illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries there are hundreds, if not thousands, of incidents here in British Columbia, which cover everything from illegal harvests by foreign vessels in the high seas to harvests of endangered early Fraser chinook as well as endangered interior Fraser steelhead.
Two indicator stocks with the interior Fraser steelhead include the Thompson and the Chilcotin. This year the spawning forecast for both of those fish were 228 and 108 fish respectively, putting them both well inside the extreme conservation concern zone.
In 2021, two steelhead were seized in the mid-Fraser in August, which were most likely Chilcotin fish. The estimated spawner statement for those fish was 19 that year, at that point. In one incident 10% of the entire run was killed by one incident that was found by fisheries officers. ATIPs and reports to the BCWF conservation app demonstrate that these issues are common.
Within compliance and protection there has been a shift recently. The agency seems to be rapidly moving from on-the-ground people who are passionate about fish and resource conservation to an agency that is being filled with managers from other ministries and other agencies, most notably Canada Border Services Agency. As it relates to culture, this has not gone over well. Combined with poor wages and a shifting culture, you will likely find a number of officers on leave, high turnover and, most importantly, reduced performance as it relates to conserving and protecting our fish resources. Former officers with decades of experience report that morale within the agency is the worst it's ever been.
This year I'm aware that nighttime patrols and boat and helicopter patrols were significantly reduced on the lower and mid-Fraser. The outcome of this lack of a presence on the river will be increased illegal activity. Typically, in past years officers would remove or seize 300 to 400 nets. This year, given the lack of presence on the river, I would expect the number of nets seized and removed to be way down.
The narrative out of compliance and enforcement will likely be that compliance has improved, but I believe what you will find is that this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If there is no enforcement presence on the water, there is no one to discover, manage and track issues.
Improved outcomes, as they relate to illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, come down to funding, capacity and culture. Compliance and enforcement, or compliance and protection, need allies on the water. We will never have enough officers to cover every square kilometre of water, but there are hundreds of thousands—