Question Period Note: Collaborative Fisheries Arrangements with Indigenous Fish Harvesters

• Guided by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, my Department is committed to building a renewed relationship with Indigenous Peoples that is based on the recognition of rights, respect, co-operation, and partnership.
• Through a suite of capacity-building programs, collaborative arrangements and nation-to-nation agreements, such as Rights Reconciliation Agreements, my Department works closely with many Indigenous communities across the country to implement their rights and protect fishery resources for the benefit of all.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s collaborative and capacity-building programs, such as the Atlantic, Pacific, and Northern Commercial Fisheries Initiatives, the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy, and the Aboriginal Aquatic Resource and Oceans Management Program support Indigenous participation in the fishery as well as in the management and stewardship of aquatic resources, providing $100 million dollars annually.
• While there’s still much work to be done, we continue to make progress in furthering a more collaborative approach to managing Canada's fisheries and ocean resources and increasing Indigenous participation in commercial fisheries.
• As part of this effort, last fall my Department committed $259.4 million over three years to further implement the right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood in eastern Canada. This funding will support commercial fisheries access acquisition through the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ approach and continued engagement on the establishment of long-term collaborative fisheries management agreements between my Department and Indigenous communities.
• Our Government and I are committed to these collaborative arrangements with Indigenous Peoples to ensure we deliver on reconciliation, economic outcomes, and the sustainable use of resources.

• The former Minister’s mandate letter includes a commitment to “advance consistent, sustainable and collaborative fisheries arrangements with Indigenous and non-Indigenous fish harvesters.”
• To implement that mandate commitment, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) employs programs and policies that support defined economic and sustainability outcomes, fosters continuous engagement and consultation to support fisheries decision-making, and pursues collaborative governance and decision-making arrangements where appropriate.
• Several longstanding DFO programs are well-suited to fostering collaboration with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities through the co-development, co-design, and co-delivery of initiatives through programs such as the Atlantic, Quebec, and B.C. Fisheries Funds, the Atlantic, Pacific and Northern Commercial Fisheries Initiatives, the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy, and Aboriginal Aquatic Resource and Oceans Management programs.
• In December 2024, the Department announced $259.4 million over three years to further implement the right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood. Funding will support commercial fisheries access acquisition through the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ approach and continued engagement to establish long-term collaborative fisheries management agreements between DFO and Indigenous communities in Atlantic Canada and Quebec.
• DFO seeks negotiation mandates for both Treaty and Rights Recognition tables to further collaborate with Indigenous communities. Tools such as Fisheries Resources Reconciliation Agreements, Rights Reconciliation Agreements (RRA), and Moderate Livelihood Fishing Plans (MLFP) are uniquely focused on collaboration in the exercise of Aboriginal and treaty fisheries rights. The RRA mandate expired in April 2023 and DFO reached seven RRAs with 15 Treaty Nations in Atlantic Canada and Quebec. Since 2021, DFO has reached 24 interim MLFP understandings with 17 Treaty Nations (representing 47 per cent of the Treaty Nations’ population).
• Indigenous communities continue to look for greater roles and increased flexibility in fisheries management including processes for joint decision-making and stewardship, recognition of Indigenous laws, and greater self-determination and self-government.
• Amendments to the Fisheries Act in 2012 and 2019 (section 4.1) enable the Minister to enter into agreements with other levels of governments and Indigenous governing bodies to facilitate cooperation or joint actions related to the purposes of the Act, and may supplement existing programs or tools in place that are geared to collaboration in fisheries.
• Recently, DFO has begun the process to update the 1999 Salmon Allocation policy, which sets out a series of principles for allocation salmon in B.C., and requires a high degree of collaboration with First Nations, the recreational and commercial fishing sectors, and the Province of B.C.
• Additionally, DFO is working to collaboratively develop new Nunavut Fishery Regulations through an external working group with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, the Government of Nunavut, the Makivvik Corporation and others, which would further implement the Nunavut Agreement.
• In 2021, the Fisheries RRA was signed with First Nations of the central and north coasts of B.C. and Haida Gwaii, which is an example of a collaborative governance and fisheries management agreement.
• Further work is being done internally to provide clarity and ensure coherence and consistency across the Department in our work regarding collaboration in the Indigenous fisheries realm, which will facilitate the Department’s overall mandate.

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