Question Period Note: North Atlantic right whale

Why isn’t this Government doing more to protect the North Atlantic Right Whale?

• The Government of Canada continues to apply strong and comprehensive measures to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from entanglements and vessel strikes.
• My Department uses adaptive measures to prevent fishing gear entanglements, such as temporary and season-long-fisheries closures when and where right whales are detected.
• We have also invested $20 million in 2021-23, working with the fishing industry, Indigenous groups to test whalesafe fishing gear such as ropeless gear.

• Closure statistics from 2022, as of November 8, 2022:
o 54,713.65 km2 total cumulative closure area
o 28,794.24 km2 in total seasonal closures
o 25,919.41 km2 in total temporary closures
• As of November 4, 2022, there were 1,166 recorded detections of right whales. Of these detections 130 individual whales have been identified.
• On October 25, 2022 the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium released the most recent population estimate of 340 whales, which indicates a slowing in decline.
• A DFO aerial survey sighted an entangled right whale on August 24, 2022 in the Gulf St. Lawrence during a search for the entangled juvenile right whale (calf of #3720). It is unclear if the whale was still entangled by the end of the sighting as gear was not visible.
• On August 20, DFO aerial survey sighted an entangled juvenile right whale (calf of #3720) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The whale was free-swimming with buoys and line in tow.
• On July 23, 2022, previously entangled North Atlantic right whale Snow Cone was seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The whale was first observed entangled in March 2021, in Cape Cod Bay, MA, US.
• On June 30, 2022, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) sighted an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence between Miscou Island, New Brunswick and the Magdalen Islands, Quebec. The whale has been identified as Meridian, a 38 year-old male. He was last seen off the coast off Massachusetts, United States, on February 11, 2022. No gear was retrieved therefore the type of gear or fishery it came from remains unknown.
• On May 19, 2022, a entangled North Atlantic right whale entanglement was reported. The whale has been identified as Sundog, a 14 year-old female sighted east of Gaspé, Quebec. As no gear was retrieved from this whale, the type of gear or fishery it came from cannot be determined.
• On July 23, 2022, a previously entangled North Atlantic right whale, Snow Cone, was seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The whale was first observed entangled in March 2021, in Cape Cod Bay, MA, US.
• The first North Atlantic right whale of 2022 was detected on May 3. The single right whale was sighted by surveillance aircraft in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, north of the Magdalen Islands. The detection triggered a 15-day fishing closure in crab fishing area 12.
• In February 2022, the Minister announced the 2022 NARW fisheries management measures. DFO’s measures remain unchanged from 2021. The measures for 2022 will take effect in the Gulf of St. Lawrence as soon as the Gulf crab fisheries open this year (as early as April 1).
• On October 14, 2022 the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister met with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Deputy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator and her colleagues to discuss matters of common interest in relation to NARW protection measures and the timelines for reporting under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
• In 2022 DFO continued to apply adaptive measures to preventing fishing gear entanglements, such as:
o Changes to the open and closure dates of fisheries.
o Season-long closure protocol (Nov 15) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence;
o Dynamic closure protocol in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Bay of Fundy, and critical habitat areas (Grand Manan Basin and Roseway Basin);
o Case by case measures to address sightings of 3 whale or more aggregations or a mother and calf anywhere in Atlantic Canada and Quebec that is not subject to temporary closure areas and critical habitat;
o Maintaining targeted provisions for waters shallower than 20 fathoms (36.5 metres or 120 feet);
o Focused surveillance using acoustic underwater technology (hydrophones), aircraft and vessels to confirm the presence of whales;
• As announced in February 2020, the Department is working with partners and industry in Atlantic Canada and Quebec to identify gear solutions for preventing injury to right whales, including implementing requirements for lower breaking strength gear modifications in non-tended fixed gear fisheries. The Department is finalizing the approach for 2023 and beyond, to ensure that gear modification requirements are implemented in a way that considers fishery-specific conditions, and is safe, effective and adaptive to new information as it becomes available.
• In 2021, the Department launched the Whalesafe Gear Adoption Fund, a two-year $20 million contribution program to support the purchase, adoption, testing and manufacture of whalesafe fishing gear, including lower breaking strength modifications and ropeless/rope on demand systems. This program supports 34 projects across Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
• The 2021 Action Plan for the NARW was finalized and published on the Public Registry in spring 2021. The Action Plan addresses aII threats identified in the species’ Recovery Strategy, incIuding vessel collisions, entanglement in fishing gear, disturbance from vessel presence, noise, contaminants, habitat degradation, and changes in food supply.
• Since 2018, DFO has invested over $5.7 million to further enhance the Marine Mammal Response Program, which responds to marine mammals in distress, including disentanglement of NARWs. This funding is part of the $167.4 million Whales Initiative in Budget 2018.
• The NARW was listed as Endangered in the Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2005. It is predicted the species could become extinct in 30 years if the mortality rate is not significantly reduced.

If pressed on economic impacts on harvesters
• The Department works closely with harvesters for the implementation of management measures that are designed to protect Endangered North Atlantic right whales while allowing for economically sustainable fisheries.
• We are hosting our annual Advisory Committee meeting on November 22, 2022 where we will review best available science and hear feedback from harvesters, Indigenous communities and non-government organizations.

If pressed on the Marine Mammal Protection Act
comparability finding
• We are proud of our robust measures to protect right whales and are confident that they meet or exceed the United States standards.
• The Department continues to collaborate with the United States to establish a gear investigation process for high-profile, cross- boundary entanglement cases to ensure the analysis accurately determines entanglement origin.
• In November 2021, Canada submitted final applications for comparability findings for 323 fisheries and aquaculture operations that export to the United States.

If pressed on introduction of lower breaking strength gear modifications by 2023
• Preventing whale entanglements remains our priority, and our efforts to protect right whales will include measures to reduce harm if entanglements occur.
• We will continue to work with stakeholders and partners to introduce measures that make fishing gear safer for whales, including requiring lower breaking strength gear components, while ensuring harvester safety is protected.