The Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans has made 32 recommendations to the federal government in its report, Reducing the Harms Caused to Canadian Fish Stocks by Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, tabled in the House of Commons on Oct. 3.
“During its study, the Committee identified gaps that need to be addressed by DFO in order for DFO to have a fully informed response to IUU fishing. For example, more needs to be done to determine how much IUU fishing is taking place, intelligence-gathering and sharing needs to be improved and enforcement actions in relation to IUU fishing need to be strengthened, including in relation to the role of organized crime,” concluded the report.
“The Committee has made a number of recommendations to address these issues. The Committee also emphasizes the importance of federal and provincial cooperation and coordination to address IUU fishing, particularly in the context of traceability.”
“Witnesses spoke passionately about the negative affect that IUU fishing is having on their ability to support their families, on conservation and the environment, and on the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. The frustrations that were expressed over a lack of enforcement resonated with the Committee. The Committee also notes, as it has done before, that policy and legislative gaps relating to implementing Aboriginal and treaty rights to fish contribute to tension and uncertainty in some communities. Many of the issues that were raised are longstanding. The Committee urges all relevant federal departments to work together expeditiously to support the harvesters and communities that play such an important role in feeding Canadians and who contribute to the Canadian economy,” the report stated.
A supplemental report was also tabled by the Conservative Party of Canada.
“In our supplementary report, Conservatives recommend actions that must be taken to deal with illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in Canada, which the government has ignored. The time for action is now,” said B.C. MP Mel Arnold when tabling the report.
“The Minister’s sudden cancellation in March of the 2024 commercial elver fishery in Atlantic Canada was the direct result of her failures, and those of her predecessors, to establish adequate enforcement by DFO’s Conservation and Enforcement (C&P) branch and coordinate enforcement of other agencies and departments to ensure a safe and legal elver fishery for the benefit of harvesters licensed by the DFO and the communities they support,” reads the supplementary report.
“The Minister’s cancellation of the 2024 elver season sets a dangerous precedent of the government responsible for protecting fisheries acquiescing to poachers and criminal organizations that the government has tacitly allowed to proliferate and exert greater control than the government over the resource.”
The supplemental report concluded that “Management of Canada’s fisheries is ultimately the responsibility of the Government of Canada and the Minister of Fisheries, but successive Ministers have failed to provide the political will and resources needed to fully address IUU fishing in Canadian fisheries through adequate monitoring and enforcement. Stock management requires effective fisheries monitoring of all harvest and bycatch (waste) which can support the DFO’s estimations of what is removed from fisheries illegally, which in turn can enable enforcement and prosecution of offences.”
“DFO’s monitoring and enforcement capacities are limited by capability gaps while the government has increased commitments to fighting IUU overseas. Conservatives are not opposed to Canada contributing to the global fight against IUU, but do believe that we must ensure that the fight against IUU starts in our own waters. As the values of species have increased and illegal harvests have proliferated in some fisheries, penalties for fisheries offences have not kept pace, raising questions of whether penalties set years ago possess the deterrence required today.”
Among the Committee recommendations were eight related to First Nations and implementing their inherent or treaty rights including the rights to fish and harvest for Food, Social or Ceremonial (FSC) reasons or for a moderate livelihood, including the recommendation that Fisheries and Oceans Canada “provide clear definitions and clarifications so that court decisions on Indigenous fishing rights are interpreted appropriately.
“That the allotment for Food, Social and Ceremonial (FSC) fishing be determined in a collaborative manner, taking into account the comments and views of Indigenous peoples, in order to prevent inequality between peoples and promote mutual understanding and goodwill between Indigenous and non-Indigenous fishers. That Fisheries and Oceans Canada publicly release all agreements made with First Nations regarding the management of fisheries and the access to fisheries.”
The Committee also recommended Fisheries and Oceans Canada act urgently to implement a full-chain boat-to-plate seafood traceability program as promised in the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard’s 2019 mandate letter and following the recommendations of this Committee in its 2022 report, Traceability and Labelling of Fish and Seafood Product.
To combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing more effectively and to increase understanding of what species are being caught through illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, the Committee has also recommended Fisheries and Oceans Canada increase their dockside monitoring and enforcement efforts, and increase the number of species subject to dockside monitoring, such as lobster and other high-value species or species with low abundance.
