Good morning, and thank you, Mr. Chairman, for providing us the opportunity to be here and assist the committee in your discussions on Canada's Arctic foreign policy.
As the chair said, my name is David Burden, and I'm pleased to be here today as the regional director general of central and Arctic region for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
I'd like to begin by providing you with a bit of contextual overview of central and Arctic region, Fisheries and Oceans' largest geographic region.
The region encompasses the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, the north slope of Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. If central and Arctic region were its own nation, it would be the seventh largest nation in the world.
Within our region we include 71% of Canada's coastline, 67% of Canada's fresh water, 65% of Canada's marine waters, 64% of Canada's area, and 55% of the population.
The region's activities are important from the perspective of sovereignty, northern commerce, safety and security, sustainability, resource development, and understanding the protection of aquatic ecosystems and habitat.
Co-management is an integral part of how we work in the Arctic, as there are five settled and three unsettled land claims. Each agreement sets out harvesting rights for beneficiaries; provides for the establishment of resource management structures, including for fisheries; sets out the role of those structures; and imposes procedural and substantive requirements on the minister related to the management of fisheries.
Our Arctic science program is coordinated through the National Centre for Arctic Aquatic Research Excellence, which is a virtual centre of expertise that coordinates all our science activities in the north across the department and with external partners.
Most of our interactions with co-management boards are related to their mandated responsibilities, which are focused on managing the harvest of fish, marine mammals, and other wildlife. This means the stock assessment work we carry out is of great interest to them.
We carry out a variety of research activities in both the eastern and western Arctic on marine mammals and marine fish, adjacent to Baffin Island as well
In fresh water our research continues on a number of species, including Dolly Varden, Arctic char, and shortjaw cisco, among others. Our research on the potential impacts of oil and gas development in the Mackenzie Delta and Beaufort Sea is also very important.
Commercial fishing operations in the western Arctic are primarily carried out on inland and freshwater lakes. The largest and best example is the whitefish fishery on Great Slave Lake.
Recreational fisheries in parts of the western Arctic enjoy world-class quality and reputation, resource management staff from the department, and partner agencies, as well as the Government of the Northwest Territories, who are involved in the management of recreational fisheries, the most notable of which occur on the Tree River and Great Slave and Great Bear lakes.
Regional staff also work in partnership with our partner agencies on managing marine mammals. Seals and certain species of whales remain very important components to the diet of a number of Arctic communities.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada's emerging fisheries policy follows the precautionary approach and allows for exploratory fisheries to gather the information necessary to inform fisheries managers about fish stocks and whether a commercial fishery can be supported sustainably by the stock. We also consider land claim agreements and the interests of northern communities in building our knowledge base to determine whether a commercial fishery is viable.
As a result, there is a strong and vibrant emerging fishery in the coastal waters of Nunavut. While there is a solid Arctic char fishery, Greenland halibut and shrimp are the key stocks harvested commercially in Nunavut.
In January 2013 our department presented an updated Greenland halibut integrated fisheries management plan to co-management partners and stakeholders in Iqaluit. The purpose of the integrated management plan is to meet industry and domestic as well as international expectations for demonstrated conservation and sustainability.
This is big business to the Arctic folks. The value of the commercial harvest in the Arctic in 2010 was over $104 million. The largest fish processing facility in the Arctic is in Pangnirtung in Nunavut, with smaller processing capabilities in Cambridge Bay and Hay River in the Northwest Territories.
The Pangnirtung small craft harbour, which is on track to be fully functional this summer, provides the infrastructure foundation for the expanded inshore fishery, and will serve broader community marine-based interests, in particular, the annual community sea lift.
The Cumberland Sound inshore turbot fishery, based out of Pangnirtung, is poised to reach a value of $2.5 million annually, a very viable and sustainable regional economic expansion for the fishery and for the local community. Currently about 350 tonnes of turbot are processed annually in Pangnirtung from the inshore fishery.
A final aspect of the mandate relates to charting in the Arctic. The Canadian Hydrographic Service has the enormous challenge of charting Canada's last frontier. Although the volume of shipping in the Arctic is low compared with the east and west coasts and the Great Lakes, the complexity of navigation is much higher. The Canadian Hydrographic Service is focusing on the main routes into the Arctic communities to ensure effective and safe delivery of northern resupply and economic development.
As the north continues to open up for resource extraction, the need for charts in areas other than community routes becomes more amplified. The Canadian Hydrographic Service is working with a number of resource companies to assist them in assessing routes and charting requirements to enable access to resource sites.
I could go on, Mr. Chair, but this is probably a pretty good place for me to stop and turn it over to Renée. Then we'd be more than pleased to take questions from your committee.
Thank you.