Question Period Note: Enforcement Efforts in Relation to Moderate Livelihood Fisheries in the Maritimes

• My department is working with First Nations harvesters so that they can exercise their Treaty and constitutionally protected rights to fish.
• These fisheries include food, social and ceremonial, and communal commercial fisheries, including interim understandings reached to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood.
• Our fishery officers verify gear for compliance, monitor activities on and off the water, and when warranted, seize gear, catch and lay charges for violations under the Fisheries Act.

• Over the past 23 years, the Department has invested over $630 million for licences, vessels, gear and training in order to increase and diversify Marshall beneficiary First Nations’ participation in the commercial fisheries to advance the pursuit of a moderate livelihood right. These investments have resulted in meaningful economic benefits which continue to increase year over year. For example, annual landed value among these First Nations has increased from $3 million in 1999 to over $170 million in 2019, an increase of 4600 per cent. Additionally, another $52 million of yearly revenue is generated through fisheries-related businesses (e.g., processing, aquaculture) owned and operated by Atlantic First Nations.
• In 2017, Fisheries and Oceans Canada received a mandate to negotiate Rights Reconciliation Agreements on fisheries with Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik First Nations in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and the Gaspé region of Quebec, as well as with the Peskotomuhkati Nation at Skutik, with the objective of addressing and recognizing the historic treaty rights (Supreme Court of Canada Marshall Decision of 1999), including the right to fish for the purpose of pursuing a moderate livelihood, and to ensure a stable and predictable fishery for the benefit of all Canadians.
• These agreements are time-limited (5 years) with an option for renewal; provide for signatory First Nations to develop approaches to fishing to meet their particular objectives and importance to their communities, such as an emphasis on jobs or income; and put in place fisheries governance structures and processes to enhance the collaboration between First Nations and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).
• Access to commercial fisheries for the pursuit of a moderate livelihood is through voluntary licence relinquishment, i.e. transferring access/licence through the open market.
• The mandate expired in April, 2023, with Fisheries and Oceans Canada having concluded seven Agreements with 15 First Nations.
• DFO recognizes that while significant progress has made since Marshall, more work is needed and we remain committed to continuing engagement with Treaty Nations to further implement their right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood.Building Indigenous-industry relationships around the moderate livelihood fishery is a priority and the Department continues to have senior level departmental officials meeting with Atlantic lobster industry to answer questions on moderate livelihood issues and provide industry an opportunity to share its views.

Food Social and Ceremonial (FSC)
• The 1990 Sparrow Supreme Court of Canada decision was the first of several rulings finding that First Nations have an Aboriginal right (recognized and affirmed under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982) to fish for FSC purposes and that this right takes priority—after conservation—over other users of the resource.
• DFO introduced the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy (AFS) to provide a framework for managing Indigenous fisheries in a manner consistent with the Sparrow decision. Through the AFS, DFO and First Nations seek to negotiate mutually acceptable and time-limited fisheries agreements. These agreements contain provisions related to amounts that may be fished for FSC purposes, species, gear, area, and other factors for the co-operative management of the FSC fishery.
• Once a communal licence is issued to a community, individual Indigenous harvesters are designated by their communities to fish for food, social and ceremonial (FSC) purposes, as specified under the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations.
• The Department’s position has been that FSC catches cannot be sold.
• FSC licensing is continuing as normal and flexibilities around fishing are being considered on a case-by-case basis and considering this food security issue.

Enforcement
• Conservation and Protection (C&P) is the Enforcement Division for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
• Fishery officers are operating in a complex environment, particularly with respect to their enforcement role and recognizing Indigenous and treaty rights, while at the same time performing their duties to enforce fisheries legislation. Increasingly, they must navigate the enforcement of the law in an environment where there is often profound disagreement around the scope of these rights.
• Fishery officers are designated under the Fisheries Act, and are authorized to enforce that Act and the Coastal Fisheries Protection Act (CFPA).
• Fishery officers are also typically designated as enforcement officers under the Oceans Act and the Species at Risk Act (SARA), and as such they also have enforcement responsibilities under these Acts.
• Violations of a criminal nature such as theft, destruction of property, acts of violence are beyond the scope and mandate of C&P and are the responsibility of the local police of jurisdiction.
• C&P works with enforcement partners when they discover potential violations or acts of a criminal nature that fall outside their scope or mandate.

If pressed on St. Mary’s Bay
• First Nations harvesters are exercising their right to fish lobster in St. Mary’s Bay in southwestern Nova Scotia and our fishery officers are working with those communities to protect their rights.

If pressed on Enforcement:
• The Department’s prioritizes the safety of harvesters, the public, and fishery officers at all times.
• Since July 17, fishery officers have seized approximately 650 traps in lobster fishing areas 33 and 34 for non-compliance with the Fisheries Act and has increased the number of Fisheries Officers to respond to heightened tensions.