Question Period Note: Wild Atlantic Salmon

• Conservation of wild Atlantic salmon is a priority forour government..
• We are investing in science and engaging with Indigenous communities, recreational fishers, and other stakeholders to support initiatives that will promote the recovery of Atlantic salmon stocks.
• Last May, our Government announced the Wild Atlantic Salmon Conservation Implementation Plan for 2019-2021.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada will continue to take a leadership role in both global and domestic actions to reverse the trend of declining stocks of this iconic species.

• Wild Atlantic salmon is an anadromous species that spends various parts of its life cycle in marine and fresh waters, and can be found in approximately 1,000 rivers in Canada. Wild Atlantic salmon is a cold water species and is vulnerable to warming waters in Atlantic Canada caused by climate change.
• Beginning in 1984, commercial harvest moratoriums were put in place due to low abundance of certain wild Atlantic salmon stocks. A commercial moratorium across all of Eastern Canada has been in place since 2000. Currently, wild Atlantic salmon are harvested in limited Indigenous food, social and ceremonial (FSC) fisheries, and inland recreational fisheries are supported in some areas where healthier populations exist.
• On May 27, 2019, four new research projects under the Atlantic Salmon Research Joint Venture were announced for research projects at Dalhousie University, Acadia University, University of New Brunswick, and with the Atlantic Salmon Federation, to study ocean tracking, locations and causes of at-sea mortality, the impact of climate change on fitness and survival, and predation and competition.
• Canada is a member of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO), which sets and allocates the harvestable Atlantic salmon surplus among countries in North America and Europe (i.e. Greenland). Domestically, DFO shares the responsibility for their management in freshwater with the Provinces, and the management approach differs depending on the respective federal-provincial arrangement.
• In June 2016, DFO released its Forward Plan for Atlantic Salmon, in response to the report of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Atlantic Salmon; and, announced the revised Wild Atlantic Salmon Conservation Policy and Implementation Plan, in March 2017 and May 2019, respectively. The Implementation Plan outlines the actions DFO and partners will take to help restore and maintain healthy wild Atlantic salmon populations.
• In 2016, the Atlantic Salmon Research Joint Venture was announced to improve the coordination of salmon research, such as at-sea-survival. Budget 2016 also invested $197.1M over five years and $40M per year on an ongoing basis in oceans and freshwater science to engage with partners, including to better understand Atlantic salmon survival at sea and increase in-river monitoring of salmon returns in selected rivers.
• In 2003, the inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic Salmon designable unit (DU), was listed on Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act (SARA). Nine additional DUs of Atlantic salmon across Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have been assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as at-risk [Redacted].
Collaboration for Atlantic Salmon Tomorrow (CAST)
• CAST, a multi-stakeholder group, was created in 2015 to address the declines in salmon populations in the Miramichi River watershed. In New Brunswick, DFO invested $1.5 million for several specific CAST projects over four years as well as contributing to the efforts of its biologists and experts.
• One of several projects being undertaken by CAST is the proposed Smolt-to-Adult Supplementation (SAS) technique. SAS involves collecting wild smolts from rivers, rearing them in hatcheries to adults, and then releasing them back into the river of origin, thereby by-passing the marine phase of their life cycle.
• DFO has held two peer-review science meetings to assess the CAST proposal and concluded that the release of SAS fish into the natural river poses several risks to the long-term integrity, survival and recovery of wild Atlantic salmon in the Miramichi River.
• [Redacted].
• DFO’s position to not issue a permit for CAST to release hatchery-raised SAS adult Atlantic salmon was relayed to CAST and MTI in October 2018 and remains unchanged.

Striped Bass
• We are committed to ensuring fisheries, including Striped Bass, are sustainable for future generations and that management decisions are based on science.
• Our research shows that although Striped Bass are predators of Atlantic salmon smolts, there are other factors contributing to the current declining trend experienced by wild Atlantic salmon populations.
Collaboration for Atlantic Salmon Tomorrow (cast)
• While we remain supportive of the Collaboration for Atlantic Salmon Tomorrow’s goals to assist in the recovery of Atlantic salmon populations, the Department has decided that it will not be authorizing the release of hatchery-raised adult Atlantic salmon in the Miramichi.
• We have a responsibility to consider the benefits of scientific experiments along with the risks to wild Atlantic salmon populations as well as the level of support from partners, including Indigenous communities who access these salmon populations for food.
Smallmouth Bass
• DFO is very concerned about the presence of invasive Smallmouth Bass in the Miramichi system.
• The Department is working with the Province, First Nations, the Atlantic Salmon Federation and other partners to mitigate the impact of this aquatic invasive species.

Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland and Labrador
• It is concerning that the declining trends in population observed in the Gulf, are spreading into southern Newfoundland and Labrador.
• There are no quick solutions. We need to continue with measures such as catch and release, work with anglers, provincial governments and other stakeholders to implement the precautionary approach, and invest in science to understand the causes of the declines.