Operation of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Research Vessels by the Canadian Coast Guard

1. Operation of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ Research Vessels by the Canadian Coast Guard Prepared by Dave Hebert (Department of Fisheries and Ocean (DFO), Bedford Institute of Oceanography (BIO)) Based on input from Don Belliveau (BIO liaison to Canadian Coast Guard), Allyn Clarke (Scientist Emeritus, BIO), Dave McKeown (Scientist Emeritus, BIO) and Anne Miller (Regional Director, Fleet Operations, Canadian Coast Guard). Special thanks to Dave McKeown for his detailed written recollections.

2. Outline • Background of Canada’s Civilian Fleets Before Merger • Pre-Merger Science Fleet Operations • Merger Process • Post-Merger Science Fleet Operations • Words of Wisdom

3. Canada’s Civilian Fleet Before Merger Three Civilian Fleets: Canadian Coast Guard (Ministry of Transport) responsible for navigation, icebreaking, SAR Fisheries Protection/ Conservation (DFO) Canada’s fish policeman Science (DFO) Oceanography and fisheries research Will only address changes in operation of the third fleet – effect of merger not clear cut as other changes were also happening

4. Pre-Merger Science Fleet Operated independently of other government civilian fleets Each DFO Science region operated its ships autonomously except some Maritimes Region vessels worked in Quebec and Newfoundland Regions In addition to DFO needs, oceanographic vessels included the needs of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the universities Operational funding for ships part of regional allocation DFO Regional Science Director disperse funding as he saw fit to: Science Programs, Building maintenance, Ships Refits funded nationally out of Ottawa Each Region operated slightly differently and approached the Merger differently. This was true with the Coast Guard also.

5. Pre-Merger Maritimes Science Fleet Regional Committee under Dr. McKeown was mandated to: allocate time fairly to DFO, NRCan and University researchers allocate time to priority programs plan program based on each vessel’s traditional operating season programs were fine-tuned after initial budgetary allocations were received Amount of funds allocated each year to operate ships was never enough. Topped up with year end funds when possible. Shortfalls were covered by regional and national science management teams. Gradual reduction in fleet over the years as ships reached end of life and not replaced. Reductions generally matched realistic program needs as overall budgets were reduced or held constant. Crew, technicians and shore support all employees of DFO and the operating institution

6. Merger One or more government studies over the decades suggested that Canada have only one civilian fleet Mid/late ’90s major government cost-cutting exercise (15%, 10%, 5% reductions) were mandated. DFO made cuts before merger, CCG made its cuts after merger. One top level decision was to merge fleets to cut cost Overall reductions defined for each department Departments set targets for each region Senior science managers met in secret to decide on cuts. Once budgets signed off by Deputy Ministers, they could not be changed even if proved wrong (e.g. a smaller, less expensive ship could do the work of a larger vessel). CCG moved to Department of Fisheries and Oceans

7. CCG Maritimes Response To Merger Delay/ignore cuts as long as possible Protect existing CCG fleet at all costs Science ships are badly maintained ships CCG were not getting enough funds (proper amount) from DFO to operate the science vessels Our existing ships “as is” can do science CCG Quebec Response To Merger Decided to see how their major buoy tender could be modified to suit Science needs Science demand is usually at time that ship normally stands down CCG collaborated with Science (design of lab vans, internal lab space, data and communication network, power, water and data links to van sites on deck) CCG paid all costs to make this happen

8. Post-Merger Maritimes Science Vessel Operations Vessel programming continued according to traditional season duration and methods used before merger Science directors approved it Each year CCG refused to accept proposed plan as Science had not provided sufficient funding for proposed vessel operations Discussions took place at various level of each organization Eventually, each year, ended up completing virtually all that had been planned Shortfalls in funds were found each year but is becoming harder to find the money. Still trying to determine how to do proper accounting of expenses for transfer of funds from Science to CCG for operating expenses.

9. Initial Teething Pains Getting CCG to realize the BIO Science Liaison person is representing Science Director and is not just a messenger Ships Officers didn’t wanted to be posted to Science vessels Ship Officers didn’t understand how science operations and cruise scheduling happens and can change throughout the cruise Merger of shore support (e.g. machine shop, welding, carpentry, electronic tech) for the vessel have had various amounts of success in merging. Part of this is due to personnel, part of it is due to different locations of ship support. The latter should disappear as DFO/CCG assets become co-located. With fleet reductions occurring at the same time, it is not clear whether there would have been a savings in the budget by this merger.

10. Present Status Scheduling/funding of Science vessels remains the same. No real change from merger – still issues about enough money to operate vessels. Under-funding of Science vessel operations has not been satisfactorily resolved. Ships being run very professionally. General consensus of improvement from pre-merger. CCG crew interested in science being conducted. CCG determines manning requirements for safe, efficient operations. Manning levels higher than normally found in the Academic Fleet; however, enough deck crew to conduct science operations without the use of inexperience science party personnel. Different unions may make a difference in operations. CCG crew union covers all CCG vessels – many with different operating schedules. Example is that the CCG crew work 28 days on/28 days off; thus, science legs must be 28 days or less to allow for crew rotation.

11. Present Status (continued) DFO Science continues to maintain ship science equipment and operation out of their budget. End users pay for items like CTDs. CCG supports mainly permanent mounted equipment on vessels. Merger had no appreciable effect on Science program. Not clear whether any savings were obtained due to budget reductions mandated around the same time. Science vessels not really tasked for other CCG operations since the vessels are not designed for these operations and the vessels are used at historical levels. Down-size of Science fleet done separately based on budget reductions.

12. Words of Wisdom Make sure that all parties involved in the merger want the merger. A shot-gun wedding makes for a stressful merger. Make sure that the financial implications are understood and that all parties agree to it. In the end, success depends on everyone believing that no one is being ripped off. Make sure that decisions are made regionally and not decided by a central entity not involved in the scheduling details. Crewing levels and mode of operation must be understood ahead of time. This could affect science bunks available, cruise duration and operating costs. Science vessels usually not designed to meet specific Coast Guard operations (e.g. buoy tending). Thus, Science vessels mainly do science missions and not tasked otherwise. There is no real increase in utilization.