Question Period Note: North Atlantic Right Whale

• The North Atlantic right whale has been listed as endangered under the Species at Risk Act since 2005. This listing means the Government has an obligation to protect and recover the species.
• My Department works actively with stakeholders to adapt whale protection measures and identify innovative tools that prevent fishing gear entanglements while demonstrating Canada’s role as a global leader in sustainable seafood.
• Our world class right whale surveillance regime is comprehensive. When a right whale is identified, we act to prevent entanglements of this endangered species while minimizing impacts to our fisheries where possible.
• Canada’s robust, adaptive right whale protection measures are key to the sustainability of Canada’s seafood exports.

• The U.S. is Canada’s most important seafood export market, worth $5.5 Billion (B) in 2024. The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requires all fisheries exporting to the U.S. to comply with the import provisions by meeting their standards for marine mammal bycatch to maintain market access.
• North Atlantic right whale (NARW) mortalities and serious injuries due to entanglement in Canadian fishing gear remains Canada’s highest area of vulnerability for marine mammal bycatch under the MMPA. From an economic perspective, the most important fisheries interacting with NARW are snow crab and lobster (with U.S. export values of $1.2B and $1.9B in 2024).
• In March 2025, the Minister announced the 2025 NARW fisheries management measures.
• The 2025 NARW management measures for waters deeper than the 20 fathom management line remain unchanged from 2024. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) continues to apply adaptive measures to prevent fishing gear entanglements, such as: changes to the open and closure dates of fisheries; dynamic and seasonal closure protocols in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; dynamic closure protocols in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence, Bay of Fundy, and critical habitat areas (Grand Manan Basin and Roseway Basin); and special closure provisions for sightings of whale aggregations, and mother and calf pairs.
• For 2025, the shallow water protocol has been updated based on input from harvesters and whale experts. These changes will result in shallow water prohibitions that are more targeted and of shorter duration, following a confirmed visual or acoustic NARW detection. Eligible harvesters in dynamic areas will have an option to participate in a whalesafe gear pilot that will allow them to keep harvesting in shallow water areas subject to prohibitions due to NARW detection, if they are equipped with gear modifications designed to reduce the harm of entanglement.
• Management measures are supported by focused surveillance using acoustic underwater technology (hydrophones), aircraft and vessels to confirm the presence of whales; continued ghost gear retrieval; and collaboration with Transport Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard to address the potential threats from vessel strikes.
• The Whalesafe Gear Strategy was developed in collaboration with partners and is expected to be published in Spring 2025.
• On October 22, 2024, the NARW Consortium released a new population estimate of 372, including 12 calves added in 2023. This is up slightly from the 2022 estimate of 367.
• In 2024, there was one reported mortality and six entanglements first sighted in Canadian waters. Canadian fisheries were implicated in two right whale entanglements in 2024.
• In May, September, October, and December of 2024, as well as in January 2025, the Department met with the NARW Technical Working Group to discuss proposals for changes to fisheries management measures in relation to the closure protocols.
• On November 5-6, 2024, the Department held the annual hybrid NARW Advisory Committee meeting with members in Moncton and virtually.
• On February 25-26, the Department hosted the second International Fishing Gear Innovation Summit in Moncton, New Brunswick. Industry experts, Indigenous partners, academics, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies gathered to discuss solutions to whale entanglements and ghost gear reduction and recovery.

If pressed on how we have worked with harvesters to adapt right whale protection measures
• My Department has made modifications to its closure protocols over the years based on input received from industry, provincial governments, Indigenous communities, academia, and whale experts. This cooperation is critical to protect this species and to support sustainable fisheries.
• My Department is working with harvesters in non-tended fixed gear, and trap and pot commercial fisheries, communal commercial fisheries, and with other relevant partners, to incorporate whalesafe technology and practices into their operations—identifying the most suitable and safe options for the conditions of each fishery.
• We will continue to work with harvesters and experts to finalize the five-year Canada Whalesafe Gear Strategy, including a path forward on rope-on-demand fishing gear.