Reform Badly Needed in Fisheries Department

The Economist magazine is not exactly known for having a particularly green image. So when the magazine turns its gaze to issues of environmental conservation, you can bet that there is either a serious environmental problem or a real political mess somewhere. In the case of Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), it's both.

Recently, the magazine published an article about the DFO and Canada's West Coast fisheries woes, describing "...anarchy on the Fraser (River), stocks in peril and an unreformed fisheries department." The article concluded by saying that B.C.'s salmon fisheries seemed to be swimming towards the same fate as the East Coast cod - in other words, practically extinct.

The Economist isn't the only one to get on the DFO's case. In fact, it seems that there has been a never-ending stream of reports, analyses and stories coming out about how the department is chronically underfunded, mismanaged and failing to protect marine ecosystems. The DFO has responded to these complaints by denying the problem or shuffling money around and saying that everything's under control.

It isn't. A comprehensive analysis of the department's Pacific Division conducted by independent consultants for the David Suzuki Foundation has found that the DFO needs a radical overhaul if it is to have any chance of meeting its conservation mandate and protecting the country's fish stocks.

The report is based on House and Senate committee testimony, auditors-general reports, analyses of internal DFO records and budgets, and extensive interviews with fisheries scientists. It concludes that the department simply does not have the information it needs about fish stocks to adequately protect them. What's more, the DFO's capacity to do the necessary research has been severely hampered by slashed scientific budgets.

Meanwhile, spending to keep the bureaucracy afloat has increased - although whether or not it's money well spent is difficult to tell because there is little transparency or accountability within the department. What we do know is that the DFO itself has managed to become increasingly complicated in its machinations, replete with "partially responsible" agencies that pass the buck from one to another - assuming there is any communication between them at all.

All of this adds up to a department which, instead of being focused on conservation, is torn between conflicting mandates, hindered by political interference and fraught with internal dissent. Faced with these challenges and a diminishing budget, staff have been forced into "triage" mode, where they deal with only the most publicly contentious issues and leave the rest adrift.

Let's face it, the place is a mess. But with a little political will and adequate funding, it can still be turned around. It isn't too late to bring accountability to the department, with clear goals, targets and timelines. It isn't too late to develop real reporting systems, conduct adequate research and essentially have the department live up to its legal mandate.

When we fail to learn from our mistakes, history inevitably repeats itself. In the case of the DFO, the department knew for years that there were serious problems with the cod stocks off the East Coast, yet failed to take any sort of timely action to prevent a collapse of the fishery. As a result, there is still no cod fishery, even after more than a decade.

When the Foundation released the report, staff hoped it would get attention as being the most comprehensive analysis of the DFO to date. But when they talked to reporters about it, the response was essentially, "Yeah, tell us something we don't already know."

In other words, the Canadian media is already well aware the DFO is a mess - they're just waiting for some "news" to happen. That could mean either the federal government gets its act together and reforms the department or another fish stock collapses. Let's hope for the sake of Canada's marine ecosystems and the people who depend on them that it is the former.

Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.

Source: An ENN Guest Commentary