Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to table a petition on behalf of residents of coastal British Columbia.
The petitioners draw attention to the fact that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced that the Pacific herring population dropped by nearly a third from 2016 to 2019, and it looks as though it will drop by more than 50% by 2020. The unexpected drop in the herring population has led to overfishing of the existing stock. Pacific herring is the basis of the food web that supports wild Pacific salmon, killer and humpback whales, cod, halibut, sea birds and other interdependent species on the Pacific coast.
The petitioners want recognition of first nations' constitutional protective rights to herring, which are an important food source and an integral part of first nations culture.
The petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to suspend the 2020 Salish Sea herring fishery until a whole-of-ecosystem plan is developed, to fairly compensate local fishers for the economic losses they might incur and to ensure that decisions are made with the full participation of first nations and local communities.