Fisheries Committee on April 20th, 2026

[Ernie Klassen, Liberal, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Do you think that climate change has had an impact on how these decisions are being made?

[Melissa Collier]

I'm not sure. I wish I understood the decision-making models within DFO. I think a piece that commercial fishermen struggle with is a lack of clarity and information. Maybe somebody out there has the information, but among the general population of fishers, we feel like we're making big decisions blind. We just don't have the information we need.

[Ernie Klassen, Liberal, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

I think you said your family has been fishing for 40 years. How many people do you employ in your business?

[Melissa Collier]

In a given season, we can employ two to six. It depends on whether we have the same crew or not. We're a small vessel, so usually it's my husband fishing with two crew and myself, which would make us a crew of four. Sometimes our crew fluctuates through the season, but it's definitely two and sometimes more.

[Ernie Klassen, Liberal, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Thank you for those comments.

Mr. Desbois, I don't really understand the icebreaking myself, not being an east coast person. You said that the icebreaking needs better planning. How do you see that happening? Could you expand on that?

[Daniel Desbois]

That's the goal. It's because of the ice coverage in the gulf. Often, the opening date at sea can vary from the end of March to mid-April at the latest. We often lose two, three or four days because ice wasn't cleared from the harbours in New Brunswick quickly enough.

[The Chair, Liberal, Patrick Weiler]

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Klassen.

I will now give the floor to Mr. Deschênes for two and a half minutes.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to continue the discussion with you, Mr. Desbois.

You explained earlier how this fishing season couldn't start as quickly as people would have liked, and that this will complicate matters. Is there a way for you to quantify the consequences of that for crab fishers? What does it mean financially for them when the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast Guard aren't able to open the shipping lanes on the Acadian peninsula, thus delaying the start of the season?

[Daniel Desbois]

It is already hard to hire our staff at the best of times. Often, staff are hired up to two weeks before the required time. For example, this year, there is a risk of area closures because the whales are heading out to sea later. There is a risk of not making the quotas. It's hard to assess.

In recent years, many guys have had to release 25 tons of crab back into the water. If we are also unlucky enough to have a mechanical breakdown on top of it, we can barely make up the shortfall because of the number of closed areas. It's hard to put an exact figure on it, but the losses can be huge for some people.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

You said that one day's delay at the start of the season is equivalent to three or four more days in June. Is that about right?

[Daniel Desbois]

Yes, that's about right. It's because of the catch rate and the distance you have to travel to get to the fishing grounds.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

For example, how much does a crab fisher spend per day on fuel?

[Daniel Desbois]

It depends. It's at least $5,000 to $10,000 per day for the largest crab fishers who have to go from the Gaspé coast to the Îles de la Madeleine.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

In closing, Mr. Desbois, what would it take to improve things?

[Daniel Desbois]

We definitely need better equipment, the right icebreakers and better planning. I think we need a predictable opening date and we need to stop relying on the ice conditions in the gulf. The focus should instead be on the conditions in the harbours of the Maritimes. That's where the icebreaking needs are. That's what's delaying the opening year after year.

[The Chair, Liberal, Patrick Weiler]

Thank you, Mr. Deschênes.

Colleagues, I'm looking at the time here. We'll have enough time for three minutes for the Conservatives and three minutes for the Liberals before we wrap the first panel.

With that, I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Morrison.

Welcome to the committee.

[Rob Morrison, Conservative, Columbia—Kootenay—Southern Rockies, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

Ms. Collier, my questions are going to be in your area. You have a generational history of fishing, much like our loggers in the interior and our guides and outfitters. I know that you know you need to have fish to support your family, generation after generation.

Why is it so difficult for DFO to sit down and talk with our generational fisher people and get some of the expertise? I struggle with this because you are the real experts who know what's going on, not necessarily an academic who sits in Ottawa. Common sense is not all that common here. It certainly isn't common in this area because of some of the challenges you have. I wonder if you could comment on that.

[Melissa Collier]

There are a lot of different panels and harvest committees that do sit down with DFO. It just seems that a lot of the time the advice that's provided is not taken. I have a letter here from a harvest committee for area F that talks about a delay in our season of six days in 2023. It was a sudden, last-minute decision. It was going to cost $25,000 to $50,000 per vessel in loss of income, but that delay wasn't even supported by DFO's own science.

That's the kind of stuff we're dealing with. There's science and advice, but it just doesn't seem to be taken into account.

[Rob Morrison, Conservative, Columbia—Kootenay—Southern Rockies, BC]

Here's a really big question: How do we somehow change that?

[Melissa Collier]

If we knew the answer to that, we would be pushing for those solutions. I don't have a magic way of understanding how to fix that. I wish I did.

[Rob Morrison, Conservative, Columbia—Kootenay—Southern Rockies, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Patrick Weiler]

There is one more minute for Mr. Gunn.

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

I have another quick question for you, Ms. Collier.

Has the uncertainty surrounding opening and closing dates also been exacerbated by the effects of MPAs and other spatial closures in the fishing grounds you're used to fishing in?

[Melissa Collier]

Absolutely. All uncertainty adds up and makes it really challenging.

Here's a prime example: We no longer have an are H licence. We chose to sell our prawn licence for a variety of reasons, one of which was being displaced by MPAs. There was also a change in the fishery to faster boats and more crowded fishing areas. Our licences were married, so we couldn't just sell that licence. We had to sell the package and then try to find individual salmon licences to purchase back, ones that fit our vessel—that were for the right length. We did find them, but when we went to do that exchange, the licence cost was so high. It's really hard to incur that cost for an areas fishery where I haven't had a meaningful open since 2018.

All of it was exacerbated. All that uncertainty adds up. Then you end up making these huge financial decisions, such as having to walk away from an entire licence that your family has been fishing for 30-plus years.

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

You have uncertainty around when you can fish, whether you can even fish and where you will be allowed to send your boats to fish. Obviously, these compound.

Do you think this makes it harder and harder for the next generation of fishers to enter the market? Who would make any investments or try to continue in this industry at all?