44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 30, 2022 11:00AM
- May/30/22 2:01:47 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canada is blessed with stunning natural beauty, vibrant cities and diverse cultural gatherings that draw people from around the world to experience them.
Before the pandemic, the tourism industry employed one out of every 11 Canadians. Across our country, from the slopes of Whistler, to the Calgary Stampede, Le Vieux-Port of Montreal and Gros Morne in Newfoundland, chances are that tourism is one of the important parts of the local economy and a source of immense pride for communities to welcome visitors.
This week is national Tourism Week. As we celebrate Tourism Week, I invite every member in the House and every member in the other place to join me in the panorama room at the Delta Hotel for a reception, hosted by the parliamentary tourism caucus and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, to share some food and drinks from across our great nation and talk about how we could jump-start tourism in Canada to once again share our beautiful country with the world.
169 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/30/22 11:15:15 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, it is an honour to rise today to speak and ask questions about issues that are top of mind for the coastal communities in my riding and the amazing marine life that inhabits the area as well.
Canada's oceans are home to 47 distinct populations of whales. Whales are a vital component of marine ecosystems, both for the recirculation of marine nutrients and as a bellwether for the health of marine ecosystems as a whole. They feature centrally in the cultures of many indigenous peoples and serve an important role in coastal communities through their iconic status and tourist appeal.
Many Canadian whale species face threats directly attributable to human activity, with 19 Canadian populations or species now listed under the Species at Risk Act, of which eight are assessed as endangered. Whale species in Canada, particularly those listed under the Species at Risk Act, face a complex and interrelated mix of threats from human activities that affect their survival and recovery. These threats include entanglement in fishing gear, disturbance from interaction with vessels, increased contaminants and decreased prey availability. Threats are becoming even more acute as a result of climate change and its impact on ocean ecosystems and whale distribution, and are likely to grow as globalization drives an increase in international marine activities.
Endangered whale species and their prey are being pushed into new habitats, which exposes them to vessel traffic in ecologically sensitive environments. For example, ocean warming has reduced the quality and abundance of the preferred prey in traditional North Atlantic whale habitat areas in the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine, creating a less favourable foraging environment. As a result, North Atlantic right whales shifted their late spring and summer foraging grounds to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where they face greater risk of vessel strike and entanglement in fishing gear. Warmer oceans have also contributed to reduced salmon spawning, resulting in fewer chinook salmon off the coast of British Columbia, which is the preferred prey of the southern resident killer whale. In the St. Lawrence estuary, belugas face environmental and noise-based threats in their critical habitat from marine transports and other activities.
Over the past several years, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada and Parks Canada have worked together to make targeted investments to address immediate threats facing critically endangered whale species, including $167.4 million under the whales initiative announced in budget 2018. The whales initiative was the first targeted national whale fund to protect key species, and it was further supported by $61.5 million, announced later in 2018, specifically for southern resident killer whales, and additional funds found in the oceans protection plan and nature legacy initiatives.
These investments have started a shift in the way fisheries operate, with a focus on innovative tools that protect species such as the North Atlantic right whale, while also demonstrating the role of fisheries in a blue economy and Canada's leadership in sustainable seafood. The North Atlantic right whale is listed as endangered under Canada's Species At Risk Act.
Fishing gear entanglement prevention is a priority for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. We have implemented changes to the seasonal open and close dates of fisheries to avoid interactions, and a combination of temporary and season-long fishing area closures designed to ensure that gear, including lobster and snow crab gear, is removed from the water based on right whale presence. These measures are supported by a robust monitoring regime to detect the presence of whales, including flights, vessels and acoustic monitoring. Since 2020, there have been no reported North Atlantic right whale mortalities and only one new entanglement found in Canadian waters.
To further reduce the risk of entanglement, the department is working with the fishing industry and partners in Atlantic Canada and Quebec to develop whale-safe fishing gear innovations, such as systems that fish without vertical lines to prevent whales from becoming entangled in the gear, as well as other innovations that incorporate low-breaking-strength links that are designed to fish under normal conditions and yet break if a whale should become entangled.
Trials of such gear have been under way over the past few years, and the department's whale-safe gear adoption fund is providing $20 million in support to nearly three dozen projects this year. By supporting fishing industry expertise and leadership from entrepreneurs, we are finding ways to solve the entanglement problem and allow commercial fishing activities to coexist with whales in their habitat.
With respect to the iconic southern resident killer whales, the government has taken significant steps to address key threats to the population. The southern resident killer whale is considered to be at risk because of its small population size, low reproductive rate and the existence of a variety of anthropogenic threats that have the potential to prevent recovery or to further cause declines.
Principle among these anthropogenic threats are reductions in the availability of prey, with chinook salmon being the main prey item; both physical and acoustic disturbances; and environmental contamination. Actions on many of these recovery measures identified in the resident killer whale recovery strategy are under way. I have actually had a chance to see some of the science and the work being done at the Pacific Science Enterprise Centre. On April 29 of this year, the Government of Canada announced enhanced measures for 2022, for the fourth year in a row, to stop the decline of the species through management measures to the protection of salmon and minimization of disturbances from vessels.
Regarding the St. Lawrence Estuary beluga, research efforts have advanced the government's understanding of threats to this population, leading to additional protection measures such as habitat closure, slow-down zones for vessel traffic and restrictions on approach distances for this important population. Key investments to date in research, monitoring and data collection continue to enhance the Government of Canada's understanding of the north Atlantic right whale, southern resident killer whale and St. Lawrence Estuary beluga distribution, their foraging habitats and prey availability.
Our government also continues to build the marine mammal response program, which aims to assist marine mammals and sea turtles in distress. In collaboration with conservation groups and non-governmental organizations, the department supports marine mammal incident response networks in all regions under the umbrella of the marine mammal response program. We have made substantial investments in our marine mammal response program over the past several years to support a safe and timely response to marine mammals in distress, such as entangled whales, and to conduct a necropsy.
Our investments in the marine mammal response program include $4.5 million in contributions to build capacity for safe and effective marine mammal response across Canada. In a given year, there can be close to 1,600 reported incidents involving over 2,000 animals, and many of these incidents involve species at risk.
Fisheries management will continue to evolve and adapt to protect and conserve whale and marine mammal populations. At present, some of the measures we have in place also provide benefits to other species in the same area. For example, area closures to fisheries to protect right whales also protect other whale species.
Our world-class adaptive management measures, which incorporate the best available science, are developed through close collaboration between our department, the fishing industry, indigenous communities and leading scientists to protect and rebuild endangered whale populations while upholding Canada's reputation for sustainably sourced seafood.
I have mentioned that whales are an integral part of our marine ecosystems. I know that the well-being of the endangered southern resident killer whale population is a great concern to Canadians and its protection, and that our government has taken concrete action to protect this iconic species. Can the minister please speak to some of these measures that we have adopted to monitor the movements of southern resident killer whales?
1327 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/30/22 11:25:26 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, we recognize that protecting and sustaining aquatic species at risk is critically important to ecosystem health and thriving fisheries. I am hopeful that our efforts over the past few years to protect the endangered southern resident killer whales from fishing gear entanglements and collisions with vessels will help the population grow and rebuild.
It is clear that sensible protection measures are necessary and that we must work in collaboration with other governmental departments, industry, NGOs, academia, indigenous communities and our U.S. counterparts to ensure that these whales have the best possible chance to recover.
Could the minister please explain what measures are in effect this year?
109 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/30/22 11:28:13 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the minister for her detailed response.
I would like to shift gears a little and ask about a different matter. In 2015, folks in and around the lower mainland were horrified to see the impacts of the Marathassa bunker oil spill that occurred in English Bay. In fact, we did not find out about this spill until almost 24 hours after it happened.
Unfortunately, the shipping company that was responsible for this spill was never held accountable because of the environmental laws as written in the Environmental Protection Act. One of the main reasons we did not find the spill for almost 24 hours was that the Kitsilano Coast Guard station was shut down.
I was hoping the minister could please explain to us the importance of reopening this Coast Guard base as a mechanism to keep our ocean communities safe from such a spill ever happening again.
155 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
