Mr. Speaker, in 2021, as part of immediate conservation measures under the Pacific salmon strategy initiative, the minister announced commercial fishery closures to protect stocks of conservation concern. For 59 fisheries, the pre-season forecast or outlook indicated that salmon returns were not likely to be strong enough to provide a commercial fishery opportunity in 2021, based on decision rules set out in the integrated fisheries management plans, or IFMPs.
In addition, Fisheries and Oceans Canada took a more precautionary approach and announced a number of additional commercial fisheries that would remain closed where stocks of concern could not easily be avoided. These closures were based on conservation criteria used to identify fishery interactions with stocks of concern and the ability to mitigate these interactions. Under these criteria, it was determined that 12 additional fisheries would be closed and two first nations sale fisheries would be converted to more selective gear types to protect stocks of concern that may be intercepted in the target fishery or as by-catch. These closures were implemented on an interim basis in 2021 with a commitment to review longer-term closures for 2022 and beyond after additional consultation with affected groups.
Fisheries that were not affected by these closures could be opened based on the decision rules set out in the IFMPs. Salmon catch remains preliminary and will be reported through the Pacific Salmon Commission website in December 2022.
The Pacific salmon commercial licence retirement program (the program) will provide harvesters with the option to retire their licences for fair market value, and will facilitate the transition to a smaller commercial harvesting sector. The program is anticipated to be launched in late spring 2022. All individual commercial salmon licence-holders will have an opportunity to participate in this initiative.