Question Period Note: Safety-at-Sea: Transport Safety Board Investigation Report on Tyhawk

• Our thoughts are with the family, friends, and the entire Elsipogtog community, of the two crew members who perished aboard the Tyhawk fishing vessel on April 3, 2021.
• The Transportation Safety Board has provided Fisheries and Oceans Canada with a copy of the investigation report and its recommendation to the Department.
• My Department is in the process of analyzing and exploring options to address the recommendation, with the aim to incorporate further safety aspects into processes beginning in 2024, as appropriate.
• One area in particular my Department will be giving attention to is the process of fishery openings and how to further identify hazards and associated risks, and where we may be able to integrate independent safety expertise.
• The safety of fish harvesters is a top priority of my Department.

• On April 3, 2021 the Tyhawk was on its way to fish crab in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence (Crab Fishing Area 12 (CFA 12)) when it capsized. Five crew ended up on the overturned haul and authorities were alerted by a 911 call made by a crew member.
• Another fishing vessel, Northumberland Spray, was in the vicinity and recovered 4 crew members, where one subsequently perished. The 5th crew member (the master) went missing and is still missing and presumed perished.
• The vessel was registered with both Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Transport Canada (TC) and had up-to-date inspection certification, and a safe manning document onboard.
• The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) launched an investigation into the incident and classified it as a class 2 occurrence.
• A class 2 occurrence has significant consequences that attract a high level of public interest across Canada or internationally; there is a high likelihood of the TSB identifying new safety lessons; and of advancing transportation safety by reducing risks to persons, property, or the environment.
• The area where the Tyhawk was fishing snow crab (CFA 12) overlaps with the habitat of the North Atlantic right whale. Protection measures were established to protect right whales such as changing the season closing date for the snow crab fishery, which remains in place today. In addition, the process for opening and closing of CFA 12 is led by a sub-committee who makes a proposal each season.
• For the 2021 season, a consensus from the sub-committee was reached on April 1, 2021, proposing a date that was almost 3 weeks earlier than the dates in the previous 4 years.
• The weather forecast met the criteria to open the season and the fishery was opened on April 3, 2021.
• On November 17, 2023, DFO representatives met with the TSB where a copy of the investigation report was provided. This included a new recommendation for DFO – M23-08: that the Department ensure policies, procedures and practices include comprehensive identification of hazards and assessment of associated risks to fish harvesters when fisheries resource management decision are being made and integrate independent safety expertise into these processes.
• The report was published on November 22, 2023, DFO will have a 90 day legislated period to provide a response back to TSB on the recommendation.
• Media coverage is expected based on the significant attention this incident received at the time of the occurrence. The TSB will be holding a press conference in Halifax, NS to share its findings with the public.
• The report indicates that when fisheries resource management measures and decisions do not consider the interactions between economic, conservation and safety factors, including their cumulative effects, then decisions may be made for new and complex situations without adequate identification of safety hazards, increasing safety risks for fish harvesters.
• Hazard identification and all relevant information must be considered by experts in their fields, including independent safety experts who are not impacted by the decisions.
• TC has two new recommendations resulting from this report around definition of a major modification and that modifications to small fishing and commercial vessels be assessed and recorded.
 

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