Question Period Note: Fisheries decision-making

How are fisheries management measures determined, including the total allowable catch?

• As Minister, I am committed to making evidence-based fisheries decisions, using the best available science that upholds the principle of conservation as my first priority to protect fish stocks for current and future generations of Canadians.
• After conservation, a number of other important considerations are factored into each fisheries decision, such as Indigenous fishing rights, socio-economic impacts in both the short and long term, and ensuring benefits flow to coastal communities.
• I will continue to work with Indigenous partners, harvesters, and other interested stakeholders towards the sustainable management of Canada’s marine resources for current and future generations.
• I recognize the importance of all three dimensions of sustainable development - social, economic, and environmental.

• The Government of Canada has federal jurisdiction over coastal and inland fisheries, and the Fisheries Act gives the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard authority over fish harvesting decisions. The Minister has the authority to determine: how much is fished, who gets to fish, when and how stocks can be fished.
• The Department also has international fisheries responsibilities with more than 20 per cent of Canada’s fish stocks managed in cooperation with international counterparts.
• Fisheries management decisions have a range of impacts on coastal communities and Canadians as a whole. These include:
o Commercial: Enabling continued prosperity from fish and seafood while supporting a stable and sustainable fishing industry;
o Environmental: Ensuring sustainable resource management and conservation objectives grounded in science;
o Indigenous and Cultural: Advancing reconciliation, supporting Indigenous and Treaty Rights, and working towards collaborative management; and
o Recreational: Promoting stewardship, public awareness about conservation, and generating important socio-economic benefits for coastal communities.
• Decision(s) must adhere to the following key principles: 1.Conservation, 2. Legally-binding agreements, 3. Indigenous and Treaty rights, and 4. Orderly management.
• Decision-making is informed by:
o Science advice: Peer reviewed science advice on stock status, total allowable catch (TAC), and other conservation measures;
o Socio-economic considerations: Analysis of short- and long-term impacts of fisheries decisions on the fishing industry and reliant communities;
o Fishery policies: such as the Sustainable Fisheries Framework which includes the precautionary approach;
o Consultations with Indigenous Partners, and Relevant Stakeholders: A broad set of advisory processes involving, Indigenous partners (co-managers), fishing industry participants, the provinces, and relationships with commercial, recreational, and environmental groups; and
o Indigenous and cultural considerations: through formal consultation and less formal engagement processes, including the consideration of Indigenous knowledge offered voluntarily.
• The Sustainable Fisheries Framework (SFF) is the foundation for an ecosystem approach to fisheries, which aims to consider the impacts of fishing on all components of the aquatic environment. The SFF continues to evolve as new legislation, policies, and tools are created. The SFF consists of various policies and tools: Precautionary Approach Framework (includes the development of Rebuilding Plans), Specific Policies (e.g., sensitive benthic areas; new fisheries for forage species; by-catch), Sustainable Fisheries Survey and Integrated Fisheries Management Plans (IFMPs).
• The Precautionary Approach involves taking cautious decisions to avoid serious harm to the resource in the absence of scientific information or when scientific information is uncertain, unreliable or inadequate. This approach is widely accepted as an essential part of sustainable fisheries management. Applying the precautionary approach to fisheries management decisions entails establishing a harvest strategy that:
o identifies three stock status zones – healthy, cautious, and critical – according to upper stock and limit reference points;
o sets the removal rate at which fish may be harvested within each stock status zone; and
o adjusts the removal rate according to fish stock status variations, based on pre-agreed decision rules.
• In the healthy zone, the fish stock status is good, and fisheries management decisions and harvest strategies are designed to maintain fish stocks within this zone. In the cautious zone, decisions and strategies promote stock rebuilding to the healthy zone. In the critical zone, stock growth is promoted and removals are kept to the lowest possible level.

If pressed on harvest level reductions:
• Our government recognizes the important social and economic benefits offered by fisheries.
• Decisions to reduce harvest levels are never taken lightly but when required are done to protect stocks for the long term in consultation with fish harvesters, processors, Indigenous communities, and other impacted stakeholders.
• Moreover, we must consider the role each marine organism fulfills in maintaining a healthy ecosystem, which serves as the foundation for a vibrant ocean economy.
• While we recognize the very real challenges for harvesters and their communities when quotas are reduced or when a fishery is closed, the Department is not offering financial compensation or priority access to other fisheries, which are generally fully subscribed.
• I recognize the importance of all three dimensions of sustainable development - social, economic, and environmental.