Question Period Note: Pacific Salmon

• The protection of wild Pacific salmon stocks is a priority for our Government.
• The Department sympathizes with the communities impacted by the limited salmon harvesting opportunities in 2019 and we are open to exploring all practical solutions.
• We are also committed to working with First Nations and stakeholders to reverse the trend of declining salmon stocks, and on fishery management approaches for the 2020 season and beyond.
Big Bar Landslide
• Sustained efforts are ongoing to reduce the impact of the landslide on future salmon stocks.
• In December, an engineering contractor was selected to clear the boulders and landslide debris. The contractor is currently on site, working in challenging conditions to access and clear the obstruction.
• Contingency plans are being developed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in case the debris cannot be adequately removed. These plans will ensure fish passage can occur, restoring fish migration through the canyon.
Chinook Salmon
• The challenges facing at­risk Fraser River Chinook salmon stocks are multi­faceted. The road to recovery requires a long­term view and the collaboration of all interested parties.
• The 2019 Chinook salmon management measures were difficult, but necessary, to address Fraser River Chinook declines. A continued decline would irrevocably harm species that depend on the survival of Chinook salmon, such as the Southern Resident killer whale.
• The Department has established a Chinook engagement process to work with First Nations and stakeholders to address the threats facing these important Chinook populations.
Recreational Fisheries and Hatchery Chinook
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada recognizes that recreational fisheries represent a significant economic value to British Columbia, especially the Chinook salmon fishery.
• We understand the economic concerns that the fishing and ecotourism industries have in regards to the new conservation measures.
• Some hatchery fish are marked before they are released. The Department did not authorize fishing of marked hatchery fish due to a number of concerns.
• In Canada, marked hatchery Chinook carry coded­wire tags that contain information used to assess the impacts of fisheries on wild and hatchery released Chinook. Retaining marked fish could compromise this information for wild stocks.

• There were limited salmon returns in many fisheries in 2019. Commercial fishing opportunities were particularly poor, causing many in the province’s fishing industry to ask for emergency relief. The Fraser River panel estimates approximately 500,000 sockeye returned this year, well below the 5 million median return that was forecast pre­season. As a result, Fraser sockeye fisheries were closed.
• Poor chum returns and new fishery management measures to protect interior Fraser river steelhead, designated as endangered by Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), also resulted in virtually no commercial chum fisheries in Southern British Columbia (B.C.).
• The Department does have programs that provide some opportunity for harvesters to exit the industry, should they choose to do so; these are the licence and quota relinquishment processes through the Pacific Integrated Commercial Fisheries Initiative and the Allocation Transfer Program.
• DFO was notified of a landslide near Big Bar, B.C. on June 23, 2019 and investigated this remote area of the Fraser River on June 25. The Big Bar incident command post was set up on June 29 in Lillooet, B.C. with experts and response specialists from the Government of Canada, the Province of B.C. and First Nations.
• Continued sustained efforts will be required in the short and long-term, possibly even into years ahead, to reduce the impact of the landslide on future salmon stocks. Work is also ongoing to finalize the scientific evaluation of the success of the measures taken during the emergency response and identify lessons learned for future implementation. This is phase 2 of the response.
• The majority of winter construction is expected to happen prior to the spring freshet, while water levels are expected to be at their lowest. The freshet is anticipated to begin in March, and will bring increased water levels and velocity back to the slide area, making it difficult to safely continue any instream construction works.
• All but one of 16 southern B.C. Chinook runs have been designated as endangered, threatened, or of special concern by the COSEWIC in Canada.
• Management measures for 2019 Chinook were developed following consultation with Indigenous groups, recreational and commercial fishing organizations and environmental organizations. These measures are one component of a larger strategy for sustainability of at risk Pacific salmon populations. The measures included the following:
- Commercial fishing: commercial troll fisheries for Chinook was closed until August 20 in Northern B.C., and August 1 on the west coast of Vancouver Island to avoid impacting Fraser Chinook stocks and to support conservation priorities;
- Recreational fishing: the 2019 management measures for recreational fisheries where at risk Chinook stocks may be encountered were designed to maximize returns of to the spawning grounds. The measures for recreational fishing ranged from no retention during certain periods to bag limits. For the Fraser River, recreational fisheries were closed to salmon fishing.
• First Nations Food, Social and Ceremonial fisheries: these fisheries, which have a constitutionally protected priority, did not commence until July 15. To ensure the maximum possible number of Chinook salmon that have managed to pass through the Big Bar landslide barrier successfully reach their spawning grounds, DFO is working with First Nations in these areas to minimize Chinook harvests above the slide site.
• Many hatchery fish have been marked by the removal of the adipose fin that has been clipped off before fish are released from the hatchery. U.S. and Canadian hatchery marked Chinook are indistinguishable and in most areas there are much larger numbers of U.S. hatchery marked Chinook given mass marking programs in U.S. hatchery facilities. Some hatchery marked Chinook also contain coded-wire tags (CWT) that are extracted from Chinook heads turned in from the fishery or collected on spawning grounds to provide stock assessment information used to manage the fishery. Fishery opportunities where hatchery origin Chinook are retained and wild Chinook are released are known as mark selective fisheries (MSF).
• The Department has not authorized MSF in 2019 due to several concerns.
• MSF are expected to increase fishing effort and increase release mortalities (approximately 20%) for unmarked, wild Chinook, including endangered Fraser River Chinook for which there are significant conservation concerns.
• During the spring months, Canadian hatchery marked fish returning to the Fraser (including Nicola and Chilcotin) were required to help sustain some endangered Fraser Chinook populations where few wild fish were returning. For example, hatchery origin, marked Chinook made a high contribution to Nicola spawners in 2018 and helped to sustain the population given very weak wild Chinook returns. Hatchery origin Chinook also return to the Chilcotin.
• In times and areas where the encounter rates of marked Chinook in the fishery are not well above 20%, this can mean additional mortality of wild fish can be expected due to release mortality if anglers must handle more fish to keep a hatchery fish. The department has recreational catch data, including encounters of marked and unmarked Chinook rates by month and statistical area, that is used to assess this.
• Gill nets are the most widely used and implemented salmon harvesting tool on the Fraser River by First Nations and commercial harvesters.
• Salmon stocks of concern and sturgeon are frequently and negatively impacted by the non-selective nature of gill nets, succumbing to significant physical damage and regular mortality.
• Fully attended nets can provide effective and expeditious release, and in general, species are unharmed.
• The 2018 Fall Economic Statement also reiterated the Government’s commitment to the sustainability of wild Pacific salmon, and made two key announcements: 1) to support stock assessment and rebuilding efforts for priority Pacific salmon stocks, including $107.4 million over five years, starting in 2019–20, and $17.6 million per year ongoing, to support the implementation of stock assessment and rebuilding provisions in a renewed Fisheries Act for priority fish stocks across Canada, including priority Pacific salmon stocks; and, 2) $105 million over six years, starting in 2018–19, to create a British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF), which includes a contribution to the Pacific Salmon Endowment fund of $5 million in 2018–19.
• The federal-provincial joint BCSRIF was officially launched on March 15, 2019. The total fund amounts to $142.85 million over five years: $100 million from Canada and $42.85 million from B.C. The fund is now open to proposals from Indigenous groups, conservation groups, commercial organizations in the wild fisheries and industry sectors, recreational fisheries, as well as non­commercial organizations such as universities and academia, industry associations and research institutions.
• Petition e-2367 was recently posted on January 9, 2020 and will close for signature on March 9, 2020. The Member of Parliament sponsoring e-2367 is Gord Johns, Courtenay-Alberni, New Democratic Party. The petition focuses primarily on aquaculture operations but states that wild pacific salmon are under serious threat from pathogens, pollutants, and sea lice originating from open net-cage fish farms.

If Pressed about Compensation for Recreational Stakeholder
• We acknowledge that conservation measures have had negative economic impacts on harvesters, including the recreational sector.
• We have worked with our partners and stakeholders to consider actions that help minimize these impacts while also achieving our conservation objectives.
• In 2020, as always, our measures will take into account the feedback we receive from our partners and stakeholders.

Petition to the Government of Canada to Ban Gill Nets
• Our Government is committed to the implementation of sustainable fisheries management practices that protect our aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity, including the conservation of salmon populations.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada takes into consideration any impacts on conservation objectives when prescribing the type of gear that can be used by harvesters participating in a fishery.
• In 2019, the Department implemented a 42 day closure for all commercial nets, including gill nets, and a 27 day closure for First Nations Food, Social and Ceremonial fisheries, including gill nets, within the Fraser River to protect migrating Steelhead and prevent their by­catch during other salmon fisheries.
• These fisheries management decisions are based on the best available science, and are taken in consultation with all stakeholders and Indigenous peoples.