44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2022 11:00AM
- May/30/22 11:51:59 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, just by way of opening, I will say that I am basing a lot of these questions on testimony that we heard at the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. It is an excellent committee with a lot of non-partisan co-operation between members around the table, but I will not cite every witness in every specific question.
I am following up on an earlier question on the climate impacts of extreme weather events and the impacts on fish habitat. We know we have impacts on and threats to Pacific salmon from flooding, wildfires and the destruction of the riparian zones that used to shield the waters to keep them from getting too hot from increased water temperatures. However, I want to focus on what we are going to do to rebuild infrastructure after the November floods in B.C. We could do it wrong and worsen salmon habitat through building dikes and drudging or we could do it right. Some of the expert witnesses suggested that Washington state is where we ought to look for excellence in its flood plains by design program, which works to reduce flood risks while enhancing and restoring salmon habitat.
Can the minister update us on whether DFO is actively pursuing a flood plains by design program?
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- May/30/22 11:53:19 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I absolutely share the concern that it is not just the effects of the flooding, slides and fires, but how we rebuild from them. I mentioned earlier that I am part of the emergency committee of provincial and federal ministers, and each of my and DFO's interventions has been to make sure the other ministers understand the importance of having fish-friendly rebuilding. We are going to continue to press that point.
Our government provided $5 billion to the province to help rebuild from the flooding in November. That rebuilding has to be done in a way that is fish friendly, so I am going to be asking for a report on what we are doing to ensure that.
I thank the member for her concern.
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- May/30/22 11:54:17 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I will move to the problem of what people call aquaculture but my constituents insist I call toxic fish factories, and how we are going to get them out of the water, as the minister's government promised. Some of the witnesses who testified recently on the science issue questioned why the department, not the minister personally, obviously, has in certain sections suppressed science on viruses and sea lice. The conclusion was that it had to do with the fact that the Fisheries Act structurally has a conflict of interest in both promoting the aquaculture industry and regulating it.
Would the minister be open to looking at the new aquaculture act to eliminate that conflict of interest, have a different department promote aquaculture and have DFO protect wild fish stocks?
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- May/30/22 11:55:12 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we do have a process, the CSAS process, which provides the opportunity for peer review of science. I understand what the member is saying when she says that there has been some recent research that has come out since the CSAS report that determined minimal risk. At a certain point, when there is a body of work that has not been reviewed, I will be requesting that another peer review process take place through CSAS so that we can update our analysis of the risk to wild salmon.
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- May/30/22 11:56:00 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, moving on, I was really pleased to hear the minister say that she recognizes that polystyrene is a real problem of plastic pollution in our coastal areas, but I was disappointed to hear that it sounded like DFO is not interested in getting it out of the ocean.
Is DFO working with Environment and Climate Change Canada to improve the regulations currently under review for ocean plastics to put polystyrene's use in the marine and coastal areas on a list so that we avoid getting it into the ocean in the first place?
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- May/30/22 11:56:34 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, this analysis and development of regulations is being done by Environment and Climate Change Canada. It is not a partnership with DFO, but I take the member's point that it is very important that polystyrene be regulated so that it is not in the ocean in the same volume that it has been, because it is very deleterious to fish.
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- May/30/22 11:57:10 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I am moving on to southern resident killer whales. By the way, one of my constituents whom the minister will also know, the Hon. Pat Carney, has said for many years that we do not have an oceans protection plan but an oceans protection wish list. I would like to see an oceans protection plan and not just a pile of money and a list of things to do.
In relation to southern resident killer whales in my riding, the interim sanctuary zones around Pender and Saturna have been there since 2019. Nobody has ever been charged and nobody has ever been ticketed. There have been numerous violations. The local volunteers and whale-sighting groups have now established that whales are present year-round, yet this seasonal so-called sanctuary zone is only operating June 1 to November 30.
Is the minister willing to look at the new science and recognize that whales are present year-round?
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- May/30/22 11:58:02 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I am always willing to look at new science. I am always willing to adjust our measures to reflect what we have learned, and the southern resident killer whales are a key species for us to protect. There is a review every year, and we will take a look at the enforcement concerns that the member is raising.
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- May/30/22 11:58:36 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, with the threat of ocean acidification as a result of the increased atmospheric carbon creating carbonic acid and threatening life in the oceans, is DFO currently measuring pH levels on all of our coastlines to keep track of ocean acidification?
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- May/30/22 11:58:56 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I have seen the science around acidification and deoxygenation, as well as warming impacts, so we have a triple whammy. It is one of the reasons that it is so important that we now think about climate change as we do our marine protected area planning, because the resilience of the healthy seabed floor is important for the resilience of the whole ecology. We need to build that resilience as we face these changes under climate change, and we do monitor the pH levels of all of our oceans.
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- May/30/22 11:59:45 p.m.
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Resuming debate, the hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.
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- May/30/22 11:59:50 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, first I want to thank the minister and her team, and you, Mr. Chair, for being here tonight. It has been four hours.
Crab harvesters in area E, Tofino, have been at a continued significant economic loss since the April 1 trap reallocation. The government still has not responded to their requests for an independently facilitated negotiation process, a process that is imperative to help speed up the licence buyback and properly compensate harvesters for the immediate losses they face and will continue to face until enough licences are bought back.
When will the minister be responding to their requests, meet and set up a negotiation table?
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- May/31/22 12:00:37 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, yes, I understand the difficulties when the crab licences were allocated due to a court decision to the local first nations. It would be great to just add some licences, but because of conservation concerns that is not possible. We are now working with harvesters and have a budget to negotiate a settlement for that capacity.
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- May/31/22 12:01:11 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, how many licences is the minister committed to buying back to ensure that there is no net loss of traps and that the “willing buyer, willing seller” policy is adhered to?
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- May/31/22 12:01:22 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, the member has correctly talked about our “willing buyer, willing seller” policy. The volume of traps that was allocated to the first nations is the volume that we will be buying back, and bids are currently being accepted.
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- May/31/22 12:01:47 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, it has been a year since the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced the $647-million Pacific salmon strategy initiative. In that time, there has been really no genuine engagement with first nations. The Nuu-chah-nulth nations especially are saying to me that to implement the PSSI on the west coast of Vancouver Island, they need to be engaged clearly. Indeed, all the evidence to date points to the PSSI as yet another example of the department directing long-awaited funding toward internal priorities instead of working with first nations to decide how best to allocate limited resources. Will the minister direct her staff to immediately reach out to the Nuu-chah-nulth nations to establish a process for a jointly managed implementation of the PSSI on the west coast of Vancouver Island?
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- May/31/22 12:02:40 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, one of the key pillars of the PSSI is collaboration. On the one hand we are being told we are not moving quickly enough, but on the other hand we are very committed to collaborating with indigenous communities and others, and that work is ongoing.
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- May/31/22 12:03:05 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, how will the minister ensure that the PSSI Pacific salmon commercial licence retirement program supports coastal communities and owner-operator fishers, avoids further corporate consolidation of the fishing fleet and holds industry participants responsible for supporting sustainable harvest transformation?
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- May/31/22 12:03:26 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, harvest transformation is one of the key pillars of the Pacific salmon initiative. That means we will be consulting. We will be working with harvesters and working with industry, again on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis.
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- May/31/22 12:03:45 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, the installation of intensive subtidal geoduck aquaculture is proposed for the herring spawning grounds in Lambert Channel which, according to Department of Fisheries and Oceans records, are the source of 38% of all the herring spawn that has ever occurred on the B.C. coast and would support the whole Strait of Georgia marine ecosystem.
Will the minister put the protection of the spawning habitat of this keystone species ahead of the installation of industrial aquaculture and save it from the inevitable cumulative damage that would follow?
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