House Hansard - 77

44th Parl. 1st Sess.

May 30, 2022 11:00AM

Hon. Joyce Murray (Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Lib.)

May/31/22 12:00:37 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, yes, I understand the difficulties when the crab licences were allocated due to a court decision to the local first nations. It would be great to just add some licences, but because of conservation concerns that is not possible. We are now working with harvesters and have a budget to negotiate a settlement for that capacity.

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Mr. Gord Johns

May/31/22 12:01:11 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, how many licences is the minister committed to buying back to ensure that there is no net loss of traps and that the “willing buyer, willing seller” policy is adhered to?

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Hon. Joyce Murray

May/31/22 12:01:22 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, the member has correctly talked about our “willing buyer, willing seller” policy. The volume of traps that was allocated to the first nations is the volume that we will be buying back, and bids are currently being accepted.

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Mr. Gord Johns

May/31/22 12:01:47 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, it has been a year since the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced the $647-million Pacific salmon strategy initiative. In that time, there has been really no genuine engagement with first nations. The Nuu-chah-nulth nations especially are saying to me that to implement the PSSI on the west coast of Vancouver Island, they need to be engaged clearly. Indeed, all the evidence to date points to the PSSI as yet another example of the department directing long-awaited funding toward internal priorities instead of working with first nations to decide how best to allocate limited resources. Will the minister direct her staff to immediately reach out to the Nuu-chah-nulth nations to establish a process for a jointly managed implementation of the PSSI on the west coast of Vancouver Island?

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Hon. Joyce Murray

May/31/22 12:02:40 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, one of the key pillars of the PSSI is collaboration. On the one hand we are being told we are not moving quickly enough, but on the other hand we are very committed to collaborating with indigenous communities and others, and that work is ongoing.

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Mr. Gord Johns

May/31/22 12:03:05 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, how will the minister ensure that the PSSI Pacific salmon commercial licence retirement program supports coastal communities and owner-operator fishers, avoids further corporate consolidation of the fishing fleet and holds industry participants responsible for supporting sustainable harvest transformation?

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Hon. Joyce Murray

May/31/22 12:03:26 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, harvest transformation is one of the key pillars of the Pacific salmon initiative. That means we will be consulting. We will be working with harvesters and working with industry, again on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis.

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Mr. Gord Johns

May/31/22 12:03:45 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, the installation of intensive subtidal geoduck aquaculture is proposed for the herring spawning grounds in Lambert Channel which, according to Department of Fisheries and Oceans records, are the source of 38% of all the herring spawn that has ever occurred on the B.C. coast and would support the whole Strait of Georgia marine ecosystem. Will the minister put the protection of the spawning habitat of this keystone species ahead of the installation of industrial aquaculture and save it from the inevitable cumulative damage that would follow?

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Hon. Joyce Murray

May/31/22 12:04:21 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, I am interested in more details on the specific facility that the member is referring to, but I want to say that conservation is our bottom line. It is our top priority.

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Mr. Gord Johns

May/31/22 12:04:39 a.m.
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Mr. Chair, will the minister commit to taking a whole-of-ecosystem management-based approach? She has heard me talk about this endlessly, because we see harvests of some species impacting other species. Will she gear her department to take a whole-of-ecosystem management approach, especially with the blue economy?

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