44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2022 11:00AM
- May/30/22 3:09:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all fisheries are important. All conservation measures are intended to make sure that we maintain a healthy stock. That is the responsibility of DFO.
With respect to the capelin decision, we are reviewing the science. We will be coming out very soon with a determination for the harvesters in the coming weeks.
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- May/30/22 9:00:28 p.m.
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Madam Chair, could the minister confirm how many projects have been initiated under the conservation and stewardship pillar of the PSSI since it was launched last year?
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- May/30/22 9:23:12 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to thank the member for the story of his family early on and their connection with fisheries and for his concern about wild Pacific salmon. They have been such a high priority for British Columbians and for this government, and this is even more critical today given the complex challenges facing the species, including, as he mentioned, climate change, changes in land and water use, and B.C.'s year of floods, fires and slides.
The PSSI will include habitat, hatcheries and harvest approaches to conserve and restore Pacific salmon. The department is continuing to work to ensure that new and ongoing investments, activities and Pacific salmon programming are properly aligned with other partners to achieve maximum and key results. In particular, programs and actions will be implemented to respond to the historic declines of the Pacific salmon by putting in place conservation approaches and plans to prioritize Pacific salmon populations and support their recovery.
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- May/30/22 9:39:25 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, what we will do is prioritize the conservation of the wild Pacific salmon while making opportunities available to the sport fishery in such a way that it does not undermine the conservation of wild salmon.
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- May/30/22 9:51:36 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that brought me back to a time when I was in opposition, in the opposition lobby, visiting with some representatives from an oceans conservation organization who told me about ghost gear. It was the first time I had heard about it and the idea that this fishing gear is trapping and killing fish and even whales endlessly, because it was abandoned in the ocean.
I am so pleased to say that our government is taking action on that. The member did a great job of laying out how important that is. We have a ghost gear program. The results of this program have been very impressive so far. Approved projects are funded based on activities under four pillars: abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear; responsible disposal, like the one he saw and I have seen at Steveston Harbour; acquiring and piloting innovative technologies to do these things; and international leadership.
This will be available for a wide range of individuals, companies, businesses, not-for-profits, indigenous organizations, research institutions and other levels of government. I really encourage interested parties to apply. The applications are due by June 6 this year at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.
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- May/30/22 10:13:09 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, it is a pleasure to rise in the House to talk about this important issue. Of course, my riding of Milton is part of the Great Lakes watershed. I spent a lot of time on the water in and around my region, so I have a keen interest in this issue. I appreciate the minister's time and being available to us.
I am thankful for the opportunity to talk about marine-protected areas, or MPAs for the sake of shortening that for this speech, and how vital they are to conserving Canada's rich endowment of marine biodiversity and as a nature-based solution to climate change.
Canada stands proud following the achievement of our 10% marine conservation target in 2020. It is a commitment that Canada and many other parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity have made. Over the past seven years, Canada has conserved more marine and coastal areas than at any other time in history, with almost 14% protection across the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans, up from less than 1% in 2015.
In July of 2020, Canada joined the Global Ocean Alliance, which seeks to protect at least 30% of the world's oceans by 2030. Through this alliance, we have joined like-minded countries to advocate for the international adoption of a “30 by 30” marine conservation target under the Convention on Biological Diversity at the 15th conference of the parties in September. The government remains steadfast in our renewed efforts to conserve 25% by 2025 and 30% by 2030. We have invested almost a billion dollars to establish new protected areas, to effectively manage existing areas, and to enhance our collaborative efforts with indigenous peoples, provinces, territories, local communities and others. We need to halt and reverse the loss of our marine biodiversity for many reasons, and I am pleased to outline some of those today.
Let me first describe the importance of MPAs. MPAs support healthy marine ecosystems and special features such as underwater canyons, glass sponge reefs, concentrations of corals and hydrothermal vents. These ecosystems provide a range of important ecological, economic and socio-cultural benefits, including biodiversity, improved water quality, support to fisheries inside and outside their boundaries, and new opportunities for education, research and tourism. MPAs help sustain the ecosystems, marine species and biological resources that are relied upon by sustainable industries, local economies and coastal communities, and also support cultural and recreational activities and provide a wealth of spiritual, religious and other non-material benefits.
MPAs can provide many socio-economic benefits as well. They provide a foundation for community-based partnerships and employment opportunities, and where possible they enable new tourism and recreational opportunities. As we establish MPAs, we work with partners and stakeholders to distribute any economic impacts to marine industries in a balanced manner through socio-economic analysis, consultation and collaboration. Planning our ocean spaces collaboratively is the cornerstone of our marine spatial planning efforts. By working with our partners, we can ensure that our ambitious marine conservation goals are met while we simultaneously grow the blue economy.
The science is clear, and Canadians are clear, that we must continue taking strong and serious action on climate change. Canada recognizes that conservation is not only about achieving targets: MPAs must be effectively designed and efficiently managed over the long term so they achieve their conservation objectives. That is why, in 2018, Canada asked a national advisory panel comprised of seven prominent Canadians, including Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, prior to her appointment as Governor General, to travel across this country to hear from politicians, stakeholders and other concerned Canadians to gather their perspectives on how to better establish and manage MPAs. It is also why in 2019, embracing the advice of this panel, Canada announced a new MPA production standard that prohibited oil and gas exploration and exploitation, mining, dumping and bottom trawling in all future federal MPAs.
Beyond supporting ecosystems and species, MPAs make meaningful contributions to the advancement of reconciliation and renewing Canada's relationship with indigenous peoples based on the recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership. Indigenous peoples are partners in conservation planning and management, and our MPAs will continue to respect constitutionally protected indigenous and treaty rights. Our government will continue to look for opportunities to strengthen partnerships with indigenous peoples, and will embed indigenous knowledge with other sciences and MPA planning and design, governance and management.
Let me tell members about the Anguniaqvia niqiqyuam MPA in Darnley Bay. This large inlet, within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, is one of the most important ecological and cultural regions in Canada's western Arctic.
Its conservation objectives are to maintain the habitat that supports species such as beluga whales, Arctic char, ringed and bearded seals, polar bears and sea birds. This area is also culturally important for the Inuvialuit. They have a strong connection to the land and sea that is vital to their health and well-being, and the Inuvialuit actively harvest traditional food throughout the MPA with two-thirds of the adult population engaging in hunting and fishing. Harvesting activities not only provide an important source of food, but also a means of passing traditional knowledge, skills and cultural pride to the youth of the community. This MPA was collaboratively established with the Inuvialuit and others. Its ongoing governance is with the Fisheries Joint Management Committee and the community of Paulatuk.
We are also continuing to advance conservation networks across priority marine bioregions. As we all know, our regions are interconnected and ecologically linked. Oceans are living, breathing wonders that rely on complex networks of ecosystems to survive, and through the planning and implementation of conservation networks, we can help to preserve the important ecological linkages between one area and another. MPAs and conservation networks contribute to a healthy marine environment by helping to conserve and protect marine species and habitats. They also help to protect the diversity of ecosystems upon which marine organisms depend.
Canada's vision for a sustainable blue economy supports the growth of ocean sectors that provide jobs, are inclusive, advance reconciliation with indigenous peoples and respect regional differences and needs. By creating MPAs and therefore advancing marine spatial planning, we can also ensure that regional priorities, whether those are economic, environmental or social, are reflected in our planning efforts. Marine spatial planning is a key enabler of achieving our blue economy goals, because we recognize that a sustainable blue economy depends on healthy oceans and must be supported by a world-leading conservation plan.
How will we meet this new ambitious 30% marine conservation target together by 2030? We will continue to establish new MPAs and marine refuges while effectively managing those we already have. We will continue to collaborate and build on the many meaningful partnerships already in place and will establish new ones with provincial, territorial and indigenous governments, industry and local communities. We will advance conservation in a marine spatial planning context to achieve socio-economic and cultural objectives as conservation objectives. Finally, we will ensure that our work remains grounded in science, indigenous knowledge and local perspectives.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge that the nationwide, all-hands-on effort it has taken to achieve what we have today is so important. Canada is a maritime nation, today and in future generations. Protecting the oceans is not just for the now; it is also a long-term commitment for everyone to enjoy and receive all of the benefits. It is important for everyone to learn more about protecting our oceans through MPAs and the role they play in climate action, advancing reconciliation with indigenous groups, supporting coastal communities and providing insurance for the availability of biological resources for future economic growth.
Thank you, and I have a couple of questions for the minister.
My first question to the minister is about nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. Would the minister please explain the benefit of some of our nature-based solutions?
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- May/30/22 10:21:45 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the member for his evident passion and commitment to nature conservation as well as the other aspects of indigenous reconciliation and the economic benefits of such.
I love the term “nature-based solutions”, but I also think about it as ocean-sourced climate solutions. These are actions that protect, sustainably manage and restore ecosystems while providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits, and this is just what an MPA is all about.
Marine protected areas protect ecologically important species, habitats and ecosystems. They improve the health of the ocean. They strengthen its resilience against climate change impacts, such as ocean acidification, coastal erosion, coastal flooding and sea-level rise. As well, they help to grow our seafood diversity and abundance. MPAs also improve coastal defences, such as shoreline buffers and barriers to storms. They help waves disperse and protect reefs. They provide carbon and greenhouse gas absorption through protected habitats such as marshes and seagrass meadows.
The role of MPAs and a climate-resilient ocean are critical reasons why we need to conserve 30% of our oceans by 2030 and ensure their effective management through monitoring, compliance, enforcement, partnerships and stewardship efforts.
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- May/30/22 10:25:23 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank the member for the glowing reviews of the Cape Breton—Canso area. I think my parliamentary secretary appreciated that very much.
Marine protected areas are an important tool in supporting the local economic prosperity of coastal communities. The question is about how we decide how to protect areas within an MPA. It is by using the best available knowledge. Areas of ecological and biological significance are identified, and protection approaches are advanced, through an extensive process of consultation, engagement and scientific and socio-economic assessments to ensure that the protections will be effective. This will include members of local communities, of course.
Following this process and depending on the MPA's unique conservation objectives, activities may either be allowed, limited or prohibited. Once an MPA is established, the activities that are allowed to occur are managed in an adaptive manner that is flexible in response to ocean changes. An adaptive management approach is conducted with local partners in order to effectively protect over the long term.
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- May/30/22 10:37:54 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, my goal is to grow the fish and seafood sector. To do that, we need to have abundance in the stocks. Therefore, the conservation steps that we take are for—
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- May/30/22 10:41:34 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, stocks can recover if we are managing them carefully and with conservation in mind. At the same time, we will be exploring the intersection between seals and the fish that they eat.
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Mr. Chair, will the minister support the conservation of fish stocks and vote for Bill C-251?
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- May/30/22 10:57:23 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thought the member's comments were very insightful, especially when he was talking about this being an enormous and complicated undertaking. When we think about the country of Canada, with two and a half times the length of coastline of any other country in the world and oceans on three different coasts, it is enormous and complicated. That is one of the reasons that ministry officials work with the local harvest community and other stakeholders as they seek to translate data into conservation or fishery action.
Our government did indeed create new tools to continue to promote healthier marine ecosystems and more abundant fish stocks across the country. We now have legislative and regulatory mechanisms in place that will protect existing fish and fish habitat, prioritize rebuilding depleted fish stocks and incorporate indigenous knowledge into decision-making. Among these tools are the fish stock provisions in the Fisheries Act that create modern safeguards on fish stocks. These provisions create binding obligations to maintain prescribed fish stocks at sustainable levels and to develop and implement rebuilding plans for depleted stocks.
This has significantly strengthened our fisheries management framework. It is a major step toward better restoring and rebuilding our fish stocks, which are essential to supporting sustainable fisheries in the long run. It is a virtual circle: Ensuring that we have healthy fish stocks supports more resilient marine ecosystems, and thus they provide greater economic returns for Canada's harvesters.
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- May/30/22 11:41:50 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, what conservation hatchery programs will be funded by PSSI resources this fiscal year?
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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 12:04:21 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, I am interested in more details on the specific facility that the member is referring to, but I want to say that conservation is our bottom line. It is our top priority.
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