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House Hansard - 321

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 321 - May/31/24
Mr. Mike Kelloway (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Lib.)
  • May/31/24 12:31:44 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, good morning and happy birthday. I have gotten to see, first-hand, the member's work on behalf of his constituents. They are very lucky to have him, in my opinion. Canada is a proud maritime nation that relies on its oceans as a source of food, jobs, energy, raw materials, maritime trade, tourism and recreation. Fisheries in Canada play a critical role in indigenous and non-indigenous communities and coastal communities. They are an important part of our economy. We are focused on sustainability and conservation. We are proud of our robust and sustainable, managed and well-regulated commercial fisheries. Ghost gear impacts are long-lasting. Ghost gear is a significant source of marine plastic pollution, which can have a devastating impact on marine mammals and aquatic ecosystems. It has the potential to break down into other forms of pollution, as just mentioned, such as microplastics, and other types of serious navigational hazards. Our changing climate and extreme weather events are a major contributor to gear loss. This was evident in my neck of the woods during hurricane Fiona. Coastal communities were majorly impacted by ghost gear as a result of the storm. The Government of Canada recognizes the threat that ghost gear poses in Canada and around the world, and has taken action. In 2018, Canada became a member of and leader in the Global Ghost Gear Initiative. In 2019, Fisheries and Oceans Canada established the national ghost gear program. The program is focused on working with partners and stakeholders in Canada and around the world to prevent, retrieve and responsibly dispose of ghost gear. Since 2019, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has worked with partners and stakeholders to implement a legal requirement in all commercial fisheries to report lost fishing gear, and created an electronic fishing gear reporting system to help harvesters easily report lost and retrieved gear. In 2020, the department launched the ghost gear fund to address four key ghost gear challenges: retrieval of ghost gear from our oceans, responsible disposal, acquisition and piloting of new technology to address ghost gear, and international leadership. The fund focused on engaging and working with indigenous partners and the fishing industry on solutions to this decades-old issue of ghost gear and lost gear. Through the fund, Canada distributed $58.3 million in support of 144 projects domestically and internationally. The work of our partners and harvesters is impressive, with over 2,233 tonnes of ghost gear removed from Canada's waters and more than 858 kilometres of rope retrieved to date. Through the work undertaken by our dedicated partners, we have reduced the threat of entrapment, ghost gear fishing and the threat of entanglement to marine mammals, including endangered North Atlantic right whales. The ghost gear fund has been critical in providing data needed to inform management measures to prevent gear loss in the first place. This is a key part of our ghost gear strategy for the future. We need to address any potential ghost gear threats to the marine environment, as well as establishing regulatory tools and policies designed to effectively prevent or mitigate the loss of gear in Canada. These essential pieces will feed into the ghost gear action plan, which will consider the role of climate change on fishing gear loss and consider methods to strengthen a cyclical approach to plastics used in fishing gear, address regulatory impediments to facilitate lost gear retrieval and develop new tools to reduce the amount of gear lost in the Canadian fisheries. Through the ghost gear program, Canada is committed to addressing ghost gear into the future, demonstrating the leadership of Canadian fisheries and protecting our marine ecosystems and fisheries for generations to come.
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