Salmon Farming; Sustaining Canada’s Major Fish Stocks—Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Opening Statement to the Senate Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans

Salmon Farming

(Report 1—2018 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)

Sustaining Canada’s Major Fish Stocks—Fisheries and Oceans Canada

(Report 2—2016 Fall Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)

22 November 2018

Julie Gelfand
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to be here today to discuss my spring 2018 report on salmon farming and other recent reports that pertain to fisheries. I am accompanied by Sharon Clark, the Principal responsible for these audits.

In our audit on salmon farming, we examined whether Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency oversaw the salmon farming industry to protect wild fish. This industry creates risks for wild fish, including exposure to diseases, drugs, and pesticides. We looked at how risks were being managed in British Columbia and in the Atlantic provinces, primarily in New Brunswick and in Newfoundland and Labrador.

We found that Fisheries and Oceans Canada conducted research on these and other risks. We also found that the Department determined where salmon farms could be located or expanded, and under what conditions farms could operate.

However, we found that the Department was not monitoring the health of wild fish. In response to the Cohen Commission, the Department had committed to conducting 10 risk assessments of key known diseases and their impacts on wild fish. But, we found that the Department had completed only 1 of these risk assessments. Recently, the Department announced the launch of a second risk assessment—this one to examine the risk of a piscine reovirus transfer from farmed Atlantic salmon. But, neither of these assessments address the risks of new and emerging diseases.

In our view, the gaps we found in assessment and monitoring meant that the Department did not know the impacts that salmon farming was having on the health of wild fish. This is inconsistent with the precautionary approach.

We also found that Fisheries and Oceans Canada did not adequately enforce compliance with salmon farming regulations. Enforcing compliance is important since the regulations are designed to protect wild fish.

As well, the Department had not set limits on the amount of drugs and pesticides that fish farms can use to treat diseases and parasites. This is important because drugs and pesticides used in salmon farming can harm wild fish, especially those living on the ocean floor. The Department also had no national standard for nets and other equipment to prevent escapes from fish farms.

These findings led us to conclude that Fisheries and Oceans Canada had not managed risks from salmon farming in a way that protected wild fish. Among our recommendations, we stated that the Department should clearly articulate the level of risk to wild fish that it accepts when enabling the salmon farming industry. We also recommended that the Department establish thresholds for the deposit of drugs and pesticides into net pens to more effectively minimize harm to wild fish.

In fall 2016, I presented to Parliament an audit report on sustaining Canada’s major fish stocks. We found that of the 15 major fish stocks that were in critical condition and still being fished, 12 did not have the required rebuilding plans in place. These included certain stocks of cod, mackerel, herring, and scallop. Continuing to fish stocks that are in critical condition without having rebuilding plans increases the risk of the stocks’ collapse.

We found that Fisheries and Oceans Canada did not have Integrated Fisheries Management Plans with up-to-date stock information for almost 30% of Canada’s major fish stocks, including those with the greatest economic value.

The Department reported that more than 50% of fish stocks did not have all of the reference points required by the precautionary approach framework. These reference points are used to identify the healthy, cautious, and critical zones for each major fish stock. This meant that the Department was less certain about the health of these stocks. Also, for 16% of the stocks, the Department classified the health of the stock as “unknown.”

Without this information, Fisheries and Oceans Canada cannot ensure that fisheries are sustainably managed for the benefit of current and future generations.

We also presented to Parliament this past October a report on protecting marine mammals. We found that it was only after the death of 12 endangered North Atlantic right whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary that Fisheries and Oceans Canada and other federal organizations started to cooperate to protect some of our marine mammals. They closed certain fisheries and reduced the speed of ships in certain zones.

We also found that the government was not adequately using other tools at its disposal to protect most of our marine mammals, such as the Species at Risk Act, marine protected areas, and the Policy on Managing Bycatch.

We will further explore fisheries in my spring 2019 reports, which will include a report on aquatic invasive species.

This concludes my opening statement. We would be pleased to answer any questions the Committee may have. Thank you.