Question Period Note: Wild Atlantic salmon

What are you doing to restore and rebuild wild Atlantic salmon populations and their habitats?

• Wild Atlantic salmon is deeply important for the people of Atlantic Canada and Quebec, including Indigenous communities for whom it holds food, social, and ceremonial value.
• Our government is working with Indigenous Peoples, provinces and stakeholders to restore and rebuild wild Atlantic salmon populations and their habitats.
• We are continuing to work with interested parties to create the first conservation strategy supporting and advancing the Wild Atlantic Salmon Conservation Policy.

Overview on Wild Atlantic Salmon mandate commitment
• The 2021 mandate letter calls for the Minister to work in close collaboration with provincial and territorial authorities, Indigenous partners, fishing and stewardship organizations and implicated communities to make new investments and develop a conservation strategy to restore and rebuild wild Atlantic salmon populations and their habitats.
• Engagement has been described as an ongoing conversation with Indigenous Peoples, partners and stakeholders, to accommodate shifting contexts and priorities (i.e., completion of Wild Atlantic Salmon Conservation Policy Implementation Plan 2019-2021, federal election, followed by Minister’s mandate commitment).
• Since the summer of 2021, the Department has held over 60 discussions with participation by over 75 organizations, and received 474 submissions through its online portal, Let’s Talk Atlantic Salmon. A ‘What we Heard’ report has been prepared and is anticipated to be released in Spring 2023.
• The Conservation Strategy will be further developed and refined based on ‘what we heard’ and is anticipated to be published in late fall 2023.
• Partners and stakeholders are generally supportive of the direction proposed for the Conservation Strategy, however expectations are high that the Minister will announce new investments in light of her mandate commitment, and given the significant funds awarded to Pacific salmon in Budget 2021.
Background on Atlantic salmon
• Atlantic salmon are a highly migratory species that spends one to three years in freshwater, followed by one or two (or more) years at sea before returning to spawn in the freshwater rivers in which they were born. Unlike Pacific salmon, Atlantic salmon can return to sea after spawning to repeat the migration and spawning pattern several times.
• The causes of the widespread decline of Atlantic salmon are not well understood. A number of threats are generally recognized, including: legal and illegal fisheries domestically (freshwater) and internationally (marine), commercial and industrial developments that impact habitat quantity and quality (e.g. hydroelectric dams, forestry, aquaculture); poor marine survival (not well understood); and, climate change (e.g., warming freshwater and marine environments, shifts in food webs).
• Not only are there multiple threats, but the conservation landscape of salmon is complex, which impedes recovery success. DFO shares the responsibility for the management of Atlantic salmon in freshwater with the Provinces, and the management approach differs depending on the respective federal-provincial arrangement. Globally, the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) negotiates regulatory measures to strengthen the management of Canadian and US salmon harvested in Greenland’s subsistence fishery.
• There exist active food, social and ceremonial fisheries for Atlantic salmon by more than 40 First Nations and many Indigenous communities across eastern Canada. In central and coastal Labrador, the fishery is also a key source for local community food fisheries.
• A Gardner-Pinfold study conducted in 2022 estimates the GDP value of the Atlantic salmon recreational fishery to be $218M. However the social-cultural value of Atlantic salmon far exceeds its economic and subsistence value: wherever people and salmon coexist, the connection is deep.
• There is currently one Atlantic salmon population listed under the Species at Risk Act (SARA), the inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon Designatable Unit (DU), which was listed on Schedule 1 as endangered in 2003. Nine additional DUs of Atlantic salmon across Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia have been assessed by the arm’s-length scientific body, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), as at-risk (four as Endangered, one as Threatened, and four as Special Concern) and are under consideration for listing under SARA. In November of 2020, an update on this decision-making process was sent to Indigenous groups, key stakeholders, and the provinces. These check-ins have yielded mixed responses similar to those heard during consultations, with a few exceptions where positions have changed. These responses, as well as feedback received during consultations, will inform the listing decision. Listing under SARA would trigger protections through prohibitions and rigorous permitting, requirements for recovery including the identification and protection of critical habitat for endangered or threatened populations and management planning for species listed as special concern.

If pressed on new investments for Atlantic salmon conservation
• I have a mandate commitment to work with Indigenous Peoples, provinces, partners and stakeholders to make new investments for Atlantic salmon conservation.
• My Department actively supports Atlantic salmon conservation activities, such as through the renewed Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Fund which is providing up to $36.5 million over the next four years for projects that support the restoration of Atlantic salmon and its habitat.
• Further investments to protect and restore wild Atlantic salmon will be informed by the Wild Atlantic Salmon Conservation Strategy currently under development.

If pressed on listing under the Species at Risk Act
• My department is developing advice on whether or not to list several Atlantic salmon populations under the Species at Risk Act.
• We consulted Indigenous communities, provinces and key stakeholders and are currently considering feedback received to inform the final listing decisions.