Fisheries Committee on June 10th, 2026

[Paul White]

They would be February 1, when ice fishing opens in Newfoundland and Labrador, and probably the last of October or the first week of November, after the salmon have spawned.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Central Newfoundland, NL]

What do you think about the accuracy of the numbers of salmon being reported as caught in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, which is a French colony?

[Paul White]

We have to question those numbers. I don't think they're accurate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you. Your time is up.

I now go to Mr. Cormier for the Liberals.

You have six minutes, please, Serge.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today.

This is a study that I put forward. I'd like to thank all my colleagues who supported me in this effort to conduct a study on the decline of Atlantic salmon and find solutions.

I think you are aware that urgent action is needed. There are a number of factors at play, and I hope we'll find answers to our questions, but also solutions to ensure the future of this species, which, in my opinion, is very important to everyone here today.

I don't recall if I said this earlier, but I've been fishing Atlantic salmon recreationally for nearly 25 years. I've made so many wonderful memories over the years and have met so many people in this field. Today, seeing the state of the species breaks my heart a little. We want to learn from you; we want to know what we can do better to turn things around.

I'll start with you, Ms. Bergeron or Mr. Fiset. I know you talked about the causes of the decline earlier. In your opinion, what are the three main causes of the current decline in Atlantic salmon?

[Normand Fiset, President, Fédération québécoise pour le saumon atlantique]

There's a very important nuance to keep in mind. As you mentioned, there may be a host of factors, but what we experienced with the return of smolts—the young salmon—in 2023 and 2024 was a sudden and abrupt decline. Since then, we've certainly come to believe that there is a primary cause. Everyone agrees that it's probably related to climate change. That said, that's the indirect cause.

What's the direct cause? Is it a lack of food? Is it early migration due to water temperatures? There's a lot of information to consider.

One thing is certain: We have extremely productive rivers that have seen excellent smolt runs. The problem is that they don't return the following year.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

There are three main causes. There would be climate change, as you say. What are the other causes?

[Normand Fiset]

There's mortality at sea. Certainly, we need to continue studying predation very closely, whether it is caused by striped bass or by seals, whose population is exploding.

In addition, we must naturally continue to improve the productivity of our rivers, especially in terms of temperature, that is to say, the warming of the water in summer. We need to better identify, protect or restore thermal refuges.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

If we look at some of these three causes, they all require further research to observe the effects of what you just mentioned.

In Quebec, if I'm not mistaken, management is handled by the Government of Quebec. Is enough research being done? Is there enough collaboration to study the causes you just mentioned and find solutions to help this species' population recover? Do you feel your concerns are being heard as part of these efforts?

[Myriam Bergeron]

Yes. In recent years, precisely because of what we've been through, there's been some real momentum and increased collaboration between the provincial and federal governments, which is a positive development. There's also been greater engagement on the part of community organizations like ours and non-profits. Furthermore, some academic circles are getting more involved.

Things are improving. There's still a lot of work to be done, and that's why we need to keep moving in this direction. Clearly, given the scale of the situation, we currently lack the tools to help all the stakeholders achieve their goals.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I'd like to talk more about at-sea mortality because it's a very important issue. Many groups and organizations dedicated to salmon, like yours, are talking about it. I know there were studies done at one point. I believe researchers even tagged some salmon to determine where they were dying and why they were dying in certain locations. Did you participate in any of these studies on salmon mortality at sea?

[Myriam Bergeron]

Yes. We worked with government and non-governmental researchers who participated in the salmon tagging studies. The goal was to identify the migration routes in detail. We also wanted to identify where high mortality rates are most likely to occur. We wanted to know where these losses are taking place. There appears to be a concentration of oceanic conditions and causes of mortality just before and after the Strait of Belle Isle. Further research is needed.

[Serge Cormier, Liberal, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Do these causes have anything to do with warming waters or predation, say? Have the causes been identified?

[Myriam Bergeron]

No. At this point, we have hypotheses. Obviously, there's global warming. It's not just global warming; abnormal cooling can also be problematic. As you mentioned, there's also predation, which can be a significant factor. Disease is another factor.

Could there be factors we're not aware of? Could changing river conditions mean that smolts completing their migration are less healthy than they used to be? We're currently focusing a lot of our work on this. We have these four hypotheses, but we don't have any answers. We need to keep looking for those answers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

I'll now go to Mr. Deschênes for six minutes.

Go ahead, Alexis.

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Good afternoon, everyone. I would like to thank the witnesses for being here.

My question is for the representatives of the Fédération québécoise pour le saumon atlantique.

Clearly, everyone agrees that there is cause for concern about Atlantic salmon in Quebec. Their population has declined significantly, and you've identified a number of causes, including migration at sea and predation. I'd like to hear your thoughts on how we should address this issue and, ultimately, save the Atlantic salmon.

Let's talk about predation at sea first. We have worked together to ensure that you have access to data on juvenile salmon bycatch in the Strait of Belle Isle. Where are you on that?

[Normand Fiset]

This is the second year we've tried this. We really need help from Fisheries and Oceans to recover the bycatch of juvenile salmon. Just so you understand, I'd say that the vast majority of smolts converge on the Strait of Belle Isle over a period of five to 10 days. We need to find a way—a cheap way—to capture these fish so we can assess their health and, as my colleague mentioned, better understand the high mortality rate and why these salmon aren't returning.

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

We actually did ask for that, and the minister's response seemed favourable. Are you able to run tests on smolts this year?

[Normand Fiset]

At this point, it looks like we have the green light in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec. It remains to be seen how effectively this will be carried out. Still, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to collect a few samples this year.

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

What do you think the samples will tell us?

[Normand Fiset]

They'll give us an indication of their overall health. As my colleague mentioned, they'll allow us to see if there are any viral loads that might originate from places like open-net pen aquaculture farms. Do they have a nutritional deficiency? We know the gulf is changing. Is there a marked decline in food availability for smolts? They spend several weeks in the gulf before migrating to the Strait of Belle Isle.

The goal is to study the entire process over several years, not just this year. We need to build up time series data, year after year, to better understand when there is a significant decline, as was the case in 2023–24. We need to be able to pinpoint an event and say that some particular thing happened in that particular year.

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

According to the 2016‑2026 Atlantic salmon management plan, the main cause of the decline is mortality at sea, but we hear a lot about other causes as well, particularly predation.

Do you have a recommendation with respect to the striped bass population, which is quite large in the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and in Baie-des-Chaleurs, where I'm from?

[Normand Fiset]

In our view, it's important to continue monitoring the striped bass population in the southern gulf very closely. The striped bass population is exploding, and we're worried that their presence in our rivers in Baie-des-Chaleurs will increasingly impact the salmon populations. The earlier the striped bass arrive, the more they'll encounter smolts in their downstream migration, and the more problems this could create. We're concerned about this, so we need to continue monitoring the situation very closely.

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

After monitoring it, what then? Increase recreational fishing? Open the commercial fishery?

[Normand Fiset]

I'd say we have very little control. The entire southern gulf population comes from the Miramichi River spawning grounds, so what's happening there right now falls more within the purview of our colleagues at the Atlantic Salmon Federation. We have very little control over the population, aside from what we can do with recreational fishing.