Hon. Elizabeth Marshall: Minister, welcome to the Senate of Canada. Almost a year ago, without any warning, consultation or financial compensation, you shut down the entire Atlantic mackerel and commercial bait fishery. At the time, the Maritime Fishermen’s Union said they were shocked by your radical decision and appalled by its impact on workers in coastal communities.

In a press conference two weeks ago, Greg Pretty, the President of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union, or FFAW, blamed your closure of this fishery on:

. . . DFO’s colossal mishandling of the Atlantic mackerel fishery and the failure of DFO science to accurately estimate the mackerel biomass . . . .

Minister, what is your response to the FFAW and indeed to all mackerel harvesters and processors across Atlantic Canada? Will there be an Atlantic mackerel fishery in 2023? Yes or no?

Hon. Joyce Murray, P.C., M.P., Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard: In terms of the last question, senator, that decision is yet to be taken. In terms of the mackerel fishery shutdown, it’s always difficult to close a fishery because I know the impact that it has on fish harvesters and their communities. In fact, I just spent last week in Eastern Canada, the Gaspé and the Magdalen Islands hearing from fish harvesters from a number of stocks.

With respect to the mackerel, the science was very clear that this stock is in the critical zone, and it has been there for more than a decade. There has been a collapse of mackerel age class. I actually have the spawning stock biomass document with me. When I read it, I was severely concerned about the stock.

It’s never easy to do that, but the reason is for conservation purposes for the long term. We want to be able to provide an opportunity for the stock to recover. It’s an important source of food for many other fish stocks, as it is important for use as bait. But if we continue to fish it down its curve, we may never see it recover. That’s why I have taken this precautionary approach.