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 fish harvesters and others to apply and adapt whale protection measures, such as whalesafe fishing gear, that protect North Atlantic right whale from entanglements.
• All Canadian fisheries were found compliant under the United States Marine Mammal Protection Act and can continue to access U.S. markets. This signals the strength of our industry’s commitment to sustainability and the protection of North Atlantic right whales and other marine mammals.

• 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.
• On September 2, 2025, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published in the U.S. Federal Register the results of comparability findings under the U.S. MMPA. All Canadian fisheries were found compliant and can continue to export fish and fish products to the U.S. after the MMPA import provisions come into effect on January 1, 2026.
• 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). While comparability findings under the U.S. MMPA are valid until December 31, 2029, they can be terminated by the U.S. at any time if marine mammal bycatch (such as NARW) in Canadian fisheries exceeds the bycatch limit for a species.
• 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.
• 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 2025, two NARW were observed in Canadian waters interacting with fishing gear. Entangled NARW 5132 was re-observed in May near les Escoumins and in June near Prince Edward Island. Attempts to relocate the animal to disentangle were not successful. This whale was first observed entangled in December 2024 in U.S. waters. In May, DFO published a gear analysis concluding the gear photographed in the December entanglement is likely from Lobster Fishing Area 38 (Bay of Fundy). In August 2025, NARW 4146 was observed entrapped but free-swimming in a weir off Grand Manan, NS. The whale was successfully freed following a response by the harvester, DFO’s Conservation and Protection team, and the Marine Mammal Response Program partner the Campobello Whale Rescue team. 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.
• The Whalesafe Gear Strategy was developed in collaboration with partners and is expected to be published in 2025.
• This five-year strategy will guide the implementation of whalesafe gear in Canadian fisheries, including lower breaking strength and on-demand gear, tailored to specific fishery conditions and informed by gear trial results and input from those involved. 
• 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 on new whalesafe gear technology such as on-demand fishing gear, with the publication of Canada’s Whalesafe Gear Strategy in the coming weeks.