Opening Statement to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans

Fisheries and Oceans Canada—Salmon Stocks, Habitat, and Aquaculture
(Chapter 5 - 2004 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)

2 December, 2004

Ron Thompson, CA
Assistant Auditor General

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for inviting us here today. Joining me at the table are Eric Hellsten, Principal and Gerry Chu, Director from our Vancouver regional office.

Over the last seven years, our Vancouver regional office has completed four chapters on salmon issues. In 1997, we reported on sustainability of the Pacific salmon resource base. This was followed by a report in 1999 on sustainability of the Pacific salmon fisheries. In 2000, we reported on the effects of salmon farming in British Columbia on the management of wild salmon stocks. Recently, we included the report “Fisheries and Oceans Canada—Salmon Stocks, Habitat, and Aquaculture” in Chapter 5 of the 2004 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. These chapters provide good background information to assist the Committee in its hearings on the 2004 Fraser River sockeye salmon situation.

Chapter 5 is a follow-up to assess the action taken by the Department on the key observations and recommendations in our 1997, 1999, and 2000 reports. In 1997, we reported that Pacific salmon stocks and habitat were under stress. In 1999, we reported that the Pacific salmon fisheries were in trouble and their long-term sustainability was at risk because of overfishing, habitat loss, and other factors. In 2000, we reported that the Department was not fully meeting its legislative obligations to protect wild Pacific salmon stocks from the effects of salmon aquaculture operations.

We conducted this follow-up in collaboration with the auditors general of British Columbia and New Brunswick, who have tabled separate reports to their legislatures on salmon issues. Their findings identified gaps very similar to those we found.

Salmon is a vital part of life on the east and west coasts of Canada, generating a wide range of economic, social, and cultural benefits for Canadians. Maintaining biologically diverse and abundant salmon stocks is important to preserving this unique part of Canada’s heritage.

Management of the salmon resource and its fisheries is very complex, which is due to many factors:

• the biology and behaviour of salmon;
• the large number of stocks;
• the competing demands and diverse interests of environmental organizations, First Nations, the commercial fisheries industry, the recreational fishers, and other stakeholders;
• ongoing First Nations treaty negotiations;
• changing climatic and ocean conditions; and
• changes to fish habitat.

In addition, the Species at Risk Act introduces new protection requirements.

Overall, we are not satisfied with the progress made by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in response to our observations and recommendations made in 1997, 1999, and 2000.

Mr. Chairman, I understand that Chapter 5 will be considered by the Committee at a future hearing. At this time, I would like to highlight our findings relating to Fraser River sockeye salmon. I would also like to note that our audit did not cover the 2004 Fraser River sockeye fishery.

The Department has not yet finalized its Wild Salmon Policy. It will provide clear objectives and guiding principles, and bring together biological, economic, and social factors for fisheries and resource management, habitat protection, and salmon enhancement. This policy is long overdue. Stakeholders have called for the policy to be finalized to clarify how conservation should be implemented and how fisheries should be managed.

While many stocks are abundant, some Pacific salmon populations are in trouble. For example, the number of Sakinaw sockeye returning to spawn has declined from as high as 16,000 before 1987 to as low as 3 in 2003. Indeed, the Sakinaw Lake and Cultus Lake sockeye populations are at a high risk of extinction and are vulnerable to poachers, predators, habitat loss, low-water levels, and mixed-stock fisheries. Lack of prompt action may push these stocks even closer to extinction. The Department has undertaken some measures to conserve weak stocks, mostly through limiting fishing opportunities or by reducing the catch rate.

In addition to the lack of a finalized Wild Salmon Policy, issues on consultation and salmon allocation remain in the Pacific salmon fisheries. Due to a variety of factors including conservation measures and declining market prices, the commercial catch of Pacific salmon has decreased substantially from 1992 to 2002. Our report identified numerous concerns about the management of Fraser River sockeye salmon fishery. For example, there were no clear objectives for the conservation of wild salmon. There was no consensus over conservation units, goals for escapement (the number of fish returning to their rivers of origin to spawn), and acceptable risks for managing the fishery. There were also concerns about the transparency, participation, and timeliness of consultations on pre-season management plans and in-season decision making.

Major gaps in information on Pacific salmon stocks and habitat continue to exist. There is a lack of comprehensive information, which prevents a complete assessment of the status of Pacific salmon stocks. For example, there are no formal assessments for the majority of Fraser River sockeye stocks. In addition, there were concerns whether the in-season estimates of abundance, migration timing and route, stock composition, and catch reporting of Fraser River sockeye were timely, adequate, or accurate. Users were very critical of the data available to manage the Fraser River sockeye fishery.

Salmon hatcheries are a major activity on the West Coast. These hatcheries release hundreds of millions of juvenile salmon into the streams each year, primarily to support sport and commercial fisheries. However, hatchery-bred salmon can have negative effects on wild salmon; they may, over time, erode the biological diversity of the wild salmon stocks. We believe there is a need to evaluate the role of salmon hatchery production and its consequences on managing and conserving wild Pacific salmon.

I turn now to managing and protecting salmon habitat. The objective of the Department’s 1986 Policy for the Management of Fish Habitat is to achieve an overall net gain or increase in the amount of habitat available to salmon. But departmental reviews raise questions as to whether an overall net gain in the productive capacity of habitat is being achieved. For example, a recent review of 52 development project authorizations found that many projects resulted in net losses in habitat. There are indications that habitat loss is continuing. We believe that the Department needs to re-examine the objectives of its Habitat Policy and make it work.

Finally, our audit also looked at salmon aquaculture, which is not the focus of this hearing. At present, little is known about the potential effects of salmon aquaculture in aquatic ecosystems and on wild salmon stocks. We would be willing to discuss this issue with the Committee now or at a future hearing.

Concerns about salmon are not new, and neither are attempts to improve the state of the resource and its habitat. But progress has been slow. Lack of prompt action may put weak salmon stocks and the long-term sustainability of fisheries at risk.

Mr. Chairman, that concludes my opening statement; we would be pleased to answer any questions that the Committee may have.