New Minister of Fisheries and Oceans weighs in on Atlantic fishery
“I think it’s a positive thing to have an aquaculture act. Aquaculture is an important industry on both the Pacific Coast and the Atlantic Coast.” Joyce Murray Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Joyce Murray, newly appointed Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, didn’t have a lot of time, just 10 minutes for an interview advised her communications people.
Canada’s new fisheries minister was on a whirlwind tour of Atlantic Canada this week, meeting groups from the fishing industry.
The following is the result of a short question and answer session, some of the answers have been edited for length.
Saltwire: What have you been reading/doing to get up to speed on fisheries issues in Atlantic Canada since becoming fisheries minister?
Murray: I’ve been breathing, eating and sleeping and dreaming of fisheries issues for the past few weeks with a lot of briefings and a lot of discussions with various people.
It’s really great to hear firsthand from people in Newfoundland and Labrador about the things that are of concern, and the things that are working, and to just to listen and get a better perspective from the ground of the importance of fisheries here and the very important priority that people have that fish stocks are restored and come back to vibrant levels.
Saltwire: Some years ago you ran a reforestation company in British Columbia, which planted 1.5 billion trees. How will that experience help you in your role as fisheries minister?
Murray: That’s a great question. It was a peoplebased business, organizing to have young people go out into wilderness areas of the province and accomplish the regeneration activities on time and on budget, given the vagaries of the weather, of sometimes coastal access to sites and unexpected events.
So, it did give me a healthy appreciation for rural communities and the difficulties, challenges and risks sometimes of working in far-flung places on the land and on the sea.
Saltwire: There’s been criticism of DFO from many quarters — fishing industry and academia — that it has failed to adopt stock rebuilding plans, with targets for healthy populations and regulations to help reach those goals. As minister will you offer up more specific rebuilding goals, with timelines, and the regulations to support those plans?
Murray: We can always do more and always do better as a government. You never rest on your laurels or what you think you know about how to do a job. I am of the view that we always need to seek new information, new ideas and new ways to do an even better job. And I think that holds true for me as a minister and for DFO.
One thing I do want to say though is, until our government ... there was a gutted Fisheries Act under a previous government ... we restored much of the protections there as well as made it law for the first time, that we actually need to work to have the stocks rebound and be rebuilt. So, we have plans, a framework of putting plans in place to do just that. And if a plan is not achieving its intended goal, we will adjust the plan. Our underlying principle is to ensure the diversity and abundance of stocks through the rebuilding and through the regeneration of habitats.
Saltwire: Many in the seafood industry in Atlantic Canada say there are gaps in DFOS fisheries science that make it difficult to get a more accurate picture of the health of stocks like capelin and northern cod. What do you hope to do to enable DFO scientists to collect more information about fish stocks?
Murray: We have excellent scientists as I’m sure each other minister has confirmed. The thing is there are new ways of doing assessments, new ways of having research results be more useful and more accurate given the uncertainty of measuring stocks in an ocean environment.
It is tremendously difficult when the stocks move, there are so many factors that create variability and uncertainty and what I want to do is make sure that DFO has access to some of the latest research on how to have effective measures, and effective means of going from the measurement to the actual management decisions.
Some of the articles I’ve read about artificial intelligence and robotics strategies apply to our models to really learn ... how the model is creating outputs, whether they’re the right ones. We need that leading edge approach to our measurements and that link between measurements and policy. So that’s something I’ll be paying attention to.
Another aspect of this is, as someone who spent part of a life’s career in regenerating forests, our ecosystems have to be replanted in a way that increases the resilience and diversity of the forests. So I’m also very committed to the regeneration and restoration component of DFO’S mandate and will make sure that has a spotlight going forward.
Saltwire: Some people point to seals as a factor in the slow recovery of stocks like Atlantic cod and salmon in B.C. What do you think?
Murray: I’ve heard that as well from Newfoundland and Labrador MPS that I’ve been hearing from, and other stakeholders. And our government actually supports a sustainable and well-regulated seal harvest. Why is the harvest not greater in number? I think there is a key factor there and that is there isn’t a market that is larger for the products that come out of the seal harvest. As a government, DFO funded $2 million to organizations that are developing and trying out new seal products and trying to build new markets.
I think the Blue Economy strategy is actually a place where we can encourage new innovations to find new markets for these products.
Saltwire: On the East Coast a lot of eyes are on the redfish stock in anticipation of higher quotas in the next two to fiveyears. What are some of the factors you will consider to ensure quotas are shared equitably among the four provinces, and between offshore/inshore fishing interests?
Murray: I know there’s a great deal of interest in this upcoming fishery. It’s great to hear about a stock where the abundance and biomass have increased substantially since putting a moratorium on it. We started consultations back in February of this year (and) there were additional formal consultations with stakeholders in September. And we have extended consultations to Nov. 29 to make sure we have heard all the voices that need to be heard.
The decisions around reopening the fishery will be guided ... based on science and what our research suggests is a sustainable and safe level.
We have been hearing (questions) about allocations and we will be making decisions based on what we heard.
Saltwire: For more than two years DFO has been working to develop a new Aquaculture Act. When can we expect to see the draft or adoption of a new act?
Murray: I think it’s a positive thing to have an aquaculture act. Aquaculture is an important industry on both the Pacific Coast and the Atlantic Coast. There are also needs to balance the commercial open-net pen aquaculture with the needs of the benthic floor underneath and the wild fish in the area.
So, I think an aquaculture act is something I look forward to working on and hearing from people on both coasts, and stakeholders on all sides of this, so we can really be what we claim to be ... a global leader in sustainable and responsible aquaculture.
Saltwire: During the consultation process to draft the new Aquaculture Act the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Association said DFO may not be the right department to oversee the aquaculture industry, that it might best be governed by the departments of agriculture or industry. What do you think about that?
Murray: I think those kinds of questions come up about a range of commercial activities in Canada, which department is the best to oversee. There’s many ... activities that intersect various portfolios so that’s just a conversation that, to me, expresses that people are interested in how government is supporting and regulating activities. And it’s the awareness of the importance of government regulation, as well as compliance and enforcement, to help communities achieve their objectives, the range of objectives that human beings tend to have.
Saltwire: After a month getting up to speed on the fishing industry issues, can you name your highest priority issue for Atlantic Canada?
Murray: My highest priority is to reinforce and build people’s confidence in DFO’S management of stock for recovery and sustainability. So, I’ll be working with the department on what that will take.