Fisheries and Oceans

This House of Commons committee meeting was part of a study reviewing the Fisheries Act. Witnesses included Leigh Fox, an advisor with the RAD Network; Peter German, president of the Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute; and four Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) officials: Adam Burns, Peter Lambertucci, Bernard Vigneault, and Kate Ladell.

Leigh Fox, representing the RAD Network, recommended four changes to the Fisheries Act: returning to a net gain objective for fish habitat, allowing third-party habitat banking, permitting fees in lieu of offsets, and addressing cumulative habitat loss from small projects. He argued that indigenous-led habitat banking and stewardship could create regulatory efficiency, lower DFO monitoring costs, and provide permanent habitat outcomes, while also respecting indigenous rights.

Peter German stated that weak enforcement capacity, organized crime involvement, and money laundering pose serious threats to fisheries conservation and public safety. He recommended strengthening enforcement capacity, improving inter-agency cooperation with the RCMP and FINTRAC, creating a beneficial ownership registry for licences and quotas, and developing proactive enforcement tools, noting that fines are often treated as a cost of doing business by criminals.

Adam Burns, assistant deputy minister, outlined DFO’s ongoing work under the 2019 Fisheries Act changes, including reviewing east coast inshore regulations to strengthen owner-operator policies, developing digital licensing solutions, and streamlining project reviews under the Building Canada Act. He said the department is advancing reconciliation through co-management agreements and the United Nations declaration act action plan.

Peter Lambertucci, national chief enforcement officer, said DFO enforcement is evidence-based and intelligence-supported, with officer safety as a priority. He stated that law enforcement independence is free from political interference, that decisions are not based on ethnicity, and that he would welcome fisheries officers testifying before the committee without fear of reprisal. He noted that resources have been reduced in prior years but that the department now has approximately 700 fishery officers and can redeploy resources to priority areas.

Bernard Vigneault, director general of ecosystem science, said that from a scientific perspective, lobster stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence remain healthy based on landing indices, but that a significant increase in unreported landings could impact the population over time. He noted that DFO science advises monitoring and best practices for offsetting, regardless of the management mechanism chosen.

Kate Ladell, director general of ecosystems management, said the department is working on coherent implementation of fish habitat protection provisions and that an interdepartmental task force led by ISED is reviewing options for the transition of aquaculture in British Columbia, having held over 120 meetings and roundtables.

During questioning, Peter German disagreed with the proposal for a new federal financial crime agency, arguing that properly resourcing the RCMP would be more effective. He also noted that fish quotas and boat sales are not reportable to FINTRAC, which eliminates an important intelligence source.

The committee discussed procedural matters, including a request from Alexis Deschênes for DFO to provide data on enforcement reports, investigations, sanctions, and operational guidelines for food, social, and ceremonial lobster fishing, which Peter Lambertucci agreed to provide in writing.