Question Period Note: Publication of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Report on Trans Mountain Expansion Vessel Noise Mitigations

• This Government has invested in research and monitoring to study the impacts of underwater noise from vessel traffic on whales, including the endangered Southern Resident killer whale, in order to support the development of effective noise management measures.
• Since 2018, the Government has taken unprecedented action to address threats to the Southern Resident killer whale, including underwater noise, prey availability, and contaminants. This has been done in consultation and partnership with Indigenous communities and stakeholders.
• My Department continues to work closely with Transport Canada and regional partners to monitor, assess, and adapt management measures aimed at reducing the threat of underwater noise from vessel traffic on the Southern Resident killer whale, while supporting the growth of industries important to the Canadian economy.

• When the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) project was approved in 2018, the Government committed to monitor, assess, and adaptively manage relevant measures in a manner consistent with applicable recovery strategies and action plans. The TMX Project commenced operations in May 2024.
• TMX vessel traffic was forecasted to increase on project completion and full operations to approximately one vessel per day. An environmental assessment found that underwater noise from increased TMX vessel traffic would have significant adverse environmental effects on the Southern Resident killer whale (SRKW) and Indigenous cultural use of the SRKW.
• As part of the Government of Canada response to recommendations from the Canada Energy Regulator to address TMX project effects on the SRKW, the Department published a Report that evaluates a selection of both current and alternative large commercial vessel noise management measures in terms of their efficacy in mitigating underwater noise increases from TMX-related vessels in the Salish Sea.
• The Report uses a peer-reviewed underwater noise model developed by the Department to establish an underwater noise baseline, quantify underwater noise increases from TMX-related vessel traffic, and evaluate the effectiveness of a selection of current and alternative noise management measures in mitigating these noise increases.
• The Report concludes that the efficacy of vessel slow-down measures in mitigating TMX-related vessel noise is highly variable depending the SRKW-focused parameters included in the analysis.
• The Report concludes that while the current voluntary slowdowns of large commercial vessels in the Salish Sea can be effective at mitigating TMX-related vessel noise increases in the areas where and when they are in place, they are not sufficient to fully mitigate TMX-related vessel noise in all areas of Salish Sea, as some areas do not currently have any noise management measures in place.
• This report will support the work to identify interim underwater noise objectives within Southern Resident killer whale critical habitat, which will serve as benchmarks to measure noise level changes over time and guide efforts to reduce underwater noise.

• My Department published a Report that evaluates the effectiveness of current and alternative large commercial vessel noise management measures in mitigating underwater noise increases from Trans Mountain Expansion-related vessels.
• The Report finds that the current large commercial vessel slowdowns in the Salish Sea can be effective at mitigating Trans Mountain Expansion-related vessel noise increases.
• The Report provides critical information to both project proponents and regulatory authorities, and contributes to the current body of scientific data used to adaptively manage existing measures.