Evidence of meeting #36 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was year.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Patrick Weiler Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to pick up on something that my colleague, Mr. Klassen, brought up about mass marking. With the announcement that was made almost exactly a month ago, what concrete changes should harvesters expect in terms of mark-selective fishing opportunities?
In what fisheries in particular, if there are particular regions in B.C., can we expect to see those changes first?
Regional Director, Fisheries Management Branch, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
First, mass marking will be ramped up, and that won't all happen at once. It will require additional equipment and additional staff to apply that equipment and do the mass marking. We expect the ramp-up to happen over several years.
Second, once the mass marking is complete, as I'm sure you know, it's about four years before those fish return. That period gives us time to scope out where additional opportunities for mark-selective fisheries might exist. I should be very explicit that it's not limited to just the recreational fishery. There may also be opportunities to consider terminal fisheries, for example, for first nations or for some form of economic or commercial fishery.
In terms of where we might expect those opportunities, the minister's announcement specified that our increase to mass marking will be for chinook and in southern B.C. I think we expect to be looking for where more opportunity might exist in the Strait of Georgia, for example, but it may also be relevant to the west coast of Vancouver Island. Those, in very broad terms, would be the two geographic areas we would be assessing in terms of additional opportunities.
Liberal
Patrick Weiler Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
Thank you.
You mentioned terminal fisheries. Could you please elaborate what you meant by that?
Regional Director, Fisheries Management Branch, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Sure.
This is a fishery that would happen at or near where the fish are arriving at their spawning grounds. One of the advantages of that is that typically you will have separated out different stocks, which may be at varying levels of abundance. At a terminal location, you may have a hatchery component of the return that are marked, and you may have a wild component of the return that are going to their natal streams in that same area. By virtue of increasing mass marking, there may be the scope for more fishing opportunity on those marked fish because we have the confidence that they won't have any undesirable impact on the wild stocks that may also be in that same area.
Liberal
Patrick Weiler Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC
That's very helpful.
You mentioned the lead-in timeline, the four years or so that we're looking at, once we have mass marking, for when some of those changes can be put into practice. What are some of the operational or regulatory steps that would need to take place before those changes are reflected in new opportunities?
Regional Director, Fisheries Management Branch, Pacific Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
We go through an annual process of updating and then finalizing an integrated fisheries management plan. That's the document that essentially spells out all of the different fisheries that we would be planning. Procedurally, my expectation is that we will be assessing a variety of proposals for mark-selective fisheries in different areas, targeting different stocks. Through that annual integrated fisheries management planning process, which entails a bunch of consultation in the lead-up to its finalization, we would be engaging with different groups to hear proposals.
Then, internally, we have been developing an evaluation framework. Let's say we get a proposal. What kinds of indicators do we want to assess that proposal against to make a decision about whether or not we think it is appropriate to implement? We also expect to finalize that evaluation framework so that there is a consistent and transparent way that we are assessing all of the proposals from our selective fisheries and ultimately making decisions about when and where to implement them.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you.
Now, we'll go to Monsieur Deschênes for two and a half minutes, please.
Bloc
Alexis Deschênes Bloc Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Congratulations on being elected.
According to my notes, my colleague, Mr. Champoux, asked questions about the possibility of setting a specific date for the opening of the crab fishery. I wanted to double-check that with Mr. Williams.
Mr. Williams, I understand that, for most fisheries, specific opening dates are set. Do you think that going forward with the solution proposed by Daniel Desbois of the Association des crabiers gaspésiens inc. would give everyone predictability?
Senior Director, Resource Management - Operations, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Thank you for your question.
Indeed, by working with harvesters over the years, we have identified an opening date for this fishery, which is more or less consistent every year. Key to that is flexibility, to ensure safety on the water and that they can operate effectively in the conditions that are present at the time.
Yes, while we have a date that is set, we also allow flexibility, in collaboration with harvesters, Coast Guard and Transport Canada, to adjust that date if required.
Bloc
Alexis Deschênes Bloc Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC
Actually, my question was about Mr. Desbois's proposal for ensuring the ice gets cleared. Before other conditions are considered, would setting a deadline for icebreaking that's not the official opening date for the fishery solve the problems we experienced this year?
Senior Director, Resource Management - Operations, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Thank you for your question.
With any plan, such as setting an opening date, we have to ensure that we have contingencies. In some cases, we set a plan and we rely on the Coast Guard to provide a vessel for a certain date. We know that things can change, either with the vessel or with environmental conditions, which can necessitate changes to that plan. Therefore, flexibility with those plans in collaboration with industry needs to be maintained.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you. That brings us to the end.
I want to congratulate this committee. You must have built-in clocks, because we have exactly 15 minutes left to vote.
Thank you very much to the witnesses for being here.
We will adjourn for the votes.