Fisheries and Oceans

This House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans meeting, the 33rd of its study on Atlantic mackerel and Atlantic herring fisheries, heard from four witnesses: Barry Darby, a former harvester and retired educator appearing as an individual; Dylan MacIntyre, a fisherman from Prince Edward Island appearing as an individual; Dr. Erin Carruthers, senior fisheries scientist for the Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union; and Martin Mallet, executive director of the Maritime Fishermen's Union.

Barry Darby argued that the current science and management of mackerel and herring stocks are severely limited by three factors: inherent uncertainties in measuring stock biomass, a confusion between measuring catches in tonnes and managing the activity of fishing, and a false assumption that humans can rebuild stocks. He recommended that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans shift from output controls like quotas to input-based management, which regulates fishing gear, its amount, who uses it, and where and when it is used, citing the success of this approach in Newfoundland and Labrador's lobster fishery.

Dylan MacIntyre testified that the closure of the mackerel fishery has been financially crippling, as he previously relied on catching his own bait for about 75 cents a pound, whereas he now must buy imported bait costing between $2 and $3 a pound. He stated that fishermen see an abundance of mackerel on the water and that a 200-metric-tonne bait fishery last summer was caught in just three days, and he recommended reopening the fishery, noting that the United States recently increased its quota.

Erin Carruthers stated that harvesters in Newfoundland and Labrador continue to report an abundance of mackerel, with 90% of respondents in a recent union survey saying mackerel are more abundant than five years ago, based on observations of the extent, timing and duration of schools. She identified a key problem in reconciling this with the DFO stock assessment, which places the stock in the critical zone, and suggested that the egg survey used to estimate spawning stock biomass may be missing mackerel that spawn in Newfoundland waters, recommending collaborative projects with harvesters to develop better indices of biomass.

Martin Mallet argued that the mackerel and herring fishery closure was unjustified and that harvesters are now forced to import bait from countries with less stringent management. He recommended that the committee urge the minister to reopen the fishery as soon as possible, that a co-management agreement with the United States be established, that sustainable capture methods be prioritized in a reopened commercial fishery, and that a sentinel fishery for spring herring be implemented to collect scientific data. He also called for the precautionary approach framework to be re-evaluated to integrate an adaptive ecosystem approach with a fixed, ecologically reasonable percentage of ecosystem productivity.

After the witnesses' testimony, two motions were moved by Conservative members. The first, moved by Clifford Small, sought the production of documents and a two-hour meeting on a DFO report on wind energy areas off Nova Scotia, which was debated by members who argued it was a distraction from the mackerel study. The second, moved by Aaron Gunn, sought a production order for a report on the aquaculture transition plan for British Columbia, which was then debated at length, with one member reading extensively from the Cohen Commission report on the decline of Fraser River sockeye salmon.