Question Period Note: U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act import provisions

• Our Government, working with Canadian industry, is committed to protecting marine mammals from entanglement in fishing gear and maintaining access to the U.S. market.
• We continue to work closely with Canadian harvesters, and other stakeholders to meet the new U.S. import requirements coming into force in 2023.
• When it comes to the protection of North Atlantic Right Whale, we are proud of the robustness of our measures and are confident that they meet or exceed the U.S. standards.

PROPOSED REGULATORY AMENDMENTS TO PROHIBIT THE LETHAL REMOVAL OF NUISANCE SEALS
• The Department plans to change the regulatory authority that currently allows the lethal removal of nuisance seals while undertaking commercial fishing or aquaculture operation activities.
• In place of issuing Nuisance Seal Licences, the Department intends to adopt regulatory language that aligns with that of the United States Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).
• This decision will support our Government’s actions to enhance marine mammal protections and will enable Canadian fish and seafood exporters to maintain access to the U.S. market.

• The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) import provisions were finalized at the end of 2016, but entry into force was originally stayed for 5 years while the U.S. works with exporting countries – like Canada – through the implementation and compliance process.
• Recently the U.S. extended the implementation of the MMPA import provisions by another year – until January 1, 2023.
• The new rules establish conditions for evaluating a harvesting nation's regulatory program for reducing marine mammal incidental mortality and serious injury during the course of commercial fishing and aquaculture operations.
• In order to maintain U.S. market access in 2023, fish and seafood-harvesting nations must meet or exceed U.S. standards in terms of mitigating marine mammal bycatch.
• The U.S. is Canada’s major export market for fish and seafood, valued at just under $4.9B in 2019.
• On September 10, 2019, Canada submitted data via the U.S. secure data portal on progress in implementing the MMPA, an important milestone on the way to meeting new import requirements.
• On May 14, 2020, DFO, in collaboration with industry, the Department submitted Canada’s revised list of fisheries that export their fish and seafood products to the U.S., another important milestone of the compliance process.
• Canada’s final submission for comparability findings for its over 300 fisheries is due by November 30, 2021.
• Among the new U.S. requirements for nations harvesting fish and seafood products for export to the U.S., is the need to prohibit the lethal removal of nuisance seals during the course of commercial fishing and aquaculture operations.
• The Department is proposing to amend the Marine Mammal Regulations (MMR) and Pacific Aquaculture Regulations (PAR) to prohibit the intentional lethal removal of nuisance seals during aquaculture and wild capture fisheries activities.
• Exemptions for the lethal removal of marine mammals will exist under specific circumstances, where it is imminently necessary to protect human health and safety, and where the humane dispatch is imminently necessary to avoid further suffering or death due to entanglement in fishing gear or debris.

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