Voices

Experts Speak Out Loud and Clear

elder

Canadian harvesters and consumers both benefit from fisheries monitoring and increased transparency across the seafood supply chain. Monitoring fishing activities not only helps minimize bycatch and prevent overfishing, but it enables the story of where your seafood comes from to be told, which allows people to make more sustainable choices.

Sonia Strobel, Co-founder and CEO, Skipper Otto, a community-supported fishery
elder

The decline of culturally significant fish species is not only a loss of food but also a loss of identity and culture. Canada’s obligation to rebuilding fisheries is inextricably linked with its commitment towards reconciliation. This requires a balanced approach to fisheries management that embraces the unique knowledge systems held by Indigenous Peoples.

Ken Paul, member of the Wolastoqey Nation
elder

To restore ocean abundance in the face of climate change, more conservation-focused fisheries management is required, but it should not stop there. To rebuild overfished stocks, it is imperative to fully account for species vulnerability to climate change and urgently employ adaptive management strategies.

Dr. William Cheung, Director at the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, Canada Research Chair in Ocean Sustainability and Global Change
elder

The continuing poor health of Canada’s fish stocks clearly indicates that we’re failing to manage our fisheries and we’re getting a dismal return on investments. The loss of abundance and diversity — and the consequences that creates for future generations — cannot be overstated.

Dr. Robert Rangeley, Science Director, Oceana Canada

Numbers

THE PROOF IS IN THE NUMBERS

Science, monitoring and management indicators are used to assess fisheries management and determine progress toward restoring ocean abundance.

science

Science

How healthy are stocks today and how different factors will affect them in the future.

stocks

* 2018 to 2020 data available at Oceana.ca/FisheryAudit2021

monitoring

Monitoring

Determine how many fish are
harvested and discarded
each year.

stocks

* 2018 to 2020 data available at Oceana.ca/FisheryAudit2021

management

Management

Based on data that consider the entire ecosystem and prioritize long-term health.

stocks

* 2018 to 2020 data available at Oceana.ca/FisheryAudit2021

TIMELINE

The policies governing fisheries management have come a long way in the past six years. For the first time in 150+ years, Canada has put in place legal and regulatory requirements to rebuild depleted fisheries. But so far, that hasn’t resulted in meaningful change on the water. To start rebuilding ocean abundance, key actions are still needed.

KEY MILESTONES OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS

Federal government

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

  Federal government

  Fisheries and Oceans Canada

2016

October 2016

Key gaps in DFO’s fisheries management identified by Office of the Auditor General

November 2016

National Oceans Protection Plan introduced, backed by $1.5 billion

2017

October 2017

Seven rebuilding plans published

  As reported in Oceana Canada’s first annual Fishery Audit

November 2017

Starts publishing annual work plans

2018

November 2018

$107.4 million committed to over five years and $17.6 million ongoing to implement the Fish Stocks provisions (FSP) in the amended Fisheries Act

November 2018

Five new rebuilding plans

2019

June 2019

Modernized Fisheries Act becomes law

November 2019

Fishery Monitoring Policy released

2020

2021

January 2021

Draft regulations to implement rebuilding requirements published

November 2021

Two new rebuilding plans published

2022

July 2022

Additional $2 billion investment over nine years under the Oceans Protection Plan

April 2022

Regulations published prescribing 30 major fish stocks to the FSP and establishing rebuilding plan requirements

October 2022

62 major fish stocks proposed and available for public comment

November 2022

One new rebuilding plan ++

++  Under the Fish Stock provisions, all existing rebuilding plans for critical stocks will require revisions to meet the new rebuilding requirements of the Fisheries Act. For prescribed stocks, revised rebuilding plans must be published within 24 months of being listed in the regulations, unless a 12-month extension is required.

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN NEXT
2023

2024

Solutions

Change is needed

The need for science-based precautionary fisheries management has never been greater – to build resiliency, hedge against climate change risks and create a thriving ocean economy.

Recommendations

Prescribe all remaining stocks in the critical and cautious zones to the Fish Stocks provisions in the Fisheries Act, and make management decisions that are consistent with the rebuilding regulations.

Meaningfully engage with Indigenous communities and organizations to make decisions about wild fish that are informed by Indigenous Knowledge Systems, as well as the best available science.

Integrate ecosystem impacts into fisheries decisions, prioritizing rebuilding depleted forage fish and addressing vulnerabilities

Count everything caught in a fishery — including for recreational and bait purposes — and make decisions that account for all sources of fishing mortality.

To do checklist

Science science

  • Publish a work plan that includes priorities and timelines for assigning LRPs and a health status for all “uncertain” stocks.
  • Assess and document the vulnerability and climate risk of all stocks to enable climate-resilient management.
  • Ensure the effects of climate change are considered consistently by integrating environmental variability into both assessments and advice.

Monitoring monitor

  • Advance monitoring activities identified in the Sustainable Fisheries Framework Work Plan, prioritizing stocks suspected of having issues with the quality of fishery monitoring data.
  • Fully implement the Fishery Monitoring Policy in at least five stocks in each DFO Region each year until the policy has been implemented for all major stocks.
  • Publish an annual progress report to the Fisheries Minister.

Management manage

  • Implement eight new rebuilding plans.
  • Include all remaining critical and cautious stocks in upcoming batches subject to the Fish Stock provisions.
  • Implement a long-term national climate change adaptation strategy and risk-based frameworks.
  • Implement management decisions and strategies for all forage fish that account for the role of forage fish in the ecosystem in line with the Policy on New Fisheries for Forage Species.

WE CAN SAVE THE OCEANS
AND FEED THE WORLD.

Oceana Canada was established as an independent charity in 2015 and is part of the largest international advocacy group dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana Canada has successfully campaigned to ban single-use plastics, end the shark fin trade, make rebuilding depleted fish populations the law, improve the way fisheries are managed and protect marine habitat. We work with civil society, academics, fishers, Indigenous Peoples and the government to return Canada’s formerly vibrant oceans to health and abundance. By restoring Canada’s oceans, we can strengthen our communities, reap greater economic and nutritional benefits and protect our future.

oceana.ca