SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Progress Report on  2001-2003 Strategy

DFO's Next Sustainable Development Strategy

Following the completion of the DAAP, DFO's Strategic Plan and PRAS will be renewed, and a comprehensive new SDS will be developed and tabled in 2004-2005. While the content of this strategy cannot be known at the present time, DFO is confident that its new Strategy will reflect findings from the DAAP and recent audit observations of the CESD. DFO is also confident that the new Strategy will take advantage of emerging opportunities - the Species at Risk Act, for example, as well as Aboriginal engagement, collaboration with other levels of government and international co-operation.

Audit Observations of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

In October 2002, the CESD carried out an audit to assess the effectiveness of DFO's SDS and its impact on the way the Department carries out its mandate. This audit recognized that DFO has made important changes in the past decade to integrate sustainable development concepts into its planning documents and policy development process. The audit also acknowledged that DFO is making progress in reflecting sustainable development concepts and principles in various planning and priority-setting documents and in linking sustainable development actions to intermediate and long-term outcomes.

At the same time, the audit noted that the process used to develop the SDS produced a strategy that is largely a catalog of projects highlighting current work. The audit further observed that DFO's Strategic Plan plays a more visible and stronger role in the Department than its SDS and is better integrated into the business planning process.

Species at Risk Act

The recent entry into force of the Species at Risk Act has provided DFO with an additional tool to reinforce its environmental protection and sustainable development efforts. At the same time, the Act will require the Department to do the following:

• increase its efforts to assess the status of species at risk;
• engage in consultations with Canadians on species considered for listing under the Act;
• develop and implement recovery strategies, action and management plans, and enforcement mechanisms; and
• identify critical habitats necessary for the survival and recovery of species at risk.

As the Department with the authority for aquatic species under the Act, DFO will continue to carry out activities that directly support the implementation and enforcement of this important legislation.

Aboriginal Engagement

Aboriginal groups are seeking a greater role in decision making in fisheries management and other areas of DFO responsibility. The Department is working with Aboriginal groups on an approach to building their capacity to participate in the multi-stakeholder and other decision-making processes used for aquatic resource and oceans management. Such expanded arrangements would help DFO work with Aboriginal groups to achieve mutual fisheries management objectives in an integrated and sustainable manner. Conservation of the resource remains a key priority for the Department.

Aboriginal groups and DFO recognize four guiding principles for shaping their relationship together. First, stable programs that reflect and reinforce long-term collaboration must be developed. Second, the growing breadth and complexity of the relationship needs to be further embraced and advanced. Third, durable structures and capacity need to be put in place that allow DFO and Aboriginal groups to work together effectively. Finally, DFO and Aboriginal groups should build on what works well in their present relationship.

To this end, DFO will engage in renewed commitment and approaches to the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy (AFS), including maintaining the core AFS mandate; developing longer term, simpler AFS agreements; introducing straightforward, streamlined reporting requirements; adopting a flexible approach to capacity-building and economic opportunities; and improving communication.

To complement and augment the AFS, DFO has also developed the new Aboriginal Aquatic Resource and Oceans Management (AAROM) Program as a key element of a more proactive and sustainable approach to the Department's Aboriginal programming. Particular emphasis is placed on Aboriginal participation in multilateral decision-making and advisory processes that involve fishers, scientists, industry representatives, conservation groups, DFO officials and other government departments. The program is designed around 1) support for Aboriginal groups that come together on a voluntary basis to create common aquatic management structures, 2) potential funding for Aboriginal Fishery Officers, 3) eligibility criteria, 4) capacity-building assistance and 5) commercial fisheries access and aquaculture opportunities. The AFS and AAROM programs apply only where DFO manages the fishery.

Because of the shared nature of Canada's natural resources, implementing successful sustainable development strategies requires considerable federal-provincial-territorial co-operation. Recognizing this, every jurisdiction in Canada agreed in 1999 to establish the CCFAM. Together, governments work co-operatively to effectively address issues of national importance, including sustainable development. CCFAM: reviews and co-ordinates public policy objectives; promotes interjurisdictional co-operation; improves consultation and information-sharing on interjurisdictional matters; identifies opportunities for increased efficiency and effectiveness to improve resource management and services to industry and the public; and provides a forum for discussion and consultation on Canadian positions in international negotiations and subjects of national and regional interest.

Aboriginal representatives and DFO program managers have also emphasized the importance of providing Aboriginal groups with an effective window to other departments with programs beyond DFO's mandate. While DFO will continue to focus on its core mandate, the Department will attempt to respond more effectively to Aboriginal requests for assistance outside the DFO mandate by bringing other departments and programs to the table, by facilitating a more cross-departmental approach to dealing with issues and by supporting Aboriginal groups with related programming.

Discussions with Aboriginal groups and other stakeholders are taking place in 2003-2004 on the details of program design and implementation.

Collaboration with Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments

Many of DFO's sustainable development goals require working with other federal government departments, as well as provincial and territorial governments.

An example of federal/provincial/territorial collaboration is the Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers (CCFAM). The Agreement on Interjurisdictional Co-operation gave rise to the CCFAM, which formed various task groups to address national issues. A number of these task groups have been used to advance sustainable development objectives at the national level, such as the Freshwater Fisheries Task Group, the Alien Invasive Species Task Group, and the Aquaculture Task Group. A three-year review recently conducted by CCFAM concluded that tremendous progress has been made in the areas of national consistency and intergovernmental co-operation.

Furthering sustainable development within Canada requires a concerted effort across the federal government. To this end, DFO continues to work actively within interdepartmental sustainable development committees as these groups identify common federal priorities, participate in the development of a federal sustainable development vision and co-operate on research initiatives to identify the most effective ways of advancing sustainable development.

Federal government priorities of particular interest to DFO include water and achieving sustainable development in departmental operations. The North is rapidly evolving with changes in governance, large-scale economic development and the settling of land claims. In this context, and because of DFO's responsibilities relating to the use of aquatic resources, DFO will continue work with several other federal departments to advance sustainable development priorities in the North. DFO is also working with other government departments and agencies to identify mitigation and adaptation strategies with respect to the effects of climate change on aquatic resources.

International

In many cases, achieving sustainable development within Canada requires international co-operation to address broader issues. For this reason, DFO works within a variety of international fora, including the International Maritime Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Fisheries Committee, the Global Forum on Oceans Coasts and Islands and the FAO Committee on Fisheries, to assist in the development of international policies and approaches. DFO has also made sustainable development commitments to various international organizations. For example, at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, Canada and other countries committed to achieving such goals as the following:

• a regular process for global reporting and assessment of the state of the marine environment;
• implementation of an Action Plan for Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing;
• substantial progress regarding land-based pollution by the next Global Program of Action review;
• encouraging application of the ecosystem approach;
• a representative network of Marine Protected Areas;
• the maintenance or restoration of depleted fish stocks to levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield; and
• eliminating subsidies that contribute to IUU fishing and fishing over capacity.

Conclusion

DFO's commitment to change is clear. The Department's planning framework - which includes DAAP, a renewed Strategic Plan and PRAS, and development of the next SDS - will continue to push the Department beyond business as usual and toward thinking of new ways of doing business in support of sustainable development.