Evidence of meeting #41 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 report.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
I would agree with Mr. Deschênes and Mr. Arnold, Mr. Small, but be careful about how much you stray in your questions.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Central Newfoundland, NL
Thank you, Madam Chair.
The grounds that are now going to be used—a lot of them—pretty much for the sole purpose of producing offshore wind energy supported livelihoods and produced seafood for nearly five centuries.
Mr. Vigneault, were the impacts to the future of Canada's food security considered in the making of this report?
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
If I can go back quickly to your previous question, yes, historical landing is something that will need to be discussed separately. It's on page 26 that we address that as a cap.
We'd like to remind everybody that this is not science advice or a decision report. It is just a compendium of the information that was available at DFO to support the input of all the stakeholders and the government in the decision process. It was never meant to be—
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Central Newfoundland, NL
Mr. Vigneault, there have been calls for bids in these four offshore areas. In making the calls for bids to proponents, your report was a very important part of that. Why was it not comprehensive with respect to historical landings and what the future could be for those fishing grounds and for Canada's food security? Why was that omitted?
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
It was a scientific methodological approach. For example, for some of the stock that you mentioned—Atlantic cod on the Scotian shelf—we have no indication and no expectation that the stock will recover in the foreseeable future, because of environmental conditions.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Central Newfoundland, NL
Your own scientists said in the early 2000s that northern cod in Newfoundland was commercially extinct and would remain commercially extinct. Why is there no expectation that environmental conditions could change? This is a very small snapshot in time that we're dealing with when we look at grounds that have produced livelihoods and food for five centuries. Hopefully, there's a lot of history ahead for the fishing industry in Canada.
Will you consider the future impacts of these wind farms on food security and livelihoods in Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada and the rest of Canada?
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
That is certainly a consideration, and we hope that the data we provide and put in the public domain will help that discussion.
For cod in the Scotian shelf, we haven't seen any signs of growth or recovery or any environmental signals for a while. In terms of food safety, the approach we took in the report was to look at the actual landings in the last 10 years, put forward in the report all the landings that have been recorded within the proposed offshore wind area and do a spatial analysis for those at a height that was higher than 1% of the landings in the area.
Conservative
Clifford Small Conservative Central Newfoundland, NL
Mr. Vigneault, I'd like to examine the effects of the construction and operation of these wind farms on whales. What studies have been done on the effects to whale migration? What studies have been done on this for the construction phase?
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
That wasn't part of this report. What we've documented is the overlap of the whales with the proposed potential construction zone in the offshore areas that have been identified. We have a body of work that's ongoing, annually, to look at the details of the whale presence in these areas. That will feed into a later stage of the discussion.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
The time is up. I'm sorry, Mr. Small.
I now go to the Liberals.
Mr. d'Entremont, go ahead for six minutes, please.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Welcome to the committee, Mr. Vigneault.
This is a big issue for Nova Scotia as they look at offshore wind. Hopefully over time, they will continue to consult with fishermen from one end of the province to the other and, of course, include the other provinces that might be fishing in those areas. That's not particularly why we're here today. This is about the production order that was asked for on the report.
When was this report made publicly available for Canadians to see?
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
This report was published in December 2025. That was during the time frame of the open call for information from the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator. It was actually posted publicly both on the DFO website and as part of the record that the offshore regulator published, including comments from fisheries' stakeholders who were informed by the sharing of the data we did through this technical report.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
December 2025 is before April 22, 2026. Isn't that correct?
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
That's when the member for Central Newfoundland said the report wasn't public. That contradicts what Mr. Small said.
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
That's my understanding.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
The report had been available prior to that.
In both the abstract and the conclusion of the report, it's noted that the report is meant to inform industry and the public about what is ecologically in these areas and what activities currently take place in the proposed wind energy areas. If someone was not aware of that, would it be safe to say that they did not read the report?
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
That was the main intent. Basically, this is a step to contribute to the overall engagement effort by my colleagues in that particular region of DFO...but mainly led by the regulator for those decisions to come.
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
The report was tasked to us by our colleagues at Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management. That work was undertaken in 2025 in anticipation of the call for information requests and the call for bids.
I don't know if my colleagues from the Maritimes region have anything to add to that.
Luke Gaulton Director, Oceans and Aquaculture Management, Maritimes Region, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
The primary purpose was, as Bernard outlined, to respond to the call for information. There were also people from aquatic ecosystems within DFO identifying that there would be various information needs for the wind energy areas as the process for offshore wind advanced.
All of this information was existing information, and a data analysis was compiled in this report in anticipation of those needs.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
The intention of the report was simply to provide a compendium of information that was already technically publicly available.
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
That's a good description. Some of the analysis data were in very different sources within DFO, and some were more difficult to access. It was all information that we already had at hand and that was put in the same report with a spatial analysis regarding overlapping new ecosystems and the proposed areas to inform the discussions.
Liberal
Chris d'Entremont Liberal Acadie—Annapolis, NS
In the work, we mentioned the four banks that are being looked at at this particular point, which are Sydney Bight, Middle Bank, Sable Island Bank and French Bank. What information in that paperwork would be pertinent to those who are making the decision, whether they be from the province or from fishing organizations that would be interested in what the decision-making was?
Director General, Ecosystem Science Directorate, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Starting with the fishing industry, that gives us quantifying data analysis that translates their recent use of the area in terms of the landing fishing effort. As we discussed previously, it's not the perfect way to provide data. There's the question of historical landings that was mentioned. Some fish harvesters have different spatial footprints, so there's additional discussion, but it's a good start for the harvesters.
It's also a good start for us to look at the overlap with our own science survey, either the one on oceanographic monitoring or the fisheries science survey, which are very important for the sustainability of fishing in order to maintain our capacity to advise.
There's also information on the ecosystems that we haven't identified as sensitive in those areas—potential protected areas. We also make reference to a previous publication, which is similarly in the technical report format, for the use of the stakeholders. It has a more detailed spatial analysis on potential overlapping uses with different scenarios of offshore deployment.