Question Period Note: Indigenous Moderate Livelihood Fishing

• Our government is committed to advancing reconciliation, and renewing the relationship with Indigenous peoples, based on the recognition of rights, respect, cooperation and partnership.
• Through an array of collaborative arrangements and nation-to-nation agreements, my Department works with Treaty Nations to uphold treaty rights, advance reconciliation, and protect fishery resources for the benefit of all.
• DFO programs have enabled benefits to communities of over $170 million in annual landings and over $100 million in secondary economic benefits.
• Our goal is a fishery that is peaceful, productive, and prosperous, upholds the Marshall decisions, and ensures that Treaty Nations are able to exercise treaty rights in a way that is reflective of their visions and needs.

BACKGROUND
• The Supreme Court of Canada formally recognized a Right of Indigenous people in Atlantic Canada to hunt and fish for a moderate livelihood in 1999. This Treaty Right applies to 34 Indigenous communities (Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik First Nations in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and the Gaspé, Region of Quebec) as well as the Peskotomuhkati Nation at Skutik in New Brunswick (collectively referred to as “Treaty Nations”).
• September 17, 2024, will mark the 25th anniversary of the Marshall decisions.
• Over the past 25 years, DFO has provided over $630 million in funding for fishing licences, vessels, gear and training to help increase and diversify participation in commercial fisheries, and to advance the implementation of the right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood, for the 35 Treaty Nations.
• Since 2000, these investments have resulted in meaningful economic benefits which continue to increase year over year. The cumulative revenue (landed value and diversification) for Treaty Nations’ commercial fishing enterprises is now over $2 billion.
• In 2017, DFO launched the Rights Reconciliation Agreements (RRA) process with Treaty Nations, with a mandate to negotiate enhanced fisheries collaborative management, fisheries governance and increased fisheries access, all while recognizing but not defining the Moderate Livelihood right.
• The RRA mandate expired in April 2023, with DFO concluding seven RRAs with 15 FNs ( 40 per cent of the total Treaty communities’ population).
• In 2021, a new pathway to rights implementation was announced through the development of Moderate Livelihood Fishing Plans (MLFPs).
• MLFPs are conducted within established commercial seasons, include other restrictions similar to those of regular commercial licences, and are harvested exclusively by community members for their own benefit. Of note, these are understandings, not agreements. Treaty Nations produce a community-based fishing plan and DFO produces an authorization parallel to the plan.
• To date, since 2021, 20 understandings with 15 Treaty communities have been reached for lobster, elver and/or gaspereau.
• DFO is currently planning for the next phase of moderate livelihood implementation, which will involve working collaboratively with Treaty Nations to determine the new path forward.
• There are several active litigations related to the Treaty right, including a claim by a Treaty Nation challenging DFO’s implementation of the right, and a judicial review by an industry group challenging the legality of one of the Rights Recognition Agreements.
• The Department continues to have regular and frequent meetings at various levels with non-Indigenous fishing industry stakeholders to answer questions about moderate livelihood fishing and provide industry an opportunity to share its views. However, non-Indigenous industry remains critical of being excluded from discussions with Treaty Nations and lack of transparency regarding Canada’s long-term approach to rights-based fishing.
• The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans released the report entitled “Peace on the Water: Advancing the Full Implementation of Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik and Peskotomuhkati Rights-Based Fisheries” on July 12, 2022. A Government Response was publicly provided in February, 2023.

If pressed on access acquisition
• The Department prefers to use a voluntary licence relinquishment approach, also known as willing buyer-willing seller, to acquire fishing access for Indigenous rights-based fishing as it promotes conservation, transparency, and stability in the fishery.
• As needed, my department will also consider alternate access and allocation mechanisms to support rights-based fishing.
• Discussions are ongoing with industry regarding access acquisition mechanisms. My department will continue to work with licence holders to ensure that voluntary licence relinquishment is delivering the required access needed in an effective manner.