Evidence of meeting #40 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 mackerel.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Now I go to the final person, and that's Mr. Fisher from the Fraser Salmon Management Council. Mr. Fisher, you have five minutes.
Aidan Fisher Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
[Witness spoke in Halq'eméylem and provided the following text:]
ey swayel, siyamthelaltel tel skwi.
[English]
Hello, and thank you, Madam Chair and standing committee, for hearing me as a witness to this study.
I'm Aidan Fisher. I'm Stó꞉lō from the community of Tzeachten in Chilliwack, B.C. I'm participating today from the s'ólh téméxw territory in Vancouver. As mentioned, I work for the Fraser Salmon Management Council as a fisheries biologist. Through this role, I co-chair the joint technical committee to the Fraser Salmon Management Board.
The FSMC—Fraser Salmon Management Council—serves as the secretariat for the Fraser Salmon Management Board and as the convenor of Fraser and marine approach area first nations, to advance nation-to-nation collaborations in decision-making for first nations governance and management of Fraser salmon fisheries and their conservation.
The Fraser Salmon Management Board and the joint technical committee were created to support the implementation of the Fraser salmon collaborative management agreement. The CMA was signed in 2019 between Canada and 76 first nations from the Fraser and marine approach areas. Work to begin the process of establishing the CMA started in 2012 between Canada and 60 first nations. Now, the FSMC has 81 signatory first nations communities.
The purpose of the Fraser salmon CMA is to create, promote and support government-to-government, nation-to-nation structures for the collaborative governance, management and conservation of Fraser salmon. The CMA provides guiding principles, roles and processes for the executive—the Fraser Salmon Management Board and the joint technical committee—to support Fisheries and Oceans Canada and FSMC in their respective decision-making authorities, responsibilities, laws and jurisdictions as they relate to Fraser salmon. The CMA provides a framework for government-to-government decision-making by the parties, which are Canada and first nations, at the migratory route scale on prioritized Fraser salmon fishery management concerns identified in the Fraser Salmon Management Board's annual work plan.
The joint technical committee is a technical review committee appointed by FSMC and DFO. The JTC has participation from 10 appointees: five from the Fraser Salmon Management Council on behalf of first nations and five appointees from DFO. The JTC is tasked with reviewing and providing recommendations to the Fraser Salmon Management Board on technical aspects of Fraser salmon fishery management for the board.
Since 2019, the FSMB and the JTC have been working to develop operational processes to implement the collaborative management agreement. There is no handbook on how to implement the salmon fisheries co-governance agreement between first nations and Canada. FSMC and DFO are still actively working on processes to implement the collaborative management agreement.
More recently, the Fraser Salmon Management Board has made some consensus recommendations to Fraser salmon fisheries management. Examples are the potential for increasing the first nations food, social and ceremonial harvest targets for sockeye during an abundant year, which was 2022, and the Fraser sockeye escapement plan for multiple years, which occurred more recently.
The Fraser Salmon Management Board, however, has not been able to implement the collaborative management agreement on other aspects of the Fraser salmon fishery. There has been a substantial amount of work done through the joint technical committee and the Fraser Salmon Management Board on Fraser chinook management for years, but it has not resulted in the Fraser Salmon Management Board making recommendations on Fraser chinook management. The Fraser Salmon Management Board has entered into the official dispute resolution process, laid out in the collaborative management agreement, multiple times on this topic.
It is important to recognize the scope of the Fraser Salmon Management Board and the Fraser Salmon Management Council. The DFO structure to manage fisheries is very much still in place. Openings, allocations, licensing, etc., are all still part of the DFO structure, and they are predominantly still handled by pre-existing DFO structures and processes. The Fraser Salmon Management Board is operating at a broader or higher level, with discussions and decisions on overall management objectives on conservation and escapement or harvest objectives.
The collaborative management agreement and associated processes, like the Fraser Salmon Management Board and the joint technical committee, are still very new. So far, the joint technical committee has been able to work effectively and produce consensus, technical recommendations and reviews to the Fraser Salmon Management Board. The Fraser Salmon Management Board, however, has been more challenged with consensus recommendations. We have seen some progress with DFO to respect the spirit of the CMA, but there does appear to be hesitancy to fully commit to the collaborative management agreement, with the board going through dispute resolution multiple times.
Thank you for your time this morning.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you very much.
We're now going to go to a question and answer session. It's six minutes. That includes questions and answers.
I will begin with Mr. Arnold from the Conservatives. You have six minutes, please, Mr. Arnold.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'll start with Mr. Fisher, if I could.
Mr. Fisher, the Fraser Salmon Management Board operates under the auspices of the Fraser Salmon Collaborative Management Agreement. I believe that's what you said. Is that correct?
Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
Yes, that's correct.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
That agreement was finalized in 2019, correct?
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Last year, in 2025, did the Fraser Salmon Management Board set escapement goals for Fraser sockeye?
Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
The Fraser Salmon Management Board provided principles for DFO to set the escapement targets for Fraser sockeye. They didn't provide the final recommendations. This year, however, the Fraser Salmon Management Board did put forward joint recommendations on the escapement targets for Fraser sockeye.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Then the Fraser Salmon Management Board didn't put escapement goals forward? Were those put forward by DFO?
Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
The final numbers were put forward by DFO, with principles that had been agreed to by the board, such as descriptive principles.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
It was the board as a group that came up with the escapement goals. Is that correct?
Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
For this year, yes. Last year we did not do so for the final numbers, but the principles behind selecting those final numbers were recommended by the board collaboratively.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Then were the escapement goals for last year set before the unexpected large return of sockeye?
Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
Yes, they were.
The statement of “unexpected large return”, I think, requires some more discussion.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
In 2025, the pre-season forecast for all sockeye runs was approximately 2.9 million fish. What actually returned was nine million sockeye, more than three times greater than expected. Why didn't the board, or the joint board and DFO, adjust the escapement goals to allow for harvest opportunities, despite this return being three times greater than forecasted?
Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
The Fraser sockeye escapement plan is variable. Therefore, it does allow for and react to larger or more abundant returns. The actual implementation of the plan is often on a sliding scale.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
However, last year they didn't. They took forever to get that increase in the total allowable catch. Do you know why?
Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
I don't think that's a fair description of how the escapement plan, the harvest-control rule, works for Fraser sockeye. It's much more complicated than the way you described it.
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
Could you provide the committee with the 2025 escapement principles you talked about—
Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
The Fraser, or—
Conservative
Mel Arnold Conservative Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC
—not necessarily today, but could you provide the principles in writing?
Co-Chair, Joint Technical Committee, Fraser Salmon Management Board
Yes, and there's lots of information on how the escapement harvest control rule works.