Mel Arnold

Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the minister is tired of hearing from Canadians, but Conservatives will not stop raising their voices on their behalf. We recognize that the salmon allocation policy must be aligned with the Ahousaht decision. No one is disputing that in the policy's review, but why is the minister's department floating the proposal to go far beyond, and proposing to sink over 9,000 [more]

fisheries minister Mr. Speaker, Canada's fisheries resources do belong to the people of Canada. Theconfirmed this last October when I asked her at the fisheries committee. However, the minister's department has recklessly published a proposal that would eliminate this principle, and Canadians are paying the price for the uncertainty it has caused. Was the minister's statement at committee more [more]

C-9 Mr. Speaker, the other five petitions I have today are from residents of Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies. They are concerned about Bill, which was passed in this House but is still going through the Senate. C-9 They call upon the government to reject any amendments to Billthat remove the religious exemption from Canada's hate speech provisions, protect Canadians' constitutional rights to [more]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present multiple petitions. The first petition is on behalf of Canadians who are deeply concerned about proposed changes to the salmon allocation policy, which would decimate public fishing opportunities for chinook and coho salmon in British Columbia. Changing the common property resource principle risks turning a shared public resource into an exclusive privilege, [more]

You mentioned that Canada should develop a bilateral stock management agreement. One other piece in that letter, which had a number of recommendations, was recommendation number 12: “That Fisheries and Oceans Canada develop a bilateral stock management agreement with the United States for the 2023 Atlantic mackerel fishing season.” Are you aware of any movement by Canada to establish that [more]

Thank you. Thank you for your patience, witnesses. We really appreciate it. I want to start with Mr. Barlow, please. In your opinion, are stock assessments being conducted efficiently and effectively on the herring stocks?

How could they be better conducted?

You mentioned that the reason for the collapse of stock hasn't been addressed. Could you elaborate a little further on that? I think you said that in your opening remarks.

Thank you very much. Maybe for each of the three of you at the table, it sounds like most of you fish multiple species. How much mackerel are you encountering as bycatch when you're out fishing for other species? Are you able to retain those mackerel for bait? What happens to them if they're caught as bycatch when you're fishing other licences?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you to all the witnesses for being here today and appearing. I want to start with the three at the table. I'll start with you, Mr. DesRoches, because you talked about the test nets and the way DFO is telling you to set them up, and how it's not efficient. This brings to mind complaints I've heard from the west coast from the shrimp trawlers' association that DFO is [more]

Thank you. I want to switch now to Mr. Robert. Mr. Robert, you mentioned indications of high mortality from predation. Are you aware of any measures that DFO has undertaken to study or reduce the predation of mackerel stocks or herring stocks?

That's interesting. I'm referring back to a letter that was sent to the minister back in 2023, three years ago. One of the recommendations in that report, number six, was “That Fisheries and Oceans Canada ensure resources and directives are in place to ensure the department adequately studies the predator-prey interactions between seals and mackerel stocks.” Are you aware of any further action on [more]