Fisheries and Oceans

This House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans meeting, held on February 23, 2026, continued its study of marine and coastal protections. The committee heard from Doug Mavin, a commercial harvester; Colin Sproul, President of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen's Association; Glenn Kierce, General Manager of Coast Tsimshian Fish Plant Ltd.; Philippe Archambault, Scientific Director of ArcticNet; and Catherine Rigg and James Nickerson, owners of Atlas Ocean Tours.

Doug Mavin, a fourth-generation commercial fisherman from British Columbia, testified that the marine protected area (MPA) process in the northern shelf bioregion has disregarded industry efforts, including a 2019 industry-developed plan that met conservation targets while reducing impacts by 75%. He stated that fishing grounds are shrinking due to MPAs, rockfish closures, glass sponge reef closures, bycatch rules, and First Nations' demands, leading to congestion, reduced productivity, and increased costs. Mavin recommended that the department adopt the industry's collaborative plan and argued that the lack of opportunity, not resource health, is driving young people away from fishing, ending his family's generational legacy.

Colin Sproul, representing the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen's Association, expressed significant concerns about MPA development, stating that areas of interest were identified without fulsome consultation and encompass the most economically important fishing grounds for his members. He criticized the influence of foreign-funded environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and academics, alleging they move between roles as regulators, scientists, and lobbyists, and called for a pause on MPA development to rebuild trust. Sproul recommended removing ENGOs from management tables, requiring transparency on their funding, and restarting the process by asking industry for input on both economically important and ecologically sensitive areas, disagreeing with the premise that MPAs are needed to protect Canadian oceans from fishing.

Glenn Kierce, from the Lax Kw'alaams First Nation, stated that the northern shelf bioregion MPA process includes only 17 of 204 First Nations, leaving many voices unheard and risking nation-to-nation tensions. He noted that the groundfish trawl fishery already operates on less than 6% of the B.C. coast with a permanent footprint and is Marine Stewardship Council-certified, yet the MPA proposes removing access to an additional 27% of trawl areas. Kierce warned that further closures would create congestion, safety risks, and operational inefficiencies, and could decimate indigenous coastal communities like Lax Kw'alaams, where his fish plant employs up to 170 people and is the only First Nations groundfish-processing facility on the north coast.

Philippe Archambault, a professor and scientific director, argued that marine protected areas are like a savings account, where protected spawning fish (capital) support surrounding fisheries (interest), and that international science shows fish biomass can be two to five times higher inside highly protected areas. He stated that the effectiveness of MPAs is measured by regulatory compliance, ecological monitoring, and adaptive management, not just size, and recommended an independent fisheries assessment agency to improve transparency and trust. Archambault also noted that in the Arctic, MPAs serve as a structuring instrument of state presence and sovereignty, and he supported compensation for fishers during the lag time before MPAs produce benefits, disagreeing with earlier witnesses who rejected compensation.

Catherine Rigg and James Nickerson, tourism operators on Haida Gwaii, testified that the overall state of the ocean is in decline and that coastal communities generally favour marine protection. Rigg stated that in the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, fishing is allowed in over half the area, and the fishing sector was the most consulted group during the zoning process, with impacts minimized to below 10% of commercial fisheries. She recommended that DFO lead ocean conservation, provide sufficient resources for monitoring, and partner with First Nations, arguing that reversing course on protection would set back progress by decades, and disagreed with the characterization of MPAs as a threat to fisheries.

During the meeting, a motion was passed directing the clerk to resend the committee's request for the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to appear for the study, as no response had been received.