This House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans meeting, held on November 6, 2025, continued its study on the review of the Fisheries Act, hearing from five witnesses: fisherman Jimmy Lee Foss, former fishery officer Randy Nelson, Maritime Gaspereau Industry Association President Jeramy Boudreau, Brazil Rock 33/34 Lobster Association Executive Director Daniel J. Fleck, and Canadian Centre for Fisheries Innovation Managing Director Keith Hutchings.
Jimmy Lee Foss described being headhunted by a major processor to purchase a fishing enterprise while he was still in bankruptcy, resulting in a controlling agreement that left him unable to manage his own business or finances. He stated that the Fisheries Act has sufficient provisions to protect the owner-operator principle but that enforcement is completely lacking, alleging that upper management at DFO worked against its own investigation team and that political interference at a high level prevented charges from being laid. He recommended that the quota belong to fishermen, not merchants, and warned that corporate concentration is the greatest threat to the inshore small-boat fishery.
Randy Nelson recommended eight specific changes to strengthen enforcement, including designating fishery officers as full-time peace officers, adding them to 25-year early retirement eligibility, reducing the organizational structure so enforcement officers report only to those with enforcement experience, and establishing a committee with direct access to officers to ensure unfiltered information reaches the minister. He argued that the biggest problem is structural, with managers who lack enforcement experience making decisions for enforcement staff, and that budgets are continually pared down, leaving the Fraser River with fewer officers than 50 years ago. He disagreed with the minister's characterization of rampant racism among fishery officers, calling it an untrue statement that crushed morale and created dangerous situations.
Jeramy Boudreau testified that while section 34 of the Fisheries Act clearly mandates free fish passage, there is no enforcement, citing a 2022 incident where hundreds of thousands of gaspereau died due to ineffective fish ladders at Nova Scotia Power dams with no charges ever laid. He recommended adding a definition to section 34 that sets a maximum timeline for compliance based on a fish's life cycle, and making it mandatory for the minister to take charge of an obstruction if the owner does not comply. He noted that enforcement is severely understaffed, with only six to eight officers covering all of southwest Nova Scotia, and that illegal fishing goes unchecked because officers are often "houred out" and unable to respond.
Daniel J. Fleck recommended four amendments to the Fisheries Act: legal entrenchment of the owner-operator and fleet separation policies to prevent corporatization, designation of the fishery as a strategic national asset, mandatory integration of harvester knowledge into DFO science through formal comanagement advisory panels, and a single commercial licensing policy for Atlantic Canada to prevent the corporatization of indigenous communal licences. He stated that the act needs to be opened and revised, disagreeing with witnesses who said only enforcement is needed, and alleged that strong cases prepared by officers are being turned down by the Public Prosecution Service due to political interference. He attributed a recent de-escalation of tensions in southwest Nova Scotia to a change in leadership at the top of government.
Keith Hutchings focused on the need to maximize the economic value of Canada's seafood industry through innovation, technology adoption and applied research, proposing the establishment of a Canadian fisheries and aquaculture industry network to facilitate collaboration across the country. He emphasized that while resource sustainability is paramount, the act should also ensure maximum value extraction from seafood resources, and noted that industry players consistently report they are not being properly consulted by DFO on resource management decisions. He agreed that enforcement is fundamental and that anyone breaking the law should be prosecuted.
During questioning, members explored the disconnect between DFO's enforcement capacity and the act's provisions, with multiple witnesses citing political interference, underfunding and structural issues as barriers to enforcement. Alexis Deschênes gave notice of a motion to add at least three additional meetings and invite fishery officers, the Conservation and Protection Directorate, the Deputy Minister, RCMP and Coast Guard representatives to examine law enforcement barriers. Mel Arnold moved a motion, which received unanimous support, to invite the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development to appear for a two-hour meeting on his report titled "Establishing Marine Protected Areas," with that testimony to be included in the committee's upcoming study of marine and coastal protections.
AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.