Debates of Nov. 24th, 2020

Fisheries and Oceans—Main Estimates, 2020-21

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Chair, I have been working and meeting with commercial harvesters since day one of becoming minister. I will continue to do that. They are listened to. They are an extremely important voice in the fishery. We want to make sure we continue to work in partnership with them. Commercial harvesters have fished side by side with first nations for generations. We know there is now a gap there that has never existed and we want to make sure we do everything we can to address that.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind members that they have to wear ties if they want to speak. All members need to have the proper attire if they want to speak in the House.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, recreational sport fishing provides a livelihood and/or is a loved pastime for eight million Canadians, providing over $10 billion in economic activity per year.

What is the minister doing specifically to support this community?

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Madam Chair, the recreational fishery is an extremely important and vital part of our economy. We recognize that. We know that the measures we put in place in B.C. this year with regard to the wild Pacific salmon has impacted them. We want to ensure we are doing everything we can to address their concerns so—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, instead of working with groups on the water that are experts in fish conservation, such as the Public Fishery Alliance, the Fraser Valley Salmon Society or the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition, she simply went against sound advice and shut everything down.

Why does she not work with these groups instead of against them?

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Chair, the wild Pacific salmon stocks are in serious decline. Tough measures have to be taken to ensure we can continue to work to address the concerns around the decline of these stocks. We know this has been very difficult for anglers. We are meeting with them on a regular basis to discuss their concerns and find the best path forward.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, that is interesting as they sure do not share your optimism, Minister.

This is from Dave Brown from the Public Fishery Alliance. From April 1 to August 31, there were unprecedented chinook closures placed on the public fishery around Vancouver that had devastating socio-economic impacts on the Vancouver guiding industry, marine industry and recreational salt water fishing industry. Why were there no fishing for chinook regulations implemented for Howe Sound when science showed there were plentiful chinook?

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind the member he is to address the questions to the Chair.

The hon. minister.

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Chair, the at-risk Fraser River salmon face a number of significant challenges and the road to recovery requires a long-term view and close collaboration with first nations, provinces and stakeholders. Significant management measures introduced in 2019 to protect the chinook salmon were difficult but necessary. A decision was made to continue to strengthen these conservation measures in 2020-21. These measures included delaying commercial—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, this is from Peter Krahn, a selective fishing expert.

For the 12 years since the sport fishing community has been petitioning DFO to do a similar study of a selective fishing technique called bar rigs, which is virtually guaranteed not to intercept the endangered sockeye, why has the minister and DFO refused to do the required study and put the sport fishing community and the $1.5 billion in economic benefits and jobs in such peril when such a study would only cost about $225,000 and all the sports angers' time would be voluntary?

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Chair, as I have said, we have had to take drastic measures with regard to the chinook salmon because of the decline in the stock. We know that these management decisions are difficult. We know it has been hard for the commercial fishers, as well as for the anglers. We know they provide a lot of economic growth in the area. However, at the same time, the chinook are in a very bad state. They need to be protected. We need to do everything possible to grow their stocks.

We will continue to make fisheries management decisions, but will at the same time recognize—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, Chris Bos, of the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition, has said, “The past two years, where DFO have implemented catch and release from April 1 to August 31...it's killing the fishery and all those who rely on it for their income. They won't be able to survive too many more years of this. There are millions of U.S.A.-origin hatchery-marked chinooks around Sidney, Victoria and Sooke that can be retained without any harm to Fraser wild stocks of concern.”

Is the minister's department considering 100% marking of all Canadian hatchery chinook for proper and accurate conservation, as the State of Washington already does successfully? Science has proven its effectiveness in restoring Pacific salmon.

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Chair, as I have said a number of times this evening, I am not averse to a mark-selective fishery. However, we need to make sure that as we go forward, we do it in the right way and address the concerns we are hearing from conservationists, commercial harvesters and indigenous populations. We want to make sure we are doing what we can to protect the stock, but we also know that a mark-selective fishery is a possible path forward. We want to make sure we are doing everything possible with the right science to make the right decisions.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Madam Chair, I will be sharing the last five minutes of my time with the member for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin.

I have a question for the minister on the subject of small craft harbours. It is a file that I know the minister is very passionate about and very involved in.

Could she briefly confirm to the House and those listening the position of the department today, as it was when we formed government in 2015, regarding the budget of small craft harbours?

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Madam Chair, there has been significant increase in funding since 2016, after we came into government. We have announced over $484 million in new funding for small craft harbours. This is over the $90 million budgeted annually. In 2019-20, my department worked on over 245 projects to ensure that small craft harbours were kept in good shape and to meet the needs of the commercial fishing industry.

As I said earlier tonight, small craft harbours are an economic driver in our rural coastal communities and we need to—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Egmont.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Madam Chair, I know the personal efforts the minister has put into securing sector funding for the fishing industry through the fish harvester benefit and grant program. It is important for those watching to realize that the fishing industry is the only sector that has a sector-specific financial aid package as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Could the minister give a brief overview of this funding?

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Chair, we recognized very quickly that when COVID-19 hit, commercial harvesters were going to be seriously impacted because of the closure of export markets as well as the closure of restaurants. Because of the way their enterprises are structured, they did not qualify for a number of the programs we had in place for relief for businesses. That is why we came up with the fish harvester benefit and grant program. That was an almost half-billion-dollar program to support harvesters. It is the largest single investment in fisheries since the cod—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Egmont.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Madam Chair, I would ask the minister if she could continue to elaborate on the importance of that benefit to the industry.

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Chair, the money that was made available to the harvesters allowed them to make really tough decisions with regard to whether they would fish for the season. A number of people took advantage of this program. They desperately needed these benefits because they knew the fishery was in dire straits when we started COVID-19. They were actually one of the first industries impacted by the pandemic. They saw the decline of the fisheries in early February when everything was still moving across the world.

We knew it was important to ensure that harvesters had the money they needed to make those tough decisions about whether they were going to fish this year. One of the—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Egmont.