Fisheries and Oceans Canada Archives - Green Budget

Implementing the Whalesafe Fishing Gear Strategy

DFO’s draft Whalesafe Fishing Gear Strategy sets five objectives to support the transition to whalesafe commercial fishing in Canada:

Incorporate on-demand fishing gear into priority fisheries to protect North Atlantic Right Whales in Atlantic Canada and Quebec;
Assess fisheries across Canada to identify fisheries with a high risk of whale interaction and entanglement;
Incorporate on-demand fishing gear more widely into Canadian fisheries;
Implement other gear modifications to prevent and alleviate whale entanglement harm; and
Continue research and gear trials to address knowledge gaps.

Lobster and snow crab are the two largest commercial fisheries in Canada by volume and by value with a combined export value in 2021 of over $5 billion. Implementation of the Whalesafe Fishing Gear Strategy will be a key factor in determining if Canadian snow crab and lobster fisheries meet the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act and continue to be allowed to sell to the US market.

Implementing this strategy will also position the snow crab fishery to seek reinstatement of its Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification and reopen access to markets for certified seafood products.
As important, it will eliminate a major cause of injury and mortality for marine mammals and sea turtles and remove a primary threat to the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.

Crab and lobster harvesters require support to begin using on-demand fishing gear and other whalesafe gear technologies. On-demand technology is changing fast and is currently unregulated. Harvesters require training in the new technology and low-risk options for accessing the gear, such as gear loan or leasing programs. An extension program to demonstrate gear and train harvesters in the new technology will be central to achieving DFO’s draft objective of incorporating on-demand fishing gear into priority fisheries.

DFO requires departmental capacity, training, and equipment to implement the required regulatory, policy and program component for the use of whalesafe fishing gear. This includes:

Development of on-demand gear standards and regulations for gear operational requirements;
Establishment of acoustic gear communication standards;
Development of gear-marking technology and standards;
Implementation of on-demand gear permitting using conditions of license;
Fisheries Officer learning, training, equipment purchase and upgrade; and
Implementation of a regulatory framework that establishes long-term certainty of fisheries- management measures to protect Right Whales, including the use of on-demand gear-only fishing areas.

Recommended Investment:

$45 million over five years for departmental capacity and harvester support to implement the actions necessary to achieve the objectives of the Whalesafe Fishing Gear Strategy. [DFO]

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Ensuring the multi-million dollar growth opportunity of sustainable shellfish and seaweed farming

Shellfish and seaweed farming (oysters, mussels, scallops, kelp, clams) is poised to grow by 40% over the next five years if the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP) is supported and adequately funded to provide the necessary oversight to ensure that seafarms operate, shellfish are harvested, and products are tested for safety before entering the market. A thriving shellfish and marine plant sea farming sector diversifies our seafood sector, offers opportunities for business ownership, coastal jobs, reconciliation in the blue economy, sustainable food, and contributes to the restoration of marine ecosystems.

However, underfunding of the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program is now one of the critical limiting factors preventing our coastal communities from realizing the promise of sustainable shellfish and seaweed farming. Thousands of kilometers of coastline perfect for shellfish farming and harvesting are unclassified or closed to new farms or expansions, not because these waters are actually contaminated, but simply because the CSSP lacks the capacity to undertake the required water testing. Hundreds of current harvesting sites are at risk of closure as the departments are forced to reduce their testing areas due to ever dwindling resources. There has been no increase in permanent funding to this required program in twenty years. Canadian communities and industry are losing market opportunities. Adequate funding and modernization of the CSSP is even more important now as shifting ocean temperatures impact the timing and safety of shellfish harvests and require more frequent testing to ensure products can get to market. The CSSP needs to be recognized and supported not only as important for Canadian consumer safety, but as a key enabler of coastal jobs, small businesses, and investment confidence.

Fortunately, with a relatively small investment, this problem can be solved and communities on all coasts will see the boom. In 2022, the latest federal government review of the CSSP reiterated that the program does not have sufficient funding to operate as it should, “to ensure that health risks are minimized, the shellfish industry remains strong, and stakeholder and partner needs are served appropriately”. It recommended a minimum of $30 million annually, while the CSSP is only slated to receive $10 million annually in the coming years.

Recommended Investment:

$20 million per year, ongoing [ECCC, DFO, CFIA]

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Building a modern fisheries catch monitoring and observer system

Fisheries catch monitoring is essential for science, enforcement and compliance, improving business performance of fleets, and verifying of standards. Canada’s assessments and management of fish populations, including species at risk, relies heavily on at-sea observer coverage and dockside monitoring. There is a global call for a significant increase in monitoring, reporting, and transparency to ensure sustainable fishing.

Canada is supporting improved compliance and monitoring schemes of countries around the world, leading efforts to adopt high seas inspection schemes, funding global tracking systems, and participating in negotiations on electronic monitoring standards. However, at home, Canada’s fisheries monitoring is failing to achieve target coverage levels across a wide array of fisheries despite those levels being set at embarrassingly low targets for a leading fishing nation. The Auditor General of Canada has also identified severe shortcomings in Canada’s fisheries monitoring programs.

Canada’s most high-risk fisheries consistently fail to meet their observer coverage targets, due to a shortage of at-sea observers. Electronic monitoring (EM) has been at the forefront of discussions on how to address shortcomings of the system and increase reliable catch data in Canada. DFO has also identified bycatch monitoring and implementation of the Catch Monitoring Policy to ensure proper management and harvest under Target 10 of the 2030 Nature Strategy.

There is industry and stakeholder interest in increasing the capacity of Canada’s at-sea observer programs and developing EM standards and pilots, but resources are needed to prevent this work from stalling.

Therefore, the Green Budget Coalition recommends that the government invests directly in key areas of the system to kick start an immediate overhaul:

Recommended Investment:

$60 million over three years [DFO]

Support up-front costs for electronic monitoring pilot projects and increased coverage for high risk fisheries. ($30 million)
Establish electronic monitoring standards, data management policies, working groups, and modern data processing tools. ($20 million)
Support recruitment and training for well-paying observer jobs, especially in community and Indigenous based businesses. ($10 million)

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Implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries management

In 2011, Canada committed to implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) under the Aichi targets. While EAFM has long been a departmental direction for DFO, implementation has been opportunistic and inconsistent rather than comprehensive, which is why Canada ultimately failed to meet its target by the 2020 deadline. In 2022, the adoption of the KMGBF renewed Canada’s commitment to a number of targets which explicitly include the adoption of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management.

Last year, DFO began developing a national implementation plan for EAFM. This national implementation plan will guide DFO’s future decision making on fisheries management, the ocean ecosystem, and the livelihoods that depend on it. If applied consistently and effectively, this approach will incorporate critical ecosystem variables, such as climate and predator-prey dynamics, into Canada’s fisheries science and stock assessments, leading to well informed decisions and adaptive management.

It is critical that the necessary resources be put in place to ensure DFO can effectively implement EAFM across fisheries and regions. Specifically, the Green Budget Coalition is recommending funding to support three key areas of work: 1) develop full ecosystem assessments for each region – a key EAFM necessity as identified by the DFO EAFM expert working group, 2) develop regional data and code repositories to support consistent and efficient EAFM implementation at the regional scale (e.g., Duplisea et al.), and 3) ensure sufficient capacity to incorporate ecosystem variables into single-stock science and management processes.

Recommended Investment:

$40 million over five years [DFO]

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Underwater noise pollution (Target 7)

Sound is the most effective means for marine life to sense their surroundings and communicate across the ocean’s vast expanse. Impulsive noise, including seismic activity, sonar and pile driving, can result in temporary or permanent damage to aquatic species at risk. Continuous radiated noise, primarily generated by shipping traffic and tourism, leads to acoustic masking and reduces aquatic species’ ability to communicate, sense danger, forage, and mate. Underwater noise also compromises the ability of cetaceans, especially those already at-risk, to perceive their environment and is considered a principal threat to the recovery of two priority species (Southern Resident Killer Whales and St. Lawrence Estuary Belugas) in Canada’s Whales Initiative, and a significant stressor for the third (Narwhal).

Recommended Investment:

$200 million over five years to fund a comprehensive Ocean Noise Strategy to identify and implement regional, science-based underwater noise targets for key Canadian ecosystems, including the Salish Sea, Saguenay-St. Lawrence, and the Eastern Arctic;
Develop and establish regional noise management frameworks to achieve those targets; and
Begin implementation of the management frameworks, including integration into other government programs. [DFO, TC]

To ensure meaningful reductions in noise pollution, this investment should prioritize:

Support for Transport Canada initiatives to reduce underwater vessel noise and disturbance impacts, such as the Quiet Vessel Initiative; completing work on the national Underwater Vessel Noise Reduction advisory group and operationalizing Underwater Noise Management Planning and target requirements for vessel owners and operators; and complementary work at the International Maritime Organization [TC];
Support for DFO to develop and integrate noise monitoring into ongoing and developing implementation of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and MPA networks, Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECM), Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA), and Critical Habitat for at-risk marine mammals. Data should be made publicly available [DFO]; and
Mandating DFO and TC to collaborate to enforce, adaptively implement, and expand as appropriate TC initiatives for the management of vessel noise and disturbance for at-risk whales. [DFO, TC]

See also Marine shipping, earlier in this document.

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