Question Period Note: Fish Stock Rebuilding

• Il est important de miser sur des stocks de poissons sains pour favoriser la résilience des écosystèmes et assurer un rendement économique à long terme.
• Les dispositions relatives aux stocks de poissons de la Loi sur les pêches exigent des plans de rétablissement pour tous les stocks de poissons épuisés qui sont prescrits par règlement en vertu de ces dispositions.
• Notre gouvernement est déterminé à accomplir ce travail et c’est pourquoi le Budget 2024 a annoncé 33 millions de dollars au cours des cinq prochaines années en soutient aux pêches durables.

Status of Rebuilding Plans and Critical Zone Stocks
• The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) annually surveys 195 key harvested stocks in its Sustainability Survey for Fisheries.
• Under DFO’s 2009 Precautionary Approach Policy, stocks in the Critical zone require rebuilding plans.
• DFO is working to ensure there are complete rebuilding plans for all priority stocks, in accordance with the Sustainable Fisheries Framework Work Plan that DFO publishes on its website annually.

Fish Stocks Provisions
• Amendments made to the Fisheries Act in 2019 include the Fish Stocks Provisions which require the Minister to implement management measures to maintain major stocks listed in regulation at levels necessary to promote sustainability and to develop and implement rebuilding plans for depleted major fish stocks.
• These provisions came into effect on April 4, 2022, when amendments to the Fishery (General) Regulations (FGR) were finalized which prescribed the first batch of 30 major fish stocks to be subject to the provisions.
• The FGR set out the required contents (e.g., stock status and trends, probable causes for the stock’s decline, measurable objectives aimed at rebuilding the stock) of rebuilding plans as well as timelines to develop rebuilding plans for stocks subject to the Fish Stocks Provisions.
• The Department had a regulatory obligation to complete rebuilding plans for 12 of these prescribed stocks by April 3rd, 2024. Rebuilding plan extensions of up to 12 additional months can be requested under section 70(3) of the FGR. Extensions are subject to Ministerial approval, and if granted, the Department must publish on its website the reasons why an extension was granted.
• The recently approved plans and extensions will be posted on DFO’s website in the coming weeks.
• DFO is currently working on a section batch of proposed major fish stocks to be prescribed under the Fish stocks provisions.

Investments for Rebuilding Plans
• To support the development of rebuilding plans, the Government of Canada invested $940,000 over four years, starting in 2017-18. This funding was provided in response to the 2016 report “Sustaining Canada’s Major Fish Stocks—Fisheries and Oceans Canada” by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development.
• The Government of Canada also invested an additional $107.4 million over five years, starting in 2019 and $17.6 million ongoing to support the implementation of the Fish Stocks Provisions of the amended Fisheries Act. A large portion these resources are being used to increase scientific capacity for stock assessment of Canada’s fish stocks, including the development of reference points (e,g,like the limit reference point) to identify stock status and to inform the development of rebuilding plans.
• Budget 2024 announced $33 million for DFO to support fish stock assessments and rebuild depleted fish stocks, in support of Fisheries Act requirements.
 

If pressed

• The Department applies strict fishery management measures, informed by the best available science.
• While fishing restrictions aimed at rebuilding fish stocks can have economic impacts during the rebuilding period, more significant impacts can result from delaying or not taking sufficient action to promote stock rebuilding.
• My department will continue to work to develop rebuilding plans when required, to ensure our fish stocks are sustainable now and into the future.