The committee has heard repeatedly that the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ decision-making processes for opening and closing fisheries are unpredictable, slow, and insufficiently responsive to on-the-water conditions. Commercial harvesters, recreational fishers, and industry representatives from both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts have testified that late notices, delayed integrated fisheries management plans, and inflexible season dates cause significant economic harm, lost income for harvesters and plant workers, and unsafe fishing conditions. Witnesses have pointed to specific examples: a delayed northern cod opening that left thousands of tonnes of allocation uncaught, a Fraser River sockeye return of nine million fish managed as though there was scarcity, and snow crab seasons systematically shortened by icebreaker delays. Several witnesses have recommended that DFO set firm, early dates for key logistical supports like icebreaking, release management plans well before seasons begin, and base in-season decisions on abundance rather than unknown thresholds or caps driven by weak co-migrating stocks.

A major and recurring theme across multiple meetings is the decline of Atlantic salmon and the role of striped bass predation. Witnesses from the Atlantic Salmon Federation, the Miramichi Salmon Association, and local guides and biologists have testified that striped bass, which grew from roughly 3,000 to 500,000 spawners, have caused smolt survival on the Miramichi to collapse from 70% to below 10%. They have called for an ecosystem-based management target of 100,000 spawning striped bass, to be achieved through expanded indigenous commercial fisheries, bycatch allowances in the gaspereau fishery, and culling of larger bass. Biologists and anglers from Quebec rivers described striped bass as an invasive species in systems where they had never historically been present, and urged immediate action on seals and bass. The committee also heard from First Nations leaders and the Fédération québécoise pour le saumon atlantique, who emphasized that losses at sea—driven by climate change, predation, and disease—are the primary driver of salmon decline, and called for an ambitious marine research strategy and long-term support for bycatch recovery and thermal refuge protection.

The committee has also examined the closure of softshell clam harvesting areas in Quebec’s Chaleur Bay, where fishers, researchers, and Indigenous fisheries managers have testified that most sites remain closed not because of confirmed contamination, but because federal agencies reduced water sampling and have not processed requests to reopen. Witnesses noted that oyster farming is permitted in the same waters where clam harvesting is banned, and that communities have offered to pay for testing but been told the department lacks capacity. The Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program, originally designed for commercial harvesting, has seen increased demand with stable core funding, and witnesses recommended investing in testing programs, including First Nations in data collection, and establishing co-management pilot projects. The committee also heard from DFO and CFIA officials who described the multi-step process for opening a site, which requires 15 sampling rounds over 18 months and cannot be shortened.

On the issue of offshore wind energy areas in Nova Scotia, DFO officials testified that a December 2025 report was a compendium of existing data intended to inform stakeholders, not a science advisory document assessing suitability or risk. They stated that the report does not evaluate risks to the marine ecosystem or fisheries, that the precautionary principle was not relevant to this factual compendium, and that project-specific impact assessments will follow. Witnesses denied any political pressure to narrow the report’s scope and identified ongoing work on data gaps, including for migratory species and North Atlantic right whales. The committee also debated motions related to the production of documents on this report and on the B.C. salmon aquaculture transition plan, with some members arguing that the delay in releasing the transition plan is causing uncertainty for workers and First Nations, while others maintained that ongoing consultations should not be undermined.