Budget 2021 investments in salmon and other topics

Table of contents

• Opening remarks
• Budget 2021
  • Small craft harbours
  • Canada's new marine conservation target
  • Budget 2021 - Pacific salmon
  • British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF)
  • Habitat restoration centre
  • Habitat and hatcheries investments
  • Management of commercial and recreational fisheries
  • Aquaculture and area-based aquaculture management
  • Oceans Protection Plan: Indigenous Community Boat Volunteer pilot program
  • Oceans Protection Plan Renewal (responsive)
  • Enhanced Nature Legacy funding
  • Ghost gear
  • Better equipping our Coast Guard and military
  • Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC)
• Big Bar, Pacific salmon and other Pacific issues
  • Big Bar Landslide
  • Big Bar expenditures and planned spending
  • Pacific salmon (state of the resource)
  • Salmonid Enhancement Program
  • Mark selective fishery
  • Petition to ban gill nets
  • Recreational fishery and Chinook hatchery
  • Compensation
  • Predation
  • Spot prawn
• Canadian Coast Guard
  • National Shipbuilding Strategy/Fleet Renewal
  • Polar Icebreakers
• Fisheries and Harbour Management
  • Southern Resident killer whales
• Science
  • Risk assessments for open-net pens
• Aquaculture
  • Aquaculture Act
  • Sea lice
  • Discovery Islands
• Reconciliation
  • Food, social and ceremonial access
  • United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
  • Ahousaht (Five Nuu-chah-nulth) First Nations
• Other issues
  • Foreign ownership
  • West Coast licencing review
  • International Seabed Authority and deep-sea mining

Opening remarks

Introduction

Good afternoon Mr. Chair, committee members. I appreciate this opportunity to speak with you today. Joining me are several of my officials including:

• Timothy Sargent, Deputy Minister. Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Dr. Niall O'Dea, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy
• Jean-Guy Forgeron, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Fisheries and Harbour Management
• Rebecca Reid, Regional Director General, Pacific Region
• Arran McPherson, Assistant Deputy Minister, Ecosystems and Ocean Science
• Alexandra Dostal, Assistant Deputy Minister, Aquatic Ecosystems
• Hugo Page, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer
• Andy Smith, Deputy Commissioner, Shipbuilding and Materiel

Budget 2021

Given that this is my first appearance since Budget 2021 was tabled in the House of Commons, I would like to talk about some of the investments that are specific to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. And so today, I will discuss the Budget and focus on the following key themes:

• Conserving and protecting our marine resources; and
• Supporting coastal communities and economies.

Over the next five years, DFO and the Coast Guard will receive significant investments that will allow the Department to continue its important work in these areas.

I will also be happy to take your questions on the topic of Pacific salmon.

Conserving and protecting marine resources

Our government knows that the health of our oceans is intrinsically linked to the health of our economy and the health of our people. One way we can conserve and protect our marine resources is by establishing networks of marine protected areas and 'other effective area-based conservation measures'.

MPAs are a proven way to help aquatic species, habitats and ecosystems recover from human-induced stresses such as overfishing, natural resource extraction and pollution. When our government took office in 2015, less that one per cent of our oceans were protected. Today, that figure stands at almost 14 per cent with a goal of increasing this to 25 per cent by 2025, working toward 30 per cent by 2030.

To help Canada meet its ambitious marine conservation targets, Budget 2021 earmarked $976.8 million over the next five years. This investment will be used to expand our network of MPAs on all three coasts by working closely with Indigenous, provincial and territorial partners, and local communities to better protect and manage vulnerable areas. Ultimately, this work will benefit the broader marine environment, coastal communities and local economies.

Budget 2021 also signals a strong federal response to address serious declines of Pacific salmon on the West Coast.

Despite extensive conservation measures in recent years, climate change and threats caused by humans, including deteriorating habitat, contaminants, illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, changes in how land and water are used, and international fishing pressures have negatively affected Pacific salmon at every stage of their lifecycle.

Currently, 50 different Pacific salmon populations are being considered for listing under the Species at Risk Act or pending assessment by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The reasons for this are numerous, complex and incredibly concerning. When unforeseen events such as the Big Bar landslide occur, the risks to vulnerable salmon stocks are magnified even further.

Bold, sustained and coordinated action is needed to stabilize, protect and rebuild Pacific salmon for the communities that depend on sustainable fisheries, and the ecosystems that support them.

Last April, as many of you know—our government announced a historic investment in Pacific salmon. This unprecedented $647.1-million investment is the single most transformative investment the Government has ever made towards saving salmon, and is aimed at stopping the declines now while helping rebuild populations over the longer term.

Our government will be taking a collaborative approach that focuses on strengthening partnerships with provinces and territories, First Nations, industry, organizations and others who are already doing so much to protect and conserve salmon.

We must bring key partners to the table to identify and prioritize actions to support healthy salmon.

I know this investment comes on the heels of the committee's study on this important issue, and I thank members for your work on this file, and look forward to hearing your recommendations.

I am confident that this investment will provide a coordinated response to help the recovery of Pacific salmon, to support the many communities, harvesters, and business that rely on the health of these stocks.

Mr. Chair: Budget 2021 will give my Department the financial means to meet our marine conservation targets, address declines in Pacific salmon, protect aquatic species at risk and also provide the Coast Guard with additional funding to prevent and mitigate environmental incidents on the water through an extension of the Emergency Towing Vessels located on Canada's west coast. 

Supporting coastal communities and economies

Budget 2021 will also help coastal communities build back better and stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes investing in Small Craft Harbours.

In 2019, the commercial fishing industry had landings valued at almost $3.7 billion and employed more than 45,000 workers. Even during the hardships of the past year, fish and seafood were among the largest single food commodities exported by Canada.

Budget 2021 includes $300 million to repair, renew and replace infrastructure at small craft harbours over the next two years. This will help shore up the future of this industry by providing safe, functional harbours while at the same time creating good paying jobs for Canadians.

We are also strengthening our commitment to marine safety for Indigenous coastal communities, by ensuring these communities can get the boats and equipment they need to keep people safe in local waters.

Mr. Chair: these investments in coastal communities are a down payment on our future that will pay dividends in the months and years ahead as Canada, and the world recover, from the global pandemic.

Conclusion

Mr. Chair: whether we're talking about conserving and protecting our marine resources, or supporting coastal communities and economies; all of this work is interconnected.

Ultimately, Budget 2021 is an investment in Canadian families and communities. Investments that underscore how our nation's economic prosperity and the long-term health of our environment can, and must, go hand in hand.

As Minister, I'm confident the funding I outlined today will position Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard to deliver on key priorities that contribute to a stronger maritime economy, healthier oceans and more resilient coastal communities.

I'm pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Budget 2021

Small craft harbours

• Budget 2021 included $300 million, over the next two years, to repair, renew, and replace small craft harbours.
• Small craft harbours contribute to the economic well-being of coastal and inland communities by ensuring a network of safe and accessible harbours for use by commercial fish harvesters across the country.
• Approximately 45,000 Canadians work in Canada's commercial fishing industry, which had landings valued at approximately $3.7 billion at our harbours in 2019.
• Discussions are ongoing within the Department to determine which harbours will receive Budget 2021 funding.
• With this new funding, the Government has now announced $784 million in new funding for the Small Craft Harbours Program since 2016.

Background

• As of April 2021, the Small Craft Harbours (SCH) program was responsible for 990 harbours:
• 675 core fishing harbours; and
• 315 non-core fishing harbours.
• SCHs provide key support to the commercial fishing industry. The SCH program keeps the harbours that are critical to the fishing industry open and in good repair.
• Budget 2021 included $300 million over the next two years to repair, renew, and replace small craft harbours.
• Approximately 90 per cent of the Canadian fish harvest is landed at harbours operated through the SCH program. The value of landings in Canada in 2019 was estimated at approximately $3.7 billion.
• The SCH Program is delivered in cooperation with harbour authorities, local not-for-profit organizations representing the interests of local commercial fishers and the broader community. Each year, more than 5,000 volunteers assist the program.

Canada's new marine conservation target

• Canada has made tremendous strides in protecting its oceans – progressing from less than one per cent to almost 14 per cent protection of its marine and coastal areas, marking the most significant advancement in oceans protection in the history of the country.
• Under Budget 2021, the Government of Canada has made a historic investment in marine conservation, providing $976.8 million in funding over five years to reach our ambitious marine conservation target of protecting 25 per cent of Canada's oceans by 2025.
• This will build on ongoing domestic and international initiatives for marine conservation aimed at preserving biodiversity for future generations, and helping to address global impacts due to climate change.
• This investment recognizes that meeting ambitious marine conservation goals is necessary for Canada's ocean-based economy to be able to support long-term sustainable use and development of our rich maritime resources.

How this funding will help Pacific salmon

• Marine protected areas and marine refuges provide many biodiversity benefits which may directly or indirectly support Pacific salmon.
• For example, networks of marine protected areas and marine refuges increase the resilience of whole marine ecosystems that may be important to the various stages of the Pacific salmon's lifecycle.
• Species found within protected area boundaries have a longer time to grow and reproduce, both within the site and adjacent to it.
• This improved productivity helps depleted species to recover. It also may have a "fisheries spillover" effect whereby sustainable fisheries activities and harvesting in adjacent areas benefit.

Background

• There is growing scientific evidence that marine ecosystem health is deteriorating rapidly, and human activities continue to have a widespread impact. Pollution, invasive species, oil drilling, and fishing threaten the biodiversity and sustainability of Canada's oceans. While concern over many of these issues has existed for some time, human activities in the ocean such as tourism, industrial processes, fishing and shipping, are expected to intensify in the future, particularly in Arctic areas as ice sheets continue to recede due to climate change.
• Canada has an ocean-based economy, directly contributing $15.4 billion to GDP and 135,000 jobs in 2016, increasing to $31.6 billion to GDP and 296,000 jobs when associated spin-off impacts are included. Reliance on industries, such as fisheries (including Pacific salmon) and aquaculture, marine transportation, ocean energy and technology, recreation and tourism to support Canadian jobs and provide enjoyment of the marine environment, requires sustainable practices that ensure health and sustainability of the marine environment and its resources.
• By protecting important habitats, marine species, and the ecosystems on which ocean-based sectors rely, marine protected areas (MPAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), for example marine refuges, contribute to Canada's broader blue economy goals of ocean protection alongside viable business growth of ocean-based industries, particularly when situated in the context of marine spatial planning and conservation networks.
• There are currently three Oceans Act MPAs established in the Pacific Ocean: Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents MPA (established in 2003); the SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount MPA (established in 2008); and the Hecate Strait – Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs MPA (established in 2017). Existing marine refuges include the Strait of Georgia and Howe Sound Glass Sponge Reef (17 fishery area closures) and the Offshore Pacific Seamounts and Vents Closure. Efforts are underway to designate the proposed Tang.ɢwan · ḥačxwiqak · Tsig̱is Oceans Act MPA in the offshore of the Pacific Ocean.
• Resources provided by Budget 2021 will support the establishment of new MPAs and OECMs in BC, contribute to the 25 per cent by 2025 target, and fund the effective management of existing areas, including support for the collaborative management of areas with Indigenous partners.

Budget 2021 - Pacific salmon

• Budget 2021 proposes $647.1 million for a Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, which will improve management of commercial and recreational fisheries, double the British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund.
• The Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative is built on four key pillars: Conservation and Stewardship, Salmon Enhancement, Harvest Transformation, and Integration and Collaboration.
• The Conservation and Stewardship pillar focuses on improved habitat monitoring and assessment, integrated ecosystem planning, and restoration. The Salmon Enhancement pillar is focused on hatchery investments.
• The Harvest Transformation pillar focuses on improving stability within salmon harvest sectors. The Integration and Collaboration pillar focuses on integrating all of the Department's salmon work and collaborating with partners.
• DFO will create a Pacific Salmon Secretariat and a Restoration Centre of Expertise. The Restoration Centre will expand DFO's ability to support salmon restoration work undertaken by others.

Background

• The Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI) aims to stem historic declines in key Pacific salmon stocks and rebuild the species to a sustainable level where possible. DFO's response to these declines will involve a series of distinct measures, phased in over the next five years and beyond. Given the lengthy (4-year average) reproductive cycle of Pacific salmon, indicators of success will take several years to measure – as many as 15 or more.
• Under the PSSI Conservation and Stewardship pillar, DFO plans to improve our understanding of salmon ecosystems by enabling salmon and ecosystem status reporting to support decision-making and prioritize departmental actions based on feasibility, cost, and the species' resiliency to climate change. It will also create a team of cross-disciplinary experts to better analyze climate scenarios. DFO will also develop monitoring frameworks to integrate salmon, ecosystem and climate data to identify drivers of salmon survival, and assess their vulnerability to climate change.
• DFO has had several initiatives currently underway to address declining Pacific salmon stocks: the Wild Salmon Policy 2018-2022 Implementation Plan, Coastal Restoration Fund, BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund, Salmon Allocation Policy review, implementation funding for the renewed Pacific Salmon Treaty, and the renewed Fisheries Act. The PSSI is expected to build upon these initiatives and transform the harvest sector for greater economic certainty, and support the many BC communities whose jobs and way of life rely on them.
• One of the important tools that DFO has to support conservation and rebuilding of salmon is hatcheries. DFO currently has 23 major hatchery facilities and spawning channels, which are supported by a number of community based hatcheries. Science based approach to hatchery management allows them to be an effective tool to support salmon stock that are in decline.
• In Fall 2020, the Province of BC expressed the desire to extend British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund and double their funding commitment. [Information was severed in accordance with the Access to Information Act.] Discussion is required with BC to confirm timing and joint areas of focus for future investments; the BCSRIF BC-DFO Framework Agreement will require amendment to support the expanded program.

British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF)

• Healthy wild fish stocks are vital to the economic prosperity and social fabric of British Columbia's coastal communities, and are fundamental to the cultures and traditions of many Indigenous communities.
• BCSRIF supports BC's fish and seafood sector through activities that focus on salmon habitat restoration and enhancement work, commercial and recreational fishing, aquaculture, and science and research initiatives.
• BCSRIF funding is available to support activities for eligible applicants; joint federal/provincial priorities to date have mostly focused on support for wild salmon through funding to Indigenous groups and non-commercial organizations.
• The two application processes over 2019-2020 provided opportunities for further support to those who work in and rely on BC's fish and seafood sector, and for wild Pacific salmon.
• BCSRIF funding for 41 approved projects total $67.4 Million. Budget 2021 proposes to double the BCSRIF with an additional $100 Million in funding.

Background

• The British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund (BCSRIF) funding priorities for 2021 were established jointly by the provincial and federal governments based on mandate commitments, common areas of interest, and to reflect the needs and interests of Indigenous communities, industry, and stakeholders.
• In fall 2020, the Province of BC expressed the desire to extend BCSRIF and double their funding commitment. The BC operational team has indicated that the current approach is to secure additional funds for future fiscal-years. DFO is undergoing review of a program extension and doubling of funding commitments as part of Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative Treasury Board submission. [Information was severed in accordance with the Access to Information Act.] Discussion is required with BC to confirm timing and joint areas of focus for future investments; the BCSRIF BC-DFO Framework Agreement will require amendment to support the expanded program.
• From the 2020 application phase, another batch of more than 53 proposals were approved by the Minister to proceed to the contribution agreement negotiation and approval stages. The joint BC/DFO funding recommendations approved by the DFO Minister in May 2021, include the following highlights: i) significant investment in habitat restoration ($30 million), ii) 40 projects ($43 million) will provide direct benefits to Pacific Salmon stocks, iii) 25 projects led by Indigenous organizations (commercial and non-commercial) ($24 million), and iv) 6 projects focus on improvements to 11 community-based hatcheries ($4M). Projects were selected for funding based on joint federal/provincial assessment of a variety of factors, including strength of partnerships, cost-effectiveness, scope and scale of benefits, and level of alignment with BCSRIF priorities.
• Since implementation, 42 contribution agreements have been signed. After one project was cancelled at the recipient's request, BCSRIF funding for the remaining 41 projects totals $67.4 million. 35 projects are currently active and 6 projects have been successfully completed. 15 of the active projects focus on habitat restoration activities ($29.5 million ) with 13 recipients undertaking project activities in the Courtenay–Alberni riding ($26.4 million) and 3 recipients undertaking activities in the North Okanagan–Shuswap riding ($3 million).
• The BCSRIF was officially launched on March 15, 2019. The BCSRIF is a contribution program funded jointly by the federal and provincial government that supports protection and restoration of wild Pacific salmon and other stocks, as well as projects to ensure the fish and seafood sector in BC is positioned for long-term environmental and economic sustainability. The total fund amounts to $142.85 million over five years: $100 million from Canada and $42.85 million from BC.

Habitat restoration centre

• Budget 2021 included a $647.1 million investment for the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative that aims to stem historic declines in key Pacific salmon stocks and rebuild the species to a sustainable level where possible.
• The initiative is built on four key pillars: Conservation and Stewardship, Salmon Enhancement, Harvest Transformation, and Integrated Management and Planning. Under the Conservation and Stewardship pillar, integrated ecosystem planning and restoration work will be enhanced.
• DFO will create a Restoration Centre of Expertise. This centre will expand DFO's ability to support salmon restoration work undertaken by others by developing expanded multi-disciplinary technical capacity to work with partners to implement restoration projects.
• The Restoration Centre of Expertise will complement the existing programming and partnerships DFO has with various stakeholders to address gaps such as ecosystem, habitat and salmon population research and monitoring.

Background

• The Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI) announced by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in April 2021 aims to stem historic declines in key Pacific salmon stocks and rebuild the species to a sustainable level where possible.
• DFO's response to these declines will involve a series of distinct measures, phased in over the next five years and beyond. Given the lengthy (4-year average) reproductive cycle of Pacific salmon, indicators of success will take several years to measure – as many as 15 or more.
• Under the PSSI Conservation and Stewardship pillar, DFO plans to improve our understanding of salmon ecosystems by enabling salmon and ecosystem status reporting to support decision-making and prioritize departmental actions based on feasibility, cost, and the species' resiliency to climate change. It will also create a team of cross-disciplinary experts from government, non-government, Indigenous communities and academia to better analyze climate scenarios.
• Also under this pillar, DFO will develop monitoring frameworks to integrate salmon, ecosystem and climate data to identify drivers of salmon survival, and assess their vulnerability to climate change.
• The above-noted activities will inform DFO's plans and approaches to expanding existing programming and partnerships with various stakeholders to address gaps such as ecosystem, habitat and salmon population research and monitoring, including plans for the development of the Restoration Centre of Expertise.

Habitat and hatcheries investments

• The Conservation and Stewardship pillar of the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative focuses on improved habitat monitoring and assessment, integrated ecosystem planning, and restoration. The Salmon Enhancement pillar is focused on hatchery investments.
• DFO will also be developing new monitoring frameworks to integrate salmon, ecosystem and climate data that will identify drivers of salmon survival and assess their vulnerability to climate change, and support decision making.
• DFO will create a Centre of Expertise for habitat restoration, which will provide support to salmon restoration work undertaken by others. A multi-disciplinary technical team will lead restoration projects that benefit stocks of concern.
• Budget 2021 proposes an additional $100 million in federal funding for the BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund to enhance salmon habitats. DFO will explore with BC the potential to increase their contribution to the overall fund.

Background

• DFO proposes a number of habitat and hatchery-related investments under the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, as set out in Budget 2021. The Strategy aims to stem historic declines in key Pacific salmon stocks and rebuild the species to a sustainable level where possible. The Initiative is built on four key pillars:
• Conservation and stewardship,
• Salmon enhancement,
• Harvest transformation, and
• Integrated management and planning.
• DFO's response to these declines will involve a series of distinct measures, phased in over the next five years and beyond. Given the lengthy (4-year average) reproductive cycle of Pacific salmon, indicators of success will take several years to measure – as many as 15 or more.
• In 2019, DFO's State of Pacific Salmon report outlined how salmon are responding to climate and habitat changes. The planet is warming, and the most recent five years have been the warmest on record. In Canada, the rate of warming has been double the global average, and is even greater at northern latitudes.
• Under the Conservation and Stewardship pillar, DFO plans to improve our understanding of salmon ecosystems by enabling salmon and ecosystem status reporting to support decision-making and prioritize departmental actions based on feasibility, cost, and the species' resiliency to climate change.
• One of the important tools that DFO has to support conservation and rebuilding of salmon is hatcheries. DFO currently has 23 major hatchery facilities and spawning channels, which are supported by a number of community based hatcheries. Science based approach to hatchery management allows them to be an effective tool to support salmon stock that are in decline.

Management of commercial and recreational fisheries

• The challenges facing many Pacific salmon stocks on the Canadian West Coast are severe and complex, and require a long-term transformative plan if we are to protect this iconic resource as climate change and other pressures increase.
• Harvesting closures for conservation will need to continue, as DFO expects the trends in salmon declines to continue into the foreseeable future.
• Action is needed now and over the longer term to advance salmon conservation and restoration, and to transform the Pacific salmon harvest sector to support greater resiliency.
• The total available catch of Pacific Salmon has dropped by more than 50 percent since the mid-1990s. The shrinking allocation pie of available catch is leading to tensions between sectors. The way we manage these fisheries needs to modernize.
• Through the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, we will work with Indigenous peoples, harvest groups, industry, environmental groups and others to address salmon declines effectively and in innovative ways, while supporting a more sustainable and economically resilient harvesting sector.

Background

• Despite harvest reductions of weak salmon stocks over the past decade, many continue to face significant challenges. Climate change and threats caused by humans, including deteriorating habitat, contaminants, changes in how land and water are used, and international illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing pressures are affecting Pacific salmon negatively at every stage of their lifecycle.
• In 2019, DFO's State of Pacific Salmon report outlined how salmon are responding to climate and habitat changes. The planet is warming, and the most recent five years have been the warmest on record. In Canada, the rate of warming has been double the global average, and is even greater at northern latitudes.
• Many Pacific salmon stocks are declining to historic lows; 50 Pacific salmon populations are currently under consideration for potential listing under the Species at Risk Act, or pending assessment by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in (COSEWIC).
• Pacific salmon have social, cultural, and economic significance for many Canadians. After conservation, the Department has a legal obligation to provide priority access for First Nations food, social and ceremonial (FSC) and treaty fisheries, but in recent years many have not been able to meet their harvest allocations because of low salmon returns.
• DFO has had several initiatives currently underway to address declining Pacific salmon stocks: the Wild Salmon Policy 2018-2022 Implementation Plan, Coastal Restoration Fund, BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund, Salmon Allocation Policy review, implementation funding for the renewed Pacific Salmon Treaty, and the renewed Fisheries Act. The PSSI is expected to build upon these initiatives and transform the harvest sector for greater economic certainty, and support the many BC communities whose jobs and way of life rely on them.

Aquaculture and area-based aquaculture management

• My mandate letter directed me to work with the Province of British Columbia and Indigenous communities to create a responsible plan to transition open net-pen salmon farming in coastal BC by 2025.
• Budget 2021 proposes to allocate $20 million over two years to further facilitate engagement with the Province of British Columbia, Indigenous communities, industry, scientists, and other stakeholders. These consultations will inform the development of a responsible plan.
• Partnering with First Nations and the Province of British Columbia will be essential to the development and success of the plan, as we expect all parties will want to see a plan that is environmentally sustainable, economically feasible and takes into account social considerations.
• The net-pen transition strategic oversight committee consisting of DFO, the Province of BC, and First Nations representatives, has developed an engagement strategy which is targeting fall to commence the first phase of engagement. The Province of BC participates as an observer.
• We will also be investing $3 million over the next two years to pilot area-based management approaches to planning, management and monitoring of aquaculture activities on the BC coast, which will help to ensure that aquaculture is undertaken in a manner that is both environmentally sustainable and socially responsible.
• Budget 2021 also proposes to roll-over the Fisheries and Aquaculture Clean Technology Adoption Program for two years at $5 million per year, which will continue to assist both wild capture fisheries and aquaculture operators improve their environmental performance by adopting market-ready clean technologies into their existing operations.

How this funding will help Pacific salmon

• Our government has heard concerns from some Indigenous communities in British Columbia and other Canadians regarding fish farms and their potential impacts on wild salmon and the environment.
• This government takes the interactions between farmed salmon and wild Pacific salmon seriously.
• We are committed to engaging and developing a robust transition plan for net-pen salmon aquaculture and piloting area-based approaches to aquaculture management that can support a sustainable aquaculture sector that minimizes impacts on wild Pacific salmon.

Background

Net-pen transition

• Your mandate letter, released December 13, 2019, includes a commitment to work with the Province of British Columbia and Indigenous communities to create a responsible plan to transition open net-pen farming in coastal BC, as well as to introduce Canada's first ever Aquaculture Act.
• Close collaboration with Indigenous partners and the Province of BC will be key to the successful development and implementation of the plan.
• A federal/provincial/Indigenous governance body has been established to oversee and lead the development of a plan. The governance body began meeting virtually in the fall of 2020 and has now developed an engagement strategy, with proposed consultations to start later this year. The Province of BC participates as an observer.
• Budget 2021 provides $20 million over two years to the Department to expand engagement with the Province of BC, Indigenous communities, industry, scientists and other stakeholders, which will help inform development of a responsible plan for BC.

Area-based aquaculture management

• The Budget also proposes to invest $3 million over two years to pilot area based management approaches to planning, management, and monitoring of aquaculture activities in priority areas on the BC coast — leading the way in developing aquaculture practices that are economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable.
• Area-based aquaculture management (ABAM) is a new collaborative approach that aims to ensure that the planning, monitoring, and ongoing management of aquaculture activities occur at geographic scales capable of taking into consideration environmental, social, and economic conditions in which they are either occurring or planned to take place.
• Support provided through Budget 2021 will lay the groundwork to advance ABAM through the establishment of a new federal-provincial-Indigenous governance structures for aquaculture at province-wide and sub-regional (area-based) scales. While specific roles and responsibilities are yet to be determined, it is generally expected that these co-management bodies will serve as communal fora to: improve sharing of information, including traditional knowledge; identify key research gaps and priorities; identify opportunities and restrictions for industry activity and/or growth; establish monitoring and reporting requirements; and improve awareness and communication with local communities.

Oceans Protection Plan: Indigenous Community Boat Volunteer pilot program

• The Indigenous Community Boat Volunteer Program increases marine safety at a local level by providing funding directly to communities to purchase equipment to support their membership in the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary.
• Through the community boat program, Indigenous coastal communities can purchase the equipment they need in order to enhance marine safety capacity at a local level.
• As part of the Oceans Protection Program (OPP), the community boat program was funded as a four-year pilot program. In Budget 2021, the program received a further year of funding to align the program with other OPP initiatives.
• Through this extension of the community boat program, the Government of Canada is demonstrating its commitment to marine safety and partnerships with Indigenous communities in a direct and tangible way.

Oceans Protection Plan Renewal (responsive)

• The Government of Canada's commitment to protecting our coasts, to supporting Canada's marine economy, and to advancing Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples through meaningful partnerships in marine safety remains strong.
• The OPP was launched, in 2017, as a five-year plan. As we are currently in year five of implementation, OPP partner departments are now exploring options for the next phase of federal oceans programming.
• We know to accomplish this work we need the support of Indigenous peoples, stakeholders, coastal communities and others across the country.

Background

Community Boat Program

• Through the Oceans Protection Plan (OPP), the Government of Canada is working in partnership with Indigenous coastal communities to improve marine safety and responsible shipping to protect Canada's marine environment. As part of this plan, the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) launched the four-year Indigenous Community Boat Volunteer Pilot Program.
• Under this program, communities are able to build up their on-water search and rescue capacity, and are provided with the necessary funding to purchase boats, as well as the required equipment to do so. To date the Indigenous Community Boat Volunteer Program provided $6,444,314 directly to 25 Indigenous communities/organizations across the country to buy search and rescue boats and equipment to enhance their ability to participate as members of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary and increase marine safety at a local level.
• Budget 2021 allocated $2.3 million to the program, including $2.05 million in grants and contributions. This is an investment in the safety and prosperity of coastal communities, and that strengthens the capacity of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (Auxiliary).
• The Auxiliary is a national non-profit organization of 4,000 volunteer members with access to 1,100 vessels that boost the Government of Canada's maritime search and rescue response capacity. CCG funds the Auxiliary through a contribution program that enables the Auxiliary to respond to approximately 25 per cent of maritime calls for assistance each year.
• The one-year extension of the community boat program is the only OPP funding received through Budget 2021.

OPP General

• The OPP, announced on November 7, 2016, is a $1.5-billion investment in the protection of Canada's maritime environment along four main priority areas:
• Creating a world-leading marine safety system;
• Preserving and restoring marine ecosystems;
• Strengthening partnerships with Indigenous communities; and,
• Investing in oil spill response methods.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada and CCG are responsible for $1.14 billion of the total investment in OPP.
• OPP is developing skills and creating enduring partnerships with Indigenous and coastal communities; investing to procure important equipment for marine safety and clean-up; and, applying scientific evidence, innovative technologies, and reflecting Indigenous knowledge to make our oceans safer, cleaner, and healthier.
• The OPP launched in 2017, and follows a five-year implementation cycle. As we are currently in year 5 of the program, close consideration is being paid to results achieved, lessons learned, and to new programming opportunities to inform our path forward.
• Some key OPP accomplishments to date are:

National

• Coastal Restoration Fund allocated funding to 64 projects on all three coasts worth over $70 million supporting redevelopment of aquatic habitats and engaging Indigenous and community groups.
• Modernized 134 remote Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) sites – by providing better information on marine traffic to Coast Guard and partners, including Indigenous and Coastal communities.
• Announced $26.6 million in funding to help better understand noise pressures on marine mammals (such as the Southern Resident Killer Whale; the North Atlantic Right Whale, and the St. Lawrence Estuary Beluga).
• The Nairobi Convention has been implemented under the Vessels of Concern Initiative.

Western

• The Reconciliation Framework Agreement for Bioregional Oceans Management and Protection in British Columbia (BC) with 14 First Nations is already improving the governance, management, and protection of oceans in the Pacific North Coast, including marine ecosystems, marine resources and marine use activities.
• Enhanced emergency response capacity for improved marine safety:
• Two leased Emergency Offshore Towing Vessels in BC.
• A new Lifeboat station in Victoria, BC has been opened.
• Opening of new Coast Guard Search and Rescue stations in Tahsis and Hartley Bay, BC in 2020.

Arctic

• Modern Hydrography and Charting in critical areas, such as the Arctic Northwest Passage, for improved navigation.
• The first Inshore Rescue Boat Station in the Arctic, in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut – Crewed entirely by Inuit University students.
• Announced close to $1 million in funding for four Arctic Indigenous communities (Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet, NU, and Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories) to buy Search And Rescue capable boats and related equipment.
• By increasing the presence of Coast Guard icebreakers in the North during the Arctic season, the OPP is expanding CCG's capacity to facilitate, and safeguard, community resupply; to provide navigational assistance; and to provide communications/emergency support services in the region as needed.

Eastern

• Strengthening our search & rescue coordination and response capacity, and providing economic benefits in the region.
• Re-opened the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre in St. John's.
• Opened a new Lifeboat station in St. Anthony operational 24/7 from May to December, NL.
• Interim Search and Rescue stations are now open in Old Perlican and Twillingate, NL.

Enhanced Nature Legacy funding

• Action is needed now to conserve nature, address biodiversity loss, and protect our species at risk. Protecting nature is also a critical part of Canada's plan to fight climate change.
• To address the biodiversity crisis, fight climate change, and protect and create jobs, Budget 2021 has invested $2.3 billion over five years.
• Taken together with funding provided for the Nature Legacy Initiative announced in Budget 2018, this represents the largest investment in nature conservation in Canada's history.
• Budget 2021 will build on Canada's achievements towards reaching its goal of conserving 25 per cent of Canada's lands and freshwater by 2025, and of protecting and recovering species at risk.
• With this additional funding for aquatic species at risk, including Pacific salmon, we will take action to work closely with provinces and territories, Indigenous peoples, partners and stakeholders to take steps to protect and recover these species.

How this funding will help Pacific salmon

• The protection of wild Pacific salmon stocks is a priority for our Government. We are also committed to working with First Nations, partners and stakeholders to reverse the trend of declining salmon stocks.
• Enhanced Nature Legacy funding will support a variety of actions of benefit to Pacific salmon. For example, over the next five years, determinations will need to be made as to the best way to protect and recover over 39 populations of Pacific salmon assessed as at-risk by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, known as COSEWIC. Consultations with Indigenous groups, partners and stakeholders will be an important aspect of this work.
• Canada's Enhanced Nature Legacy will support provinces and territories, Indigenous groups, stakeholders and partners in undertaking stewardship actions that benefit Pacific salmon recovery and protection, among other aquatic species at risk.

Background

• The Enhanced Nature Legacy and the Pacific Salmon Strategy both provide resources to support actions and processes to protect, conserve, and recover Pacific salmon. Each initiative focuses on different but complementary aspects.
• The Enhanced Nature Legacy is supporting the capacity needed to undertake over 39 Pacific Salmon listing processes under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) (with more expected as additional COSEWIC assessments are completed); these processes are designed to help the Governor in Council to decide whether to list the various Salmon Designated Units (DUs) under SARA or use alternative approaches to conserve and protect them.
• The Enhanced Nature Legacy will also provide the capacity needed to develop the recovery documents legally required for any Pacific salmon DUs listed under SARA. This includes additional staff based out of Pacific Region to support SARA listing processes, economic analyses, and enforcement and protection.
• These investments are separate from, but complementary to, those being made through the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative (PSSI), which focuses on the overall federal response to Pacific Salmon declines, including implementation of actions needed to conserve and recover Pacific salmon.
• The PSSI will also support strategic coordination of efforts across programs to ensure alignment of Pacific salmon-targeted investments, such as those identified in the Enhanced Nature Legacy related to listing decisions and associated recovery and management approaches.
• The PSSI identifies the capacity and funding needed to implement recovery actions, including the requirement for broader governance structures to coordinate recovery actions across responsible jurisdictions and broad spatial scales, and establishing provincial, territorial and Indigenous partnerships.

Ghost gear

• Budget 2021 included an increase in support for the Sustainable Fisheries Solutions and Retrieval Support Contribution Program in 2021-22, to continue to address ghost gear.
• In 2020, my department launched this $8.3 million program to support third-party led projects under four pillars: ghost gear retrieval; new technologies to prevent or mitigate ghost gear; responsible disposal; and, international leadership.
• Currently, the program funds 26 projects, creating an estimated 300 jobs. Thanks to the program and other Government of Canada initiatives, over 63 tons of ghost gear was removed from Canadian waters in 2020.
• The Canada-wide strategy on zero plastic waste was built upon the Ocean Plastics Charter and commits to a resource-efficient and circular economy approach for plastics.
• Canada is collaborating with industry to pilot projects, including in-season retrieval of abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear. Canada has also taken steps to equip harbour authorities to receive and manage plastic waste from aquatic sectors.

Background

• In December 2019, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, was mandated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to implement the Ocean Plastics Charter and the G7 Charlevoix Blueprint for Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient Coastal Communities, as a top priority. This supports Canada's domestic efforts to advance its blue economy.
• During our G7 Presidency in 2018, Canada announced the Ocean Plastics Charter and the G7 Charlevoix Blueprint for Healthy Oceans, Seas and Resilient Coastal Communities. The Charter encourages governments and organizations to commit to reduce plastic waste and adopt a lifecycle approach to plastics stewardship. Efforts to reduce marine debris will be guided through the Canada-Wide Strategy on Zero Plastic Waste approved by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) in 2018. Specific measures to reduce gear loss and abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) are included in the CCME Zero Plastic Waste Phase 2 Action Plan, approved in December 2020.
• As a signatory member, Canada have continued to support the Global Ghost Gear Initiative's efforts to reduce the impacts of ALDFG, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy in 2020.
• Recent studies indicate ghost fishing gear makes up to 70 per cent of all macro-plastics in the ocean by weight. It is estimated that 5 to 30 per cent of harvestable fish are fished by ghost gear globally, posing a major threat to human health, livelihoods and global food security.

Better equipping our Coast Guard and military

• Timely and efficient procurement is helping to ensure that the women and men of the Canadian Coast Guard and our Canadian Armed Forces have the necessary equipment to deliver their services to Canadians.
• The Canadian Coast Guard has a strong working relationship with Public Services and Procurement Canada – who are both the program lead for the National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS) and our contracting authority.
• Budget 2021 investments to increase efficiencies and improve contract negotiation and oversight will ultimately ensure the timely and affordable delivery of procurement projects.
• The Canadian Coast Guard, along with National Defence, will continue to work together with Public Service and Procurement Canada to deliver shipbuilding projects.

Background

• Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) manages the procurement of equipment and ships for the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Coast Guard.
• Procurement and project management volumes are increasing as Canada implements its defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, and proceeds with the full renewal of the Canadian Coast Guard fleet.
• To help PSPC respond to increasing demands, Budget 2021 proposes to provide:
• $70.8 million over 10 years, starting in 2021-22, to ensure the timely delivery of defence and marine procurement projects.
• $1.1 million in 2021-22 to augment the Cost and Profit Assurance Program, which saves millions annually through the audit and oversight of defence contracts.
• This funding will increase defence procurement efficiency, help Canada negotiate better contracts, improve oversight, and lower costs in the long run. Ultimately, it will help ensure our women and men in uniform receive the equipment they need.

Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC)

• The Great Lakes are an important resource shared by Canada and the United States. The Government of Canada is committed to preserving our freshwater resources and protecting the Great Lakes from invasive species.
• Our government recognizes that the efforts of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission are vital to controlling sea lampreys, conducting scientific research, and maintaining cooperation among Canadian and American agencies to manage the health of the Great Lakes transboundary fisheries.
• While Budget 2021 did not include new direct funding for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, this in no way diminishes the importance we place on our partnership with the United States, the value of the Great Lakes, or its fisheries.
• Our goal is to ensure that the Commission is best positioned to fulfill its mandate and continues to receive support from our Government to that end.
• We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission in order to address high priority invasive species, like the sea lamprey, that threaten native ecosystems and habitat.

Background

• As part of the Budget 2021 process, the Department put forward a proposal seeking incremental funding of $44.2M over five years and $8.84M ongoing, for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC), to ensure that Canada meets its bilateral treaty requirement with the US. The proposal was not funded.
• The GLFC was established by the 1954 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries between Canada and the United States of America, with the objective of protecting and sustaining the Great Lakes fishery. Along with scientific research and managing the fisheries, the GLFC carries out sea lamprey control activities in cooperation with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and the United States (U.S.) Fish and Wildlife Service.
• The Canada-US funding breakdown for GLFC activities reflects the distribution of territorial waters and the value of each nation's fishery. Canada agreed at the inaugural meeting under the 1954 Convention to contribute 31 per cent of funding for the transboundary sea lamprey control work, and 50 per cent of other research and administrative costs (e.g. secretariat/salaries). The US provides the remaining funding. In recent years the U.S. government has decided to increase its contributions to the Commission; however, Canadian contributions have remained static.
• The GLFC is made up of eight Commissioners (four each from Canada and the US) and one US Alternate Commissioner. The GLFC operates under the direction of the Commissioners, and functionally operates independently from government.
• The GLFC, and some Members of Parliament, have lobbied both the Department and Global Affairs Canada (GAC), seeking support for federal leadership and responsibility for the Commission to be moved from DFO to GAC's portfolio, to better align with its status as a binational commission with the American departmental officials have been working closely with GAC to address the GLFC's governance concerns, and to ensure that Canada's treaty and financial obligations under the Convention are met.

Big Bar, Pacific salmon and other Pacific issues

Big Bar Landslide

• The government-to-government-to-government (G3) collaboration implemented at the beginning of the incident response remains an integral part of ongoing efforts to address the Big Bar Landslide.
• Our government and the Province of British Columbia have invested significant funds to address the Big Bar landslide, and continue to work collaboratively.
• The current contract with Peter Kiewit Sons ULC (Kiewit) includes protecting the site from extensive rock fall hazards, improving access routes and assisting DFO with interim measures to move fish during spring and summer of 2021.
• With spring freshet and slope stability challenges, construction on the permanent fishway has concluded for the 2020-21 winter season. We are currently re-evaluating options to identify next steps on the long-term solution.
• DFO, First Nations, BC , Kiewit and other experts are working on a third year of assisted fish passage, an emergency enhancement program for sockeye and Chinook populations, and a monitoring plan for the 2021 migration season.

Background

• Kiewit has shifted its focus to other planned work onsite in advance of the 2021 migration season, including the construction of the "nature-like" fishway and the preparation of alternative fish passage systems.
• The G3 Government team and associated experts are also implementing emergency conservation enhancement plans for at risk salmon stocks, and monitoring plans that are expected to continue throughout most of the fish migration period.
• Continued sustained efforts will be required both in the short and long-term, possibly even into years ahead, to reduce the impact of the landslide on future Fraser salmon stocks.

Big Bar expenditures and planned spending

• On December 9, 2020, DFO announced the award of a $176.3 million contract to Peter Kiewit Sons ULC (Kiewit) to design and construct a permanent fishway at the slide site.
• Through the Indigenous Benefits Plan (IBP), Kiewit is responsible for ensuring at least 5.1 per cent of the cumulative total of all approved Task Authorizations is directed to Indigenous organizations and communities.
• Several recent rock falls have impacted the project schedule. In partnership with First Nations and BC, DFO is currently re-evaluating the options to restore fish passage at Big Bar. A decision will be made after careful consideration to minimize further impact on Fraser River salmon.
• Delay in construction will most likely require an additional season of assisted fish passage operations resulting in increasing costs.
• Federal expenditures incurred for work completed up until April 2021 total $131 million dollars.

Background

• To date, costs to respond to the landslide have been effectively shared with the Province of B.C. and DFO.
• Peter Kiewit Sons ULC was awarded the sole source, task-based contract to design and construct a permanent fishway at the slide. The contract has an option to extend for a third year with a value not to exceed $188 million.
• In the immediate-term, and through summer 2022, our plan is to continue with the best available solution, which is transporting fish from below the slide site to closer to their spawning areas above the landslide. We will learn from our experiences in 2019 and 2020 to ensure a higher rate of survival for the salmon. Though not ideal, this represents our best shot at preserving the genetic diversity of these salmon populations in the short-term.
• Ensuring at least 5.1 per cent of the cumulative total of all approved Task Authorizations is directed to Indigenous organizations and communities is not set as a cap; the value of benefits to the First Nations is expected to exceed the percentage target.
• IBP benefits include opportunities for subcontracting, employment, provision of goods, and training and skills development programs and opportunities. The IBP also anticipates activities to support First Nations capacity building that are supplemental to delivering the permanent fishway project. The allotment for training and skills development programs and opportunities for High Bar First Nation and Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation (SXFN) collectively would be up to $4.5 million.

Pacific salmon (state of the resource)

• The protection of wild Pacific salmon stocks is a key priority for the Department; particularly given the complex challenges facing the species.
• Many Pacific salmon stocks are declining to historic lows, due to climate change and warming waters, habitat degradation, changes in land and water use, and other pressures. Not all Pacific salmon are equally resilient to these changes.
• Our ability to understand salmon vulnerability to these changes will help ensure fisheries management, salmon recovery, and habitat restoration are aligned to support future salmon production and biodiversity.
• Currently, no Pacific salmon stocks are listed under the Species at Risk Act; however, DFO is developing listing advice for the 41 populations assessed as at risk by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC).
• We are open to exploring all practical solutions for reversing the decline in salmon populations and are committed to working with First Nations, the Province of British Columbia and Yukon Territory, and stakeholders.

Background

• Pacific salmon stocks are generally declining throughout their range in the North Pacific, across most species and populations, and these trends are particularly strong in southern latitudes. Declines are attributed to a combination of factors, including climate change and warming waters, habitat degradation, changes in land and water use, catastrophic events (Big Bar landslide), and fishing pressures.
• These population-level declines are particularly concerning for some species, notably for Sockeye, Chinook, and Coho salmon.
• The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), has already assessed several populations as being at-risk, including Sakinaw Salmon (endangered; 2016), Interior Fraser Coho (threatened; 2016), Okanagan Chinook (endangered; 2017), Fraser Sockeye (24 Designatable Units [DUs] total: 8 endangered; 2 threatened; 5 special concern; 9 not at risk; 2017), Chinook Salmon in 2018 (16 DUs total; 8 endangered; 4 threatened; 1 special concern; 1 not at risk; 2 data deficient) 2019 (12 DUs total; 4 endangered; 3 threatened; 1 special concern, 1 not at risk, 3 data deficient).
• In 2019 and 2020, there were limited returns in many Pacific salmon fisheries, that resulted in substantial reductions in fishing opportunities. Commercial fishing opportunities were particularly poor in 2019, causing many in the province's fishing industry to seek emergency relief. The 2019 fishing season was the worst on record and saw salmon commercial landed value at roughly 25 percent of the previous 4 year average. Many vessels elected not to take part in the fishery.
• First Nations' food, social and ceremonial fisheries and their share of the commercial fisheries were also significantly reduced in 2019 and 2020, with both seeing reductions of about 68 percent. Several First Nations wrote to the BC and Federal governments calling for a state of emergency.
• In 2020, Southern BC Chum fisheries began in October. Compared to 2019, abundance has improved, however, First Nations, recreational and commercial opportunities in Southern BC remain restricted to protect Interior Fraser River Steelhead. Chum returns to the Yukon River were very poor in 2020 and fisheries were not permitted for the first time in many years.
• DFO relies on the contributions and input of stakeholders, Indigenous groups and coastal communities in its efforts to conserve Pacific salmon.

Salmonid Enhancement Program

• The Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP) is a multi-faceted program that plays a critical role in conserving, managing, and rebuilding Pacific salmon stocks, and supporting sustainable fisheries.
• Enhancement of Pacific salmon delivers significant economic benefit in the form of directed harvest, support of vulnerable populations, and stock assessment information upon which coast wide fisheries are managed across the region.
• DFO hatcheries and spawning channels produce an average of 300 million juvenile salmon annually, resulting in four million adult returns. Facilities are directly operated by DFO and with partnerships with communities and First Nations.
• Enhancement decisions are made using a precautionary approach, which includes the assessment of biological risks associated with the enhancement of a specific stock.
• A feasibility study has been initiated by DFO to identify options for new enhancement facilities within the Upper Fraser River. Feedback from First Nations and experts is currently being integrated into the preliminary results.

Background

• Hatchery infrastructure is limited in the middle and upper reaches of the Fraser River watershed where there are a large number of stocks of conservation concern. SEP and Real Properties staff are working with environmental and engineering consultants to inventory current DFO and potential partner organizations' hatchery infrastructure.
• SEP staff are contributing directly to the Big Bar response working collaboratively with provincial, First Nations, volunteer and academic partners to conduct conservation enhancement on early migrating Chinook and Sockeye stocks impacted by the landslide. Efforts in 2021 will be similar to 2019 and 2020 and will involve collecting adult salmon from below the landslide and various spawning locations in the upper watershed with subsequent egg collection, incubation, and juvenile rearing at a number of DFO and partner hatchery facilities followed by release of juvenile salmon in 2022 and 2023.
• In 2019-20, SEP Restoration Biologists and engineers provided direct support to 107 habitat restoration projects with an estimated construction value of over $22 million. Under the Salmonid Enhancement Program (SEP), the department supports a network of 95 community projects across Pacific Region. The Department annually provides financial support through a Contributions program in the sum of $3.8 million to these facilities and organizations. The SEP program also provides planning, technical support, expertise, equipment and fish food, best management practices and other services to these partners.
• Salmon enhancement is a complex and long term activity that requires careful planning and coordination with fisheries management, stock assessment and conservation objectives. Community-based hatcheries can be an important component of rebuilding efforts, but only as part of a broader plan and with careful oversight and coordination.
• A feasibility study has been initiated by DFO to identify options and opportunities for new enhancement facilities within the Upper Fraser River watershed. The feasibility study included a review of existing facility locations, undeveloped sites, a regional groundwater assessment and preliminary concept designs for different facility options. The feasibility study is on-going and next steps include verifying the suitability of both ground and surface water supplies. Feedback from First Nations and Upper Fraser fisheries experts has been collected through engagement sessions and is currently being integrated into the preliminary results.

Mark selective fishery

• Fishery opportunities where marked hatchery salmon are retained by fishers and unmarked (hatchery or wild) salmon are released, are known as mark selective fisheries. Marking is done by clipping the adipose fin.
• The Department has not authorized a broad expansion of mark selective fisheries for Chinook, due to potential risk of increased fishing effort and increased mortalities from hooking and releasing unmarked wild Chinook.
• DFO only marks hatchery Chinook in order to easily distinguish which fish have coded-wire tags that contain information about abundance, distribution, and fishery mortalities which supports stock assessments.
• For Chinook, a key challenge with retaining marked fish is that it will invalidate the assumptions the scientists are using to estimate fishery mortalities on wild fish that are represented by hatchery indicator stocks.
• DFO is developing a framework on whether Chinook mark selective fisheries and mass marking can be applied as a management tool. DFO is also consulting on Chinook mark selective fishery proposals from the recreational sector to proceed on a pilot basis in 2021.

Background

• The Department has not authorized Chinook mark selective fisheries (MSF) as a widespread fishery management tool due to several concerns. MSF may lead to increased fishing effort and greater release mortalities for unmarked, wild Chinook, including endangered Fraser River Chinook for which there are significant conservation concerns. This occurs because increased effort can result in increased encounters with wild Chinook and it is expected that approximately 20 per cent of released wild Chinook do not survive.
• Marking all Canadian Chinook hatchery production would be challenging because the life history of Chinook in production presents a narrow window in the spring prior to release for marking to occur and substantial investments in new infrastructure would be needed to mass mark Chinook in all facilities producing these species.
• For coho, the Department has implemented a mark selective fishery for hatchery marked coho in Southern BC for over 20 years in response to conservation concerns for wild Interior Fraser River Coho. Investments have also been made over time to mass mark most Southern BC Coho production from DFO SEP facilities. Northern BC fisheries are not mark selective and mass marking is not done as fisheries in this area do not typically encounter southern Coho stocks of concern.
• The Department is conducting a pilot project to mark Conuma Hatchery Chinook in conjunction with a project exploring the application of genetic tools (parentage-based tagging (PBT)) of all hatchery-origin Chinook broodstock for the next 3 years. The goal is to determine whether PBT, combined with enhanced catch monitoring and genetic stock identification sampling, will provide the assessment information currently derived from the Coded Wire Tag (CWT) Indicator stock program with equal or greater accuracy and precision, and determine whether this approach mitigates the potential impacts of MSF on the CWT Indicator stock program.

Petition to ban gill nets

• DFO carefully considers impacts on conservation objectives when prescribing the type of gear that can be used by harvesters participating in a fishery.
• In 2019 and 2020, fishery management measures included a 42 day closure for all commercial nets, including gill nets, and a 27 day closure for First Nations food, social, and ceremonial fisheries, including gill nets, within the Fraser River.
• Going forward, as part of the long-term strategy to stabilize and rebuild Pacific salmon, the Department intends to announce long-term closures of commercial salmon fisheries in key areas of conservation concern.
• First Nations harvesters, particularly those using gillnet gear, will be consulted on potential new fishery management approaches, including opportunities to explore innovative food, social and ceremonial harvesting opportunities.
• Budget 2021 investments will help address financial and socioeconomic impacts on commercial harvesters, as well as modernize management approaches to support a sustainable and resilient Pacific commercial salmon sector going forward.
• Similarly, conversations with recreational harvesters to modernize how recreational salmon fisheries are managed, will be an important element of this overall transformative strategy to stabilize and rebuild Pacific salmon.

Background

• Gill nets are the most widely used and implemented salmon harvesting tool on the Fraser River by both First Nations and commercial harvesters. Salmon stocks of concern and sturgeon are incidentally encountered in gill nets targeting more abundant species. While these stocks of concern are required to be released back into the water, post-release mortalities are typically higher than other gear types (e.g., beach seine, fish wheel, and hook and line).
• There are measures in place to improve post-release survival rates of non-target species. Commercial gill net vessels are required to have operating revival boxes and short soak times which improve the survival of non-target fish. Other methods used for First Nations fisheries require the harvester to remain at the nets to provide effective and expeditious release on non-target species. Despite these measures, release mortalities from gill net gear remain higher than other more selective gear types.
• In recent years, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has supported harvesters in their efforts to move to more selective gears. Funding is available to support this transition (e.g., BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund). However, regulatory constraints for gears used by commercial gill net harvesters and higher labour and capital costs for many of the more selective gears (e.g., beach seine, traps, and fish wheels) has limited widespread adoption among First Nations.
• Additionally, transition to other gear types is not currently well supported by Fraser River First Nations, as more selective gear types cannot be broadly used in all sections of the river (and individual First Nations' communities are limited to fishing within specific areas).
• The Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, and new investments announced in Budget 2021, will help support and will work with commercial harvesters to address financial and socioeconomic impacts, and develop ways to modernize current salmon management approaches. Transformation across Indigenous and Recreational Pacific salmon fisheries will also be important elements of this overall strategy to stabilize and rebuild Pacific salmon.

Recreational fishery and Chinook hatchery

• The Department acknowledges the challenges faced by all Pacific salmon fisheries, including recreational anglers, as a result of recent measures to protect at-risk Fraser River Chinook salmon stocks.
• Management measures for Fraser Chinook are necessary in order to limit fishery mortalities while longer term recovery actions are implemented.
• In 2020, the Department provided opportunities for recreational harvest in areas where Fraser Chinook stocks of concern could be avoided and where other stocks and species of concern would not be impacted.
• Fishery opportunities where marked hatchery Chinook are retained by fishers and unmarked wild Chinook are released are known as mark selective fisheries. Canada only marks Chinook that carry a coded-wire tag used to support stock assessments (<15% of hatchery fish are coded-wire tagged).
• Further evaluation of the mark selective fisheries approach is required due to concerns, including potential impacts on the wild stocks, additional costs to mark fish, and additional monitoring and data collection to maintain the integrity of stock assessments.

Background

• Recreational anglers have raised a number of concerns about the management of the Pacific Salmon fishery, particularly Chinook salmon. These concerns include:
• A petition to end recreational fishery closures as a management measure.
• Requests to implement mark selective fishery opportunities and mass marking of hatchery origin Chinook to support fishing opportunities.
• The need to develop and implement a recovery strategy for Fraser River Salmon.
• Management of the Northern BC Chinook fishery and harvest sharing between recreational and commercial harvesters.
• Twelve of the 13 Fraser River Chinook populations assessed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada are at-risk with 7 endangered; 4 threatened; 1 special concern and only 1 is not at risk. These populations will be considered for potential listing under the Species at Risk Act. If one or more of these populations are listed under SARA, there will be formal requirements to develop recovery strategies for listed populations.
• Catches since April 2020 at the Albion Chinook test fishery are the lowest on record for this time period. Highly precautionary management measures are designed to achieve very low fishery mortalities to limit further declines of these populations and allow most fish to reach spawning areas. Fishery management measures in 2019 and 2020 included delaying commercial troll fisheries; closures and Chinook non-retention for recreational fisheries; and restricted opportunities for First Nations food, social and ceremonial (FSC) fisheries. Further measures were required in the Fraser River in order to protect sockeye migrating up the river, resulting in constraints on recreational chinook fisheries in the river, and limited FSC opportunities.
• DFO only marks hatchery Chinook in order to easily distinguish which fish have coded-wire tags that contain information about abundance, distribution, and fishery mortalities that supports stock assessments. For Chinook, a key challenge with retaining marked fish is that it will invalidate the assumptions the scientists are using to estimate fishery mortalities on wild fish that are represented by hatchery indicator stocks.
• The Department is conducting a pilot project to mark Conuma River Hatchery Chinook in conjunction with a project exploring the application of genetic tools (parentage-based tagging (PBT)) for all hatchery-origin Chinook broodstock for the next 3 years. The goal is to determine whether PBT, combined with enhanced catch monitoring and genetic stock identification sampling, will provide the assessment information currently derived from the Coded Wire Tag (CWT) Indicator stock program with equal or greater accuracy and precision, and determine whether this approach mitigates the potential impacts of mark selected fisheries on the CWT Indicator stock program.

Compensation

• The Department sympathizes with harvesters and communities impacted by the limited salmon harvesting opportunities in 2019 and 2020, and recognizes that some will be facing similar challenges again this year.
• The protection of wild Pacific salmon stocks is a priority for the Department.
• In 2019-20, DFO extended the ongoing Commercial Troll voluntary licence buyback program from June 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020, in order to ease pressure on fish stocks, and to support coastal fishing communities.
• We will look to Indigenous groups, as well as provincial and territorial partners to collaborate with the Department on a more strategic and targeted approach to the challenges currently facing Pacific salmon on Canada's west coast.

Background

• There were limited salmon returns in many Pacific salmon fisheries in 2019 and 2020. Commercial fishing opportunities were particularly poor, causing many in the province's salmon fishing industry to ask the federal government for emergency relief assistance. Stakeholder groups indicated that approximately 700 active harvesters were in need of support.
• The Canada – U.S. Pacific Salmon Commission Fraser River Panel, one of the panels associated with administering the Pacific Salmon Treaty, estimates approximately 500,000 sockeye returned in 2019. This is well below the 5 million median return that was forecasted pre­season. Similar low returns were observed in 2020, with 293,000 returns out of an expected 941,000 that were estimated. This has resulted in no commercial fisheries in recent years for sockeye salmon.
• Poor chum returns and new fishery management measures to protect interior Fraser River steelhead, designated as endangered by Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), also resulted in virtually no commercial chum fisheries in Southern British Columbia (B.C.).
• The Department has been requested to consider a licence fee waiver (e.g. allowing no licence fee to be paid in a specified year if an election was made not to fish with no effect on future licence eligibility). This has not been common practice in Pacific but has been used in the past; the last time this was permitted was 2000. There are revenue implications for the Department. For example, in a 1999 salmon licence fee waiver program, 1271 licences participated resulting in approximately $2 million in lost revenue (Note: the fleet was larger at that time).
• The 2020 Fall Economic Statement highlighted a number of policy actions, including the previously announced funding for Fish Harvester Benefit and Grant Program and funding for the Big Bar Landslide Response. The Government also announced a further $380 million in 2020-21 for the Indigenous Community Support Fund to help support the needs of Indigenous communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Program funds can be leveraged to address food insecurity.

Predation

• DFO takes an ecosystem-based approach to the management of pinnipeds (i.e., seals and sea lions) and our priority is to continue to ensure that the best science is reflected in management decisions.
• While pinnipeds do prey on salmon, salmon represent a small proportion of their diet, and there is significant scientific uncertainty regarding the role pinnipeds play in regards to salmon populations.
• The role of seals and other predators is taken into consideration for management decisions to ensure a sustainable, healthy and productive aquatic ecosystem. DFO is not considering a cull of seals or sea lions at this time.
• Seals and sea lions eat predators of salmon, and are an important food source for killer whales, which are listed as Threatened under the Species at Risk Act.
• DFO Science continues to conduct research on the populations dynamics and diets of pinnipeds, which supports a more detailed understanding of their role in the ecosystem.

Background

• There are two pinniped species that breed in British Columbia (B.C.); steller sea lions and harbour seals. After depletion by over-hunting prior to the species being protected in 1970, the increase to current levels is thought to represent the recovery of the population to historic norms. There are other species that breed in the United States (U.S.) and seasonally frequent B.C. waters: California sea lions, northern fur seals and elephant seals.
• There are concerns among commercial and recreational fishing groups and numerous Indigenous groups in Pacific Region that pinnipeds, particularly steller sea lions and harbour seals, are impacting economically valuable and culturally important fish stocks.
• Along with academic and U.S. partners, in 2019, DFO convened two expert workshops to summarize what is known about potential impacts of pinniped predation on salmon, with a focus on the Salish Sea. Through the workshops, scientists, managers and key stakeholders with technical expertise (including First Nations, academics, stakeholders in the fishing industry, and non-profit organizations) were invited to discuss the current state of knowledge around pinniped predation. The workshops revealed a high degree of scientific uncertainty about the extent of pinniped predation impacts on wild salmon or herring stocks. Collaborative efforts among U.S. and Canadian experts to provide advice about the implications of actively managing pinniped populations are ongoing, and will be important to informing any decisions about how to sustain a healthy ecosystem. DFO is aware of the various external academic studies published in recent years that evaluate pinniped predatory behaviours in B.C. and Pacific west coast, such as those by Dr. Carl Walters, from the University of British Columbia, which argues that field research on sea lion behaviour and diets during the salmon migration period should be a priority.
• Scientists in DFO's Pinniped Research Program are conducting ongoing monitoring and assessments of pinniped populations and diets in B.C. This includes an expanded diet study to understand how diets vary amongst harbour seals, stellar sea lions, and California sea lions, amongst different areas and over time. This research is being done through hard part and DNA analysis of scats, fatty acids analysis and stable isotopes analysis.
• There are currently no commercial fisheries for seals or sea lions in the Pacific Region. However, there have been three commercial pinniped proposals submitted to the Department with the stated objective to reduce the impacts of pinnipeds on salmon stocks. Departmental staff have reviewed these proposals through the new and emerging fishery policy, and have requested additional information from the proponents. Two years ago, changes were made to the Marine Mammal Protection Act to allow for limited, lethal management of pinnipeds. This change has been used to facilitate the removal of individual sea lions on the Columbia River and its tributaries in order to protect specific threatened species of salmon. DFO is closely monitoring activities carried out under the authority of this law and the required reporting on the impacts of sea lion removals on threatened salmon stocks over time.

Spot prawn

• The west coast commercial prawn fishery uses size limits to help manage the sustainability of the commercial prawn fishery.
• The industry practice of tubbing can contravene the Fishery (General) Regulations, as the freezing of prawn tails in containers of sea water can make it difficult for fishery officers to determine the size of prawn tails inside.
• Knowing how important this practice is, my Department has worked with industry on an interim protocol, which provides guidance to harvesters on how to comply with regulations when the fishery opened on May 14.
• DFO looks forward to continued engagement with industry over the coming year to determine a longer-term solution, and is monitoring Public Health Orders in British Columbia to ensure a successful commercial prawn season in 2021.
• The protocol helps harvesters ensure catch will be readily available for inspection by fishery officers, including catch frozen in tubs.

Background

• Some commercial prawn harvesters freeze prawn tails onboard in containers, or "tubs", filled with sea water. This has been a longstanding practice, but has grown in prevalence in recent years.
• Whole prawns and tailed prawns (those with their heads removed) have a size limit, as specified in the Conditions of Licence. The limits are an important component of managing the sustainability of the prawn fishery. Recent discussions with DFO Conservation and Protection have determined that the practice can contravene the Fishery (General) Regulations, in that the size limit of the prawn tails frozen in the tubs cannot be readily determined by a Fishery Officer. Tubs can contain prawns that are closer to the size limit, as larger prawns are typically diverted to other product forms aimed at export markets. For example, in a recent conviction, 51 percent of prawn tails in the inspected tubs were below the size limit
• The commercial prawn industry has expressed serious concern about the prospect that tubbing contravenes the regulations. They have stated that losing the ability to tub prawns will be a hardship to accessing local and domestic prawn markets, especially during the challenges of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has reduced demand for other product forms in international markets. Conservation and Protection is aware of the issues industry is facing and intends to apply discretion in their approach to enforcement to promote the most appropriate outcome.
• The commercial prawn fishery opened on May 14, following discussions with First Nations, the Pacific Prawn Fishermen's Association, Prawn Advisory Board and prawn processors on the opening date.
• Currently, essential services in British Columbia should and are encouraged to remain open. Essential services in British Columbia include fishing and processing, transportation and distribution. The Department continues to monitor Public Health Orders in British Columbia to ensure a successful commercial prawn season in 2021.

Canadian Coast Guard

National Shipbuilding Strategy/Fleet Renewal

• The Coast Guard continues to make progress on fleet renewal through the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
• In addition to the 24 large vessels announced in 2019, Canada has announced that two new Polar Icebreakers will be constructed for the Canadian Coast Guard.
• All three Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels have now been delivered, representing the first class of large vessels delivered through the National Shipbuilding Strategy, and construction has begun on the Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel.
• Coast Guard is also renewing its small vessel fleet with eight Search and Rescue Lifeboats and two Channel Survey and Sounding Vessels delivered in recent years.
•  At the same time, interim measures are in place to ensure that we can continue to deliver essential services for Canadians, while the new ships are being built.

Background

• This work aligns with the 2019 mandate letter commitment to: "work with the Minister of Public Services and Procurement on the full renewal of the Canadian Coast Guard fleet…".
• On May, 5, 2021, Canada announced the procurement of two Polar Icebreakers to be built in Canada, with one ship being directed to Vancouver Shipyards and another ship to be directed to the third shipyard selected under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
• Two Offshore Fisheries Science Vessels were delivered in June and November 2019. The third ship was delivered in October 2020. Construction began on the Offshore Oceanographic Science Vessel on March 29, 2021.
• On August 2, 2019, Canada announced the construction of six new Program Icebreakers.
• In May 2019, the Prime Minister announced $15.7 billion for the construction of up to 18 large vessels, including up to 16 Multi-Purpose Vessels and two Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessels. Design of a new class of small vessels was also announced.

Polar Icebreakers

• The Coast Guard continues to make progress on building its future fleet.
• Most recently, the Government of Canada announced that two new Polar Icebreakers would be constructed for the Canadian Coast Guard.
• Both Polar Icebreakers will be built in Canada at shipyards under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
• One Polar Icebreaker is required by 2030, to replace the High Arctic capabilities of the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent when it retires from service.
• Once delivered, the Polar Icebreakers will strengthen Canada's presence and sovereignty in the Arctic, and provide year-round service delivery and enhanced capabilities for Coast Guard missions, including science.

Background

• On May 5, 2021, Canada announced the procurement of two Polar Icebreakers, with one ship to be built at Vancouver Shipyards and another ship to be built at the third shipyard to be selected under the National Shipbuilding Strategy.
•  On February 28, 2020, Canada released a Request for Information seeking information on domestic shipyard capability and capacity to construct and deliver a Polar-class icebreaker. A decision has not been made yet.
• On May 22, 2019, it was announced that a long production run of 16 Multi-Purpose Vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard would replace the Polar Icebreaker in Vancouver Shipyards' program of work.
• This work aligns with the 2019 mandate letter commitment to: "work with the Minister of Public Services and Procurement on the full renewal of the Canadian Coast Guard fleet…".
• The Polar Icebreakers will be modern, multi-purpose icebreakers capable of year-round operations in the Canadian Arctic. These ships will become Canada's sovereignty platform in the Arctic, and will provide enhanced capabilities for science, maritime safety, security, and environmental response services in the area.

Fisheries and Harbour Management

Southern Resident killer whales

• Our Government is committed to the protection and recovery of the iconic Southern Resident killer whales. In recent years, the Government has taken significant steps to address key threats to their survival.
• This April, we introduced measures focused on increasing prey availability and reducing physical and acoustic disturbance, building on our efforts last year.
• These measures address these threats by strengthening regulations and developing guidelines, increasing research and monitoring, encouraging data sharing, and expanding outreach and education initiatives.
• These measures were informed by discussions with Indigenous groups, environmental and industry stakeholders, and the B.C. and U.S. governments, as well as input from the public.
• Canada will continue to work with key partners and stakeholders to protect this iconic species.

Background

• The mandate letter to Minister Jordan emphasized a number of key points relevant to Southern Resident killer whale recovery. These include: protecting our coastline and marine species at-risk and the use of good scientific evidence and traditional Indigenous knowledge when making decisions affecting ecosystem management.
• The SRKW is considered to be at risk because of its small population size, low reproductive rate, and the existence of a variety of anthropogenic threats that have the potential to prevent recovery or to cause further declines. In May 2018, Ministers of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard and the Minister of Environment and Climate Change determined that Southern Resident Killer Whales are facing imminent threats to their survival and recovery.
• Over the past year, there have been three calves born: L125 (February 2021), J57 (September 2020, and J58 (September 2020). With these births, the Southern Resident Killer Whale population is up to 75 individuals.
• In April 2021, the Government of Canada announced a suite of management measures. Fishery management measures include closures to help increase the availability of Chinook salmon and decrease vessel disturbance in key Southern Resident killer whale foraging (feeding) areas in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Gulf Islands within Southern Resident killer whale critical habitat. Area based fishing closures for commercial and recreational salmon will be in place in a portion of Swiftsure Bank from July 16 to October 31, 2021 and in the Strait of Juan de Fuca from August 1 to October 31, 2021.
• For 2021, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) will be piloting a new fishing closure protocol for the southern Gulf Islands recreational and commercial salmon fisheries, whereby fishery closures are triggered by the first confirmed presence of Southern Resident killer whales in the area.
• To further reduce noise and physical disturbance from vessels in portions of Southern Resident killer whale foraging areas, Interim Sanctuary Zones will be in effect from June 1 to November 30, 2021. Vessel traffic will be prohibited in a portion of Swiftsure Bank and off North Pender and Saturna Islands as per the Interim Order enacted under the Canada Shipping Act. To address vessel disturbance in the presence of whales, a mandatory 400-metre vessel approach distance for all killer whales is in effect until May 31, 2022 in southern BC coastal waters between Campbell River and just north of Ucluelet.

Science

Risk assessments for open-net pens

• My department is committed to the conservation and protection of our wild salmon.
• My department conducts regular monitoring of marine finfish aquaculture operations in BC to ensure compliance with fish health management plans.
• The risk to Fraser River sockeye salmon of nine pathogens, including the agent causing mouthrot, from Atlantic salmon farms located in the Discovery Islands area was determined to be minimal under current farm practices following reviews by domestic and international scientists and veterinarians.
• The Department's peer review process is transparent and ensures that the weight of evidence is used to generate advice. Uncertainty is also considered.
• The Department continues to put in place measures to ensure that sea lice from salmon farms present no more than a minimal impact on wild salmon.
• As new information becomes available, my department will continue to review and incorporate the information as part of its adaptive management process.

Background

• As the regulator of the aquaculture industry in BC, DFO requires operators of marine finfish facilities to follow a Health Management Plan designed to encompass all aspects of fish health management in order to minimize the risk of disease, parasites and pathogens to farmed fish and their transfer to wild species.

Risk Assessments, including Tenacibaculum maritimum (Mouthrot)

• The Department completed nine peer-reviewed, scientific risk assessments to determine the impact of interactions between wild migrating Fraser River salmon and pathogens from Atlantic salmon farms in the Discovery Islands:
• Aeromonas salmonicida (furunculosis); Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV); Moritella viscosa (winter ulcer); Piscine orthoreovirus (PRV); Piscirickettsia salmonis (salmonid rickettsial septicaemia); Renibacterium salmoninarum (bacterial kidney disease); Tenacibaculum maritimum (mouthrot); Viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV); and, Yersinia ruckeri (enteric redmouth).
• Scientific risk assessments estimate the likelihood of events to take place and the severity of the potential impacts on the environment. The results of these assessments concluded that the transfer of these pathogens pose minimal risk to abundance and diversity of migrating Fraser River Sockeye salmon.
• Tenacibaculum maritimum is a bacterium with global distribution that occurs naturally in the marine environment. Under some conditions, the bacterium may cause a disease called "mouth rot" or "yellow mouth" in farmed Atlantic salmon in BC. Mouth rot is a treatable disease for farmed Atlantic salmon. This bacterium has not been demonstrated to cause disease in wild Pacific salmon.

Sea lice

• Sea lice are naturally occurring parasites that have lived in coastal waters for thousands of years. While sea lice generally do not harm adult fish, they can harm small juvenile salmon. Farmed fish are free of sea lice when they enter the ocean but can pick them up in the marine environment. If not properly managed, sea lice levels will become elevated and wild juvenile salmon can be exposed to higher than natural levels during the spring out-migration period.
• The Department requires sea lice management, treatment, and mitigation measures at farms when sea lice levels are high.
• The Department has been conducting research on sea lice and its interactions with farmed and wild salmon for many years. In addition, there is an extensive body of science knowledge and research on sea lice that has been, and is currently being, conducted by many researchers internationally.

Aquaculture

Aquaculture Act

• My department continues to move forward in developing Canada's first-ever Aquaculture Act.
• The proposed Act will provide more clarity and certainty for the sector, respect existing jurisdictions, and foster a nationally consistent legislative framework, taking into account regional differences.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada's latest round of online engagement on the Act closed in February 2021. Targeted, virtual engagement sessions were held with key partners throughout the fall and winter.
• DFO's engagement with Indigenous peoples continues, and we are committed to ongoing partnership and dialogue with Indigenous peoples, which will be essential to the successful development and implementation of the Act.

If pressed on timing for introduction of the Act in Parliament…

• We will keep Canadians, and our stakeholders, informed as work on the Act progresses. Tabling in Parliament will follow the completion of engagement, Cabinet consideration, and drafting of legislation.

Background

• Your mandate letter includes a commitment to begin work to introduce Canada's first-ever Aquaculture Act. This builds upon the December 2018 Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers announcement supporting federal aquaculture legislation of "limited scope that respects federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdictions, and provides greater clarity to the sector."
• The latest round of engagement was launched on August 17, 2020, and closed in February 2021, anchored by a discussion paper and a "What We Heard" report summarizing preliminary engagement which took place between 2017 and 2019. In addition, the Department organized 27 targeted, virtual engagement sessions with key partners in the fall and winter of 2020, including provinces/territories, stakeholders, and ENGOs.
• Indigenous engagement is at an early stage. The Department has held preliminary virtual sessions with Indigenous partners across the country, and will continue engagement through 2021/22.

Sea lice

• My department is committed to the conservation and protection of our wild salmon.
• My department strives to minimize and mitigate the impacts of sea lice on wild salmon.
• The Department has been conducting research on sea lice for many years and draws on science from a range of sources, including internal and external research, in pursuit of its goal to restore and revive wild Pacific salmon.
• In 2020 we made changes to aquaculture licence conditions that strengthened our ability to enforce sea lice management conditions. Further consultation and science advice is being sought to inform additional changes that could be incorporated during the 2022 licencing renewal process.

Background

• Sea lice are naturally occurring parasites that have lived in coastal waters for thousands of years. While sea lice generally do not harm adult fish, they can harm small juvenile salmon, as they can emerge from river systems when they are quite small and without complete scale development for protection.
• Farmed fish are free of sea lice when they enter the ocean but can pick them up in the marine environment. If not properly managed, sea lice levels will become elevated and wild juvenile salmon can be exposed to higher than natural levels during the spring out-migration period.
• The extensive body of literature on sea lice is constantly evolving, and the Department continues research in this area. The Department uses the weight of evidence approach, incorporating internal and external scientific information to develop science advice for management decision making. The information is publicly available on the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat website. As new information becomes available, the Department remains open to reviewing and incorporating the information as part of its adaptive management process.
• The Department's overall management of sea lice and fish health on farms is adaptive and revised as new evidence emerges. In BC, where Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is the lead regulator, any evidence of population-level harm resulting from salmon farms would result in an investigation and possible charges.
• On February 28, 2020, DFO issued updated licences to marine aquaculture finfish operators in BC. These updates were made to increase enforceability of licence conditions for the purpose of addressing wild fish conservation. Further consultation and science advice is being sought to inform additional changes that will be incorporated during the 2022 licensing renewal process.

Discovery Islands

• The decision on the intention to phase out fish farms by June 2022 in the Discovery Islands was not an easy one. It was made taking into consideration recent consultations, including those with the seven First Nations in the Discovery Islands. This decision does not apply to farms outside the Discovery Islands.
• We will continue to work with partners and key stakeholders to advance sustainable aquaculture in British Columbia.
• We will continue to review all requests to transfer fish to sites in the Discovery Islands with an open mind, considering all relevant information.

If pressed on the matter of compensation for workers:

• The Government of Canada offers various transition support programs for workers, such as income support and training.

Background

• Following consultations with the seven First Nations in the Discovery Islands area, as announced on December 17, 2020, the intention is to phase out existing salmon farming facilities in the area over the next 18 months. The announcement also indicated no new fish of any size may be introduced into Discovery Islands facilities during this time and all farms must be free of fish by June 30, 2022.
• Consultations with the Holmalco, Klahoose, K'ómoks, Kwiakah, Tla'amin, We Wai Kai, and Wei Wai Kum First Nations in the Discovery Islands area heavily informed the decision. This approach aligns with the provincial commitment that, effective June 2022, the Province will grant Land Act tenures only to fish farm operators who have negotiated agreements with the First Nation(s) in whose territory they propose to operate.
• On April 5, 2021, the Federal Court granted an interlocutory injunction that prevents the Department from taking into account the aspect of the December 17, 2020 policy announcement that ceases the transfer of fish to aquaculture facilities in the Discovery Islands. The injunction does not mean that the Department must allow the transfer of fish; however, all decisions on fish transfers must be made with an open mind, be based on relevant considerations and cannot take into consideration the December 17 policy on fish transfers.
• Marine finfish aquaculture licences across British Columbia expire in 2022. Engagement is currently underway to develop new conditions of licence which would be implemented when existing licences expire and new licences are issued. With the exception of the Discovery Islands, where licences have been renewed annually in recent years, licences across the rest of British Columbia are renewed every six years. Any requests to extend licences in the Discovery Islands will be dealt with separately from the larger renewal process. If any licence extension is granted by the Minister in the Discovery Islands, the updated conditions of licence (applicable province-wide) would be adopted through an agreement with the operator.

Reconciliation

Food, social and ceremonial access

• Our government is committed to help advance self-determination, close socio-economic gaps and eliminate systemic barriers facing Indigenous peoples.
• Officials within my department are working with First Nations at treaty and reconciliation tables to advance Aboriginal and treaty rights and interests based on the recognition of rights, respect, cooperation and partnership.
• First Nations in British Columbia have told us that ensuring access to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes is critical for their communities, and are seeking a greater role in the management of their fisheries to determine their needs and address their commercial interests.
• This is a complex issue that must balance multiple factors, including Indigenous rights and interests, commercial and recreational fishery interests, and broader conservation objectives.

Background

• Your 2021 supplementary ministerial mandate letter asks you to "play a role in helping to advance self-determination, close socio-economic gaps and eliminate systemic barriers facing First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples."
• There are six First Nations engaged in treaty negotiations at the BC6 treaty tables and 21 groups representing over 50 communities at the Recognition of Indigenous Rights and Self-Determination tables.
• In 1990, the Supreme Court of Canada issued the landmark Sparrow decision. This decision found that the Musqueam First Nation has an Aboriginal right to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes. The Supreme Court found that where an Aboriginal group has a right to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes, it takes priority, after conservation, over other uses of the resource. The Supreme Court also indicated the importance of consulting with Aboriginal groups when their fishing rights might be affected.
• In response to the Sparrow decision, and to provide stable fishery management, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) launched the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy (AFS) in 1992. The AFS is applicable where DFO manages the fishery and where land claims settlements have not already put a fisheries management regime in place.
• Where DFO reaches agreement with an Aboriginal group, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans will issue a licence to the group that reflects the agreement reached.
• The right to fish for food, social, ceremonial (FSC) and Treaty purposes is protected across Canada. It is also a collective right, not an individual one, and so the FSC fishing licence is issued to the community. The First Nation may then designate some of its members to fish under the First Nation's licence.
• Under an FSC licence, Indigenous harvesters are permitted to catch what is needed for themselves and/or their community for food, social and ceremonial purposes. Under the current policy, fish harvested for these purposes cannot be sold.
• Contribution funding issued under the AFS also supports groups to build and maintain the technical capacity to manage and exercise their own FSC fisheries, including activities carried out by Aboriginal Fishery Guardians, such as monitoring and enforcement, science and technical fieldwork, and community engagement and education.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

• The Government of Canada introduced Bill C-15, The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, on December 3, 2020. Introducing legislation to advance full implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration) is a key step in renewing the Government of Canada's relationship with Indigenous peoples.
• Every day, my department works with Indigenous peoples across Canada through well-established processes that promote partnership in decision-making and management activities. Through these collaborations, the Department strives to advance reconciliation, including upholding the Declaration.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada recognizes that fisheries, oceans, aquatic habitat, and marine waterways are economically and culturally significant for Indigenous peoples. The sustainable use of the fishery resource, the protection of fish and fish habitat, the conservation and management of our oceans, and through the Canadian Coast Guard, the safety of those on the water and the protection of the marine environment, are shared priorities held in common with Indigenous peoples in Canada and the Department.
• DFO is committed to recognizing and implementing Aboriginal and treaty rights, including those related to fisheries, oceans, aquatic habitat, and marine waterways, in a manner that is consistent with section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, the Declaration, and the Principles Respecting the Government of Canada's Relationship with Indigenous Peoples.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada is also committed to advancing relationships with Indigenous communities and organizations, and is working to modernize and strengthen structures within the department to support Indigenous capacity building, as well as Indigenous peoples' vision of self-determination. To this end, my department has developed a Reconciliation Strategy which is a whole-of-department, long-term evergreen approach to advancing meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in the areas of fisheries, oceans, aquatic habitat, and marine waterways.
• As with reconciliation, all of us will need to work together to implement and breathe life into the Declaration in Canada.

Background

• The Government of Canada upheld its commitment to introduce legislation co-developed with Indigenous peoples to implement the Declaration by the end of 2020.
• Your December 2019 mandate letter includes several commitments (e.g., blue economy strategy, co-management of oceans, marine conservation targets, new aquaculture legislation, management of aquatic ecosystems and fish stocks) that reference the inclusion of Indigenous peoples and Indigenous Knowledge in the management of fisheries, oceans, and freshwater resources. Your January 2021 supplementary mandate letter reiterates the blue economy strategy commitment and includes a commitment to bring forward a Pacific Salmon Strategy (in close collaboration with First Nations).
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)-Canadian Coast Guard's Reconciliation Strategy, released on the DFO website on September 6, 2019, commits the Department to recognizing and implementing Indigenous and treaty rights in fisheries, oceans, aquatic habitat, and marine waterways in a manner consistent with, among other things, the Declaration.

Ahousaht (Five Nuu-chah-nulth) First Nations

• Canada is working collaboratively with the five Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations (Five Nations) to advance reconciliation in the area of collaborative governance, increased fishing access, and a community based fishery.
• DFO signed an Incremental Agreement with the Five Nations on September 10, 2019, and continues to work closely with them on a comprehensive Reconciliation Agreement for Fisheries Resources.
• In consultation with the Five Nations and others, DFO recently developed the third annual fishery management plan for the Five Nations' multi-species rights-based fishery for the 2021-22 fishing season.
• The recent decision of the BC Court of Appeal that was released on April 19, 2021, will require time to properly review. In light of this, the Department will be considering and reviewing the Five Nations' Fishery Management Plan.

Background

• In a decision dated November 3, 2009, the Supreme Court of British Columbia (BCSC) found that the Plaintiffs, five Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations on the west coast of Vancouver Island, have an Aboriginal right to fish and sell any species of fish (excluding geoduck) within their court-defined fishing territories [which extend offshore 9 miles]. The BCSC also found that DFO's regulatory regime for commercial fisheries generally infringed that right, but declined to rule on whether the infringement of the right was justified. The Court instead directed the parties to first attempt to negotiate implementation of the right. In 2014, the Five Nations initiated a return to the BCSC before a second trial judge on Canada's justification of infringements on their rights. The resulting decision, released on April 19, 2018, provided further interpretation of the scope and scale of the Aboriginal right of the Five Nations. The Five Nations appealed the April 2018 BCSC decision. The appeal was heard in February 2019 and the decision was released on April 19, 2021. The British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) agreed with the BCSC that Canada had not failed in its duty to consult and negotiate. However, the BCCA found that the second trial judge was not entitled to reduce the scope of the right that had been declared by the first trial judge. Ultimately, the BCCA made a few specific modifications to the Trial Order and otherwise upheld a number of the judge's findings regarding allocations and that the steps taken by DFO to implement the right either do not infringe or are justified infringements.
• The parties have been in negotiations and, at the request of the Five Nations, a new negotiation process was launched in March 2017. The Five Nations and federal officials completed a Framework Agreement on December 21, 2017, in order to initiate and guide the negotiation of a reconciliation agreement. The Five Nations and Canada signed an Incremental Reconciliation Agreement for Fisheries Resources (IRAFR) on September 10, 2019 to provide more focus to the continuing negotiations. Canada and the Five Nations are currently meeting on a regular basis to negotiate a comprehensive Reconciliation Agreement for Fisheries Resources (RAFR) that includes, but is not limited to, increasing fishery access, a community based fishery and collaborative governance.
• Following consultations with the Five Nations and relevant stakeholders, DFO released the first multi-species Fishery Management Plan (FMP) for Five Nations' right-based sale fishery of salmon, groundfish, crab, and prawn on March 31, 2019 for the 2019-20 season. An updated FMP has been released every year since then. Five Nations have brought a civil claim in the BCSC (and a separate judicial review application before the Federal Court of Canada, which is in abeyance) to challenge various aspects of the 2019-20 FMP. DFO conducts a post-season review and undergoes pre-season planning for fisheries under the FMP annually. A new FMP comes into effect in April of each year.
• Right-based sale fisheries are ongoing for salmon, groundfish, crab, prawn and gooseneck barnacles with other fisheries opened on May 14, 2021.
• A Reconciliation Funding Agreement (RA) was in place for 2019-20 and 2020-21. The purpose of the RA is to support the Five Nations in the formation of the Ha'oom Fisheries Society and provide pre-implementation support towards aspects of the RAFR including: i) collaborative governance (including monitoring costs); ii) increased fisheries access; iii) community fishery (including 7.2 million grant for asserted foregone fishery opportunities); and, iv) capacity building. A subsequent RA is in the process of being developed for 2021-22.

Other issues

Foreign ownership

• Stakeholders have expressed concerns regarding the potential presence of foreign ownership in Canadian fisheries and we are taking steps to gather additional data to inform an ongoing policy review.
• We are taking immediate measures to prevent opportunistic investment behaviours on the East Coast. My department will now ensure that corporations that acquire licences meet the requirement to be at least 51 per cent Canadian owned.
• We are also working with federal accounting experts to assist with gathering baseline data on beneficial ownership of licence holders in Pacific and Atlantic fisheries.
• Although Fisheries and Oceans Canada will increase efforts to know who is benefitting from our Canadian fisheries, careful consideration of the potential impacts on existing licence holders and Canada's international trade agreements are required before any policy changes are introduced.

Background

• The Department has contracted the Forensic Accounting Management Group, under Public Services and Procurement Canada, to develop a survey that will identify where beneficial ownership lies amongst licence holders, validate stakeholder concerns, and contribute to baseline data. The intent is to distribute the survey to all licence holders on the West coast, as well as all mid-shore, offshore, and exempted fleet fisheries in the Quebec and Atlantic regions. The information gathered from this survey will contribute to Fisheries and Oceans Canada's (DFO's) ongoing analysis of foreign ownership in Canadian fisheries and inform potential policy solutions. Careful consideration of the potential impacts of any changes to DFO's licensing policies will be required before long-term changes can be introduced.
• DFO has informed key stakeholders that it is committed to strengthening the current application of its foreign ownership restrictions in Atlantic Canada. This commitment has become more prominent in light of the pandemic and concerns around companies needing to divest. Under the Interim Foreign Ownership Measures, the 49 per cent foreign ownership limit will be applied to the full corporate structure of prospective licence holders for all future licence re-issuances in the mid-shore, offshore, and exempted fleet fisheries in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, where this policy applies
• With regard to the ongoing pandemic, DFO is working to ensure that impacts on independent licence holders are minimized and that the current crisis does not result in increased corporate control or foreign control. The Department is continuing to implement regulatory amendments that apply on the East Coast that strengthen key elements of the inshore policies and prohibit third parties from taking over the beneficial interest of fishing licences in exchange for capital investments.
• The issue of foreign ownership of Canadian companies, and Canadian fishing corporations specifically, was highlighted as part of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans' report "West Coast Fisheries: Sharing Risks and Benefits." The report recommended that "no future sales of fishing quota and/or licences be to nonCanadian beneficial owners." DFO has since initiated an analysis of its existing foreign ownership policies and the impacts of any potential changes to its policies. DFO lacks some of the data required to validate stakeholder concerns of increased foreign ownership and is working to gather the necessary data as part of the ongoing analysis.

West Coast licencing review

• Our Government is committed to supporting the economic viability and sustainability of Pacific commercial fisheries and is committed to continued improvements in managing fisheries on the West Coast.
• My Department has begun early engagement with First Nations and key stakeholders in British Columbia to identify priority commercial fisheries management and licencing concerns to further inform options to address these issues.
• A comparative analysis of Atlantic and Pacific commercial fishing policies and regulations was conducted. The final report was made publically available on March 25, 2021.
• A review of the information Fisheries and Oceans Canada makes publicly available about licence and quota transactions is also ongoing, in order to better understand privacy and technical requirements necessary to establish a public licence and quota registry.
• We are committed to exploring with key stakeholders the dynamics of possible changes to fisheries management in Pacific Region.

Background

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has contracted a review of the information we make publicly available about licence and quota transactions. The review will identify whether additional data can be made public, confirm privacy constraints, and identify the technical requirements for our data systems to make more information available. The contractor is expected to deliver a summary report by May 31, 2021 for DFO's review. The information will be used to inform potential policy solutions to the challenges facing commercial harvesters in Pacific region. Careful consideration of the potential impacts of any change to Pacific licensing policies will be required before any long-term changes are introduced.
• The Department contracted Gardner Pinfold to conduct a comparative analysis of Atlantic and Pacific commercial fishing policies and regulations in response to the Standing Committee of Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO) recommendations. The final comparative analysis report was made publically available March 25th, 2021.
• The comparative analysis by Gardner-Pinfold found that implementing Atlantic-style policies on the Pacific coast would present a variety of challenges. The report highlights some key elements of both east and west coast policy regimes, citing impacts of quota leasing on the Pacific coast, as well as the difficulties associated with maintaining the owner-operator, fleet separation, and Policy for Preserving the Independence of Inshore Fleet in Canada's Atlantic Fisheries (PIIFCAF) policies in the Atlantic Inshore fishery. The report will be used to inform engagement with Indigenous groups and commercial fishery stakeholders on the issues raised in FOPO's report West Coast Fisheries: Sharing Risks and Benefits.
• DFO continues to advance work to support the response to the FOPO report. The Department is presently engaged in a review of its fisheries management policies on the west coast and has begun seeking initial input from First Nations and stakeholders on key issues. Further engagement is planned through a series of meetings and workshops in 2021. These meetings are intended to support the development of recommendations to address key socio-economic issues throughout the industry.

International Seabed Authority and deep-sea mining

• Our Government is actively engaged internationally to advance marine conservation.
• As a member of the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, Canada is committed to the Panel's 2030 outcome of sufficient knowledge and regulations being in place to ensure any activity related to seabed mining is informed by science and is ecologically sustainable.
• This includes ensuring that the regulations for seabed mineral mining, under development by the International Seabed Authority, provide effective protection of marine environments.
• Canada's primary objective is to ensure robust regulations are in place to prevent damage to fragile ocean ecosystems. We are supporting a precautionary approach to the regulations by promoting the participation of developing countries and Canadian scientists and experts in the research programs and science workshops of the ISA.

Background

• Canada is actively engaged in the drafting of exploitation regulations for seabed mineral mining under development by the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
• Stakeholder interest in the process has increased and the Government of Canada has recently received a letter regarding deep seabed mining from MiningWatch Canada and Oceans North.
• The letter calls on Canada to advocate for a moratorium on deep seabed mining, on the issuing of new exploration licenses and on the adoption by the ISA of regulations for exploitation, until a clear set of environmental and social conditions is met.
• Canada engages in the drafting of the exploitation regulations and work of the ISA based on our responsibilities as party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
• The Prime Minister, as member of the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, has endorsed the Panel's recommendation to apply the precautionary approach, the ecosystem approach, and the use of best available science in the development of the exploitation regulations.

The International Seabed Authority (ISA)

• The ISA is an autonomous international organization in the United Nations common system through which States Parties to UNCLOS organize and control activities in "the Area" (defined as the seabed and subsoil beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, and its "resources" as all solid, liquid, or gaseous mineral resources in situ in the Area at or beneath the seabed).
• Canada is a Party to UNCLOS and thus a member of the ISA. The Assembly is the principal organ of the ISA, composed of all 168 ISA Member States. Canada is also an elected member of the ISA's 36-member Council, which is the executive organ of the Assembly and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and adopting the various parts of the ISA Mining Code.
• The ISA is currently in the process of developing exploitation regulations that would permit commercial seabed mining in the Area (Mining Code). Any entity interested in carrying out commercial seabed mining must be sponsored by an ISA Member State.

Drafting of the Exploitation Regulations (Mining Code)

• The current draft of the regulations on the exploitation regime is a detailed and technical document, calling upon a variety of areas of expertise and practical knowledge. The draft includes sections addressing: production practices; environmental protection measures; inspections and enforcement; the financial terms of a contract and payment mechanism (i.e. the royalty scheme); and the regulations and procedures on the equitable sharing of financial and other economic benefits derived from exploitation activities in the Area.
• Canada has endorsed a position on seabed mining through its involvement in the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (HLP) which has released recommendations including supporting strong environmental protections and the precautionary approach to development of the exploitation regulations.
• Canada will promote strong environmental protections in relation to seabed mining production that are based on science and ensure the effective protection of the marine environment and biodiversity, which could include rigorous inspection and enforcement mechanisms that uphold standards of transparency and accountability for contractors.
• Canada is also in support of the HLP's recommendation to slow the process of transitioning from exploration to exploitation, and allow more time for scientific study, and appropriate scientific input into regulations and decision-making, including the development of environmental goals and objectives, and identification of science-based indicators and thresholds.

Stakeholder Interest in the Exploitation Regulations

• There is growing media coverage of companies aggressively pursuing the production of the minerals necessary to supply the growth of green tech industries. As an ISA Member State, Canada does not currently sponsor, nor is seeking to sponsor in the future, any commercial seabed mining. However, The Metals Company (former called DeepGreen), a company with headquarters in British Columbia, is currently sponsored by the Republic of Nauru, the Republic of Kiribati and the Kingdom of Tonga and is likely to be one of the first companies to engage in commercial seabed mining once regulations are finalized.
• In February of 2021, a letter regarding deep seabed mining was sent from MiningWatch Canada and Oceans North to Ministers from Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). The letter calls on Canada to advocate for a moratorium on deep seabed mining, on the issuing of new exploration licenses and on the adoption by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) of regulations for exploitation, until a clear set of environmental and social conditions is met.
• Calls for a moratorium are also coming globally from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including through a motion (motion #069) at the upcoming International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress, and through individual reports from NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Major companies have also become involved, with Google, BMW, Volvo and Samsung all signing the WWF statement calling for a moratorium on seabed mining until environmental impacts are thoroughly understood.