Question Period Note: Oceana 2020 Fishery Audit

• We welcome Oceana Canada’s fisheries audit and will be reviewing the report’s recommendations.
• The Government of Canada has made several key investments that are already showing progress towards sustainable fisheries and strengthening our oceans protections.
• The Department is continuing to complete rebuilding plans for priority stocks. Since 2018, DFO has completed rebuilding plans for six of these 19 stocks, and a further two have improved to the point where they are no longer in the critical zone.
• For the remaining priority stocks without rebuilding plans, DFO has specific fishery management measures in place, based on the best available science. These measures will ensure that the limited fishing of the stocks does not compromise their rebuilding.

• Oceana Canada will be issuing its 2020 Fishery Audit (and fourth annual audit) on November 17, 2020.
• The audit assesses the health of fish stocks and the management of fisheries based on three criteria: science information available, monitoring of fish stocks and management measures.
• In it, they conclude that fewer Canadian marine stocks (194 stocks in their index) can be considered healthy compared to four years ago, and that less than a third (26.8 per cent) can be “confidently considered healthy”.
• They also highlight that 17 per cent of stocks are approaching the critical zone, the same as last year.
• The health of 37.1 per cent of stocks cannot be determined due to lack of information.

Status of Stocks and Rebuilding Plans
• The Oceana report includes 194 stocks (33 in the critical zone) while DFO’s annual Fisheries Sustainability Survey includes only 176 stocks (25 in the critical zone).
• DFO used many criteria to determine key stocks for inclusion in its annual survey, including economic importance, the species ecosystem role, cultural importance, stocks subject to international agreements, and depleted stocks that were part of a significant commercial fishery.
• In 2019-2020, DFO completed the rebuilding plan for Atlantic mackerel and advanced work to complete rebuilding plans for the remaining 11 of 19 priority stocks.
• Some of this work was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. DFO aims to complete nine of these plans by the end of 2020-21. The remaining two plans are delayed and work undertaken this year will inform the timeline for completion.