Question Period Note: Marine Conservation and Bottom Trawling

• The Government of Canada is taking concrete action by embracing area-based conservation measures like marine protected areas to help mitigate the impacts of climate change.
• Protected ocean area has increased in Canada from less than one percent in 2015 to nearly 14 per cent today, and we are committed to conserving 25 per cent by 2025, and 30 per cent by 2030, including protection standards which will prohibit bottom trawling in certain areas.
• This is not about banning bottom trawling, which remains an effective method to catch certain fish species that are a valuable source of protein and an important contribution to regional economies in Canada.
• The footprint of bottom trawling has decreased in Canada’s waters over time. This practice makes up a small percentage of the fishing activity in Canada.
• We are committed to managing our fisheries sustainably and protecting our important ocean environments.

• On April 13, 2021, an article appeared in Canada’s National Observer entitled, “Why this fishing technique is a climate disaster”, citing a March 17, 2021 study in the journal Nature and its reference to the potential for bottom trawling fisheries to disrupt sedimentary carbon, thereby increasing global CO2. The Observer article claims that the disturbance by bottom trawling of Canadian marine sediments containing vast amounts of carbon in the form of decomposed marine life, is releasing carbon back into the ocean and atmosphere and exacerbating the climate crisis.

• The study in Nature is a preliminary one on this topic, which will likely lead to further research and analysis of the study’s results.

• A unilateral ban on bottom trawling in Canada would run counter to the findings of the Nature study, which instead advocates for a “globally coordinated effort” to achieve maximum global benefits for biodiversity, boosting the yield of fisheries, and securing marine carbon stocks. Also, the paper itself notes that, “the spatial footprint of bottom trawling is small… eliminating 90 per cent of the present risk of carbon disturbance due to bottom trawling would require protecting 3.6 per cent of the ocean.” It notes that “[t]op priority areas are located where carbon stocks and present anthropogenic threats are highest, including China’s EEZ, Europe’s Atlantic coastal areas, and productive upwelling areas.”

• In recent years, Canada has introduced more area-based measures to protect certain aquatic species or important habitat areas for species. As a result, the footprint of the bottom trawling fisheries in Canada has decreased compared to the past. For example, DFO has closed certain areas in the oceans on its three coasts to the use of trawl gear to protect habitat for cold water corrals. DFO monitors fisheries in these areas to ensure that they are abiding by these rules.

• For these reasons, DFO is not at this time planning to develop a policy specific to bottom trawling fishing gear in response to the study. Bottom trawling remains an effective method to catch certain fish species that are a valuable source of protein for purchase by Canadians and other countries around the world and the sale of these fish products make an important contribution to regional economies in Canada.

• DFO’s existing tools and approaches will help us to achieve ambitious conservation aims while supporting science-based decision-making. One example is DFO’s Policy to Manage the Impacts of Fishing on Sensitive Benthic Areas which aims to minimize the impacts of fishing on sensitive benthic ecosystems, and to provide a more systematic, transparent, and consistent approach to addressing this issue in Canadian fisheries.

• Another example is the marine spatial planning an approach already being used in over 75 countries around the world—its implementation here in Canada will allow for a diverse array of activities and ocean uses to be coordinated and planned to meet ecological, economic, cultural and social needs.

• The Government of Canada continues to advance marine conservation networks as a key mechanism for enhancing resilience of coastal and ocean areas, including resilience to climate change impacts. Marine protected areas offer a nature-based solution to support global efforts toward climate change adaptation and mitigation. Canada will consider information about the carbon sequestration capacity of different ocean areas on all three coasts, as well as other key ecological considerations, as part of efforts to identify new sites to conserve 25 per cent of our oceans by 2025, working towards 30 per cent by 2030.

• Under federal protected areas such as MPAs, national marine conservation areas, as well as marine refuges, bottom trawling is prohibited in more than 680,000 km2 of Canada’s coastal and marine areas. This accounts for ~11.8 per cent of Canada’s total coastal and marine areas - well above the scope of protection suggested in the strategy proposed in the Nature article.

• Furthermore in 2019, DFO introduced new protection standards for new federal MPAs, which include a prohibition of bottom trawling, dumping, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, and mining.

• Canada will continue to advance its sustainable ocean economy based on meaningful partnerships with provinces, territories, and Indigenous peoples, in consultation with coastal communities.

• As a leader in oceans protection globally, Canada's approach to marine conservation is in strong alignment with global scientific evidence in concluding that a productive ocean and a protected one are not mutually exclusive.

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