Newfoundland and Labrador Member of Parliament and Shadow Fisheries Minister Clifford Small gave The Navigator his take on how Canada’s fisheries should be governed.
As a Member of Parliament for Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame in Newfoundland, and the Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Shadow Minister for the Conservative Party of Canada, Small had several changes he’d like to see become reality should his party take power in Canada’s next federal election.
Small called for more stakeholder involvement in fisheries decisions, such as fishing enterprise owners, processors and others with monetary involvement in the industry.
“Fishing industry stakeholders — actual stakeholders, not people that have the label of ‘stakeholder’ — aren’t having their voices heard. The [Department of Fisheries and Oceans] (DFO) is not delivering on its mandate,” said Small. “We’re having to wait excessive amounts of time to see management plans come down. Look at last year with Northern cod. Instead of being ready at the end of March or the middle of April, we’re having to wait until almost July to have a cod management plan come down. In the case of Area 6 Northern shrimp on the inshore side, their management plan didn’t come down until the middle of June, so they lost a couple months of productive fishing time.”
Much of the decision-making of DFO, according to Small, comes back to a mix of the influence of foreign environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) and a lack of efficiency within the department itself.
“DFO has had a near-tripling of its budget since 2015, their staffing has increased by 50 per cent. It blows my mind. I think there is no urgency and there’s no respect for the fishing industry, and direction is not clear from the top. They’ve had six DFO ministers in nine years, so I don’t know if that’s a part of the problem,” said Small. “The main purpose of DFO, in my opinion, is to manage the fishery. It’s to manage the fishery and make sure conservation principles are followed and make sure we have a good output. But outputs? Forget that with this government.”
As shadow minister, Small highlighted a number of top priorities that should be appointed the top job at DFO were the Conservative Party to take power in 2025. First, he called for a review of National Marine Conservation Areas and Marine Protected Areas and the 30 by 30 policy — an initiative to conserve 30 per cent of Canada’s land and water.
“We’ve been dealing with it all over Atlantic Canada, on the west coast and in the north. It’s an issue that’s top of mind for fisheries industry stakeholders. So, we need a review of what’s taking place with the 30 by 30 policy of the federal government,” said Small.
Sitting in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Small also noted that illegal, out-of-season fishing would be on the top of his government’s list of priorities.
“We need to figure out what’s going on and agree on some kind of a sharing arrangement, somehow. But it can’t be done in a manner we just saw with elvers, where livelihoods are confiscated. That doesn’t work,” said Small. “So, whatever we do in trying to settle lobster disputes or gain access to fisheries, it has to be done the right way. I think most people are sensible, and I think they’ll be able to work something out.”
Lastly, Small advocated for “science that works” — allowing for more adaptability in DFO’s fisheries surveys as fish stocks adapt to changing water temperatures.
“When the water is warming, the fish know where the cooler water is, and they find it and they move. Our science needs to move,” said Small. “There’s lots of mackerel, but they’re very scarce off New York City, and that’s where they used to spend their winters. They’re not there anymore. So, when scientists go and look for larvae and spawn in the Northumberland Strait where they’ve surveyed for 50 or 60 years, the last half a dozen years they’ve went there and there’s none. So, they’re saying there’s no mackerel, because they’re not finding the spawn and the larvae where they traditionally found it. This science program needs to wake up and they need to deliver results, and I think it goes back to leadership.”
Small also believes the federal government has a part to play in helping the fishery sidestep the worst of the possible upcoming tariffs coming from the United States by helping the industry expand to new markets. He said while it may be too late to avoid bearing the brunt of tariffs in 2025, steps can be made to plan for future seasons.
“It wouldn’t take a whole lot of effort, and it wouldn’t cost a fortune for the federal government to help industry market its products around the world — get greater access to European markets, to Asian markets,” said Small. “The American market is a very wealthy market, it’s close by, it’s convenient, it’s politically stable, so over the years they’ve been our number one trading partner and a great ally. So, I hope that all these tariffs go by the wayside. But in the meantime, it presents an opportunity to diversify.”
