Question Period Note: Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development’s Fall 2023 Report (Monitoring)

• I thank the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development for providing recommendations to respond to the importance of having dependable and timely fish catch monitoring information and using this information to support decisions to sustainably manage the harvesting of commercial marine fisheries.
• The Department welcomes the recommendations. We believe addressing these recommendations will build on the work we have already started through a recent investment of $30.9 million to implement our Fisheries Monitoring Policy across key fisheries. That being said, we do not agree that the data we have been collecting through various fisheries monitoring approaches is not reliable – in fact it is often used to support peer-reviewed scientific assessments of stocks.
• The Department is committed to working with harvesters to ensure that continued improvements are made to our catch monitoring programs and systems.

• The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development carried out an audit on Sustaining Canada’s Major Fish Stocks in 2016. At the time of that audit, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development concluded that Fisheries and Oceans Canada had identified the key elements it needed for fisheries management; however, the Department had not put these elements in place for all major stocks. The Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development also concluded that Fisheries and Oceans Canada did not always apply these key planning elements to ensure management decisions for selected fisheries were focused on conservation and sustainable use.
• In November 2022, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development notified the Department that they would be conducting an audit on Monitoring and Enforcing Fisheries Catch, which later was scoped as the audit on Monitoring Marine Fisheries Catch. The work for this audit was published in the Fall 2023 Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.
• The objective of this audit was to determine whether Fisheries and Oceans Canada obtained dependable and timely fish catch monitoring information and whether the department used this information to support its decisions to sustainably manage the harvesting of commercial marine fisheries.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada is the only entity in the scope of this audit.
• The audit concluded that the Department did not fully deliver on its 2016 commitment to modernize its fisheries information management systems by 2020, including creating an integrated system for all regions. It also concluded that the department still did not ensure that catch data collected by third-party observers was dependable and timely.
• The audit has four recommendations directed to Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
• The Department welcomes the audit recommendations and is taking action to address them. As outlined in its Management Action Plan, the Department identifies the timelines to address the recommendations, as part of the Department’s commitment to continuous improvement and accountability to Canadians.
• The Department, however, has stated that the conclusion that states that the Department did not have dependable fish catch monitoring data, is an audit opinion that is not aligned with the definition of dependable data under the Fish Monitoring Policy. While improvements in this area are imperative, the actions to do so should align with the Policy and commitments, including timelines for improvement, are detailed in the Management Action Plan for the audit on Monitoring Marine Fisheries Catch.

If pressed
• Indeed, this government has already taken action. As previously announced, from 2023-2027, this government plans to invest $30.9 million to accelerate the implementation of the Fisheries Monitoring Policy, the Commissioner’s first recommendation. Further, additional funding will be provided on an ongoing basis.
• My department will be working to address all recommendations put forward by the Commissioner in this report. We aim to improve the manner in which we monitor fisheries, capitalizing on new technologies and while ensuring the data is accurate and accessible.
• We will do this important work in collaboration with harvesters, Indigenous groups, and other stakeholders.