Tag Archives: canada
US and Canada reject Sweden’s call for lobster ban
Canada and the United States on Monday rejected Swedish calls for a ban on imports of live American lobsters, saying fears of an invasive species displacing its European cousin are unsubstantiated. Speaking for both countries, Steven Wilson, a deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told a news conference that Swedes had “found some evidence that there are lobsters in their waters”. “But those lobsters could not thrive and could not rise to a population that could either pass disease or overcome the native species,” he said. Current evidence points only to lobsters escaping, not a full blown invasion, he added. “There just isn’t enough scientific information that gives you the impression that this is something that could take hold , which is important in the invasive-species standard internationally,” Read the rest here 11:24
Canada approves genetically modified salmon for sale to public
Canadian grocery stores have received the regulatory green light to begin selling fast-growing, genetically modified salmon – the first such species to gain such approval from federal agencies. Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Thursday they had completed a scientific review of AquAdvantage’s salmon and it has passed the final regulatory hurdle for the farmed fish. The fish was developed by U.S.-based biotechnology firm AquaBounty Technologies Inc. to promote rapid growth of the fish during early life, using a growth hormone gene from the Chinook salmon in an Atlantic salmon. The company has one facility in Canada, in Bay Fortune, P.E.I., and a production centre in Panama. Dave Conley, a spokesman for the firm, said in an email that it will be a year or more before the firm has any production of market-sized fish. Read the rest here 18:53
Exclusive: Canada fisheries protest US-proposed IUU Fishing Enforcement Act Import Rules
Fisheries in Canada and other countries are protesting new efforts by United States to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) imports, arguing they already have documentation and other good fisheries management measures that are required in the new regulations and should not be required to go through the time and expense required to comply. Following the passage into law of the Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Enforcement Act, which was approved unanimously by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Obama in 2015, the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA) is seeking to align its rules regarding permitting and reporting requirements “to provide for traceability of seafood products offered for entry into the U.S. supply chain, and to ensure that these products were lawfully acquired,” Read the rest here 19:02
U.S. Coast Guard Unveils a New Model for Cooperation Atop the World
The United States Coast Guard announced Friday the creation of a new international forum for cooperation in the Arctic. Signed at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, the new Arctic Coast Guard Forum will include coast guards or similar agencies from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States. “Today’s historic Arctic Coast Guard Forum represents a critical step forward in our collective efforts to promote safety, security and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic,” said Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft. Read the rest here 10:50
Canada appears poised to sign international Arctic fish deal
“We can confirm that we are planning to attend a meeting in Norway with other 
coastal states to discuss further measures against unregulated high-seas fishing in the central Arctic Ocean,” Carole Saindon wrote in an email.”Details of the results of those discussions will be released at the conclusion of the meeting.”Canada, the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway reached an interim agreement in February 2014 to work toward protecting Arctic waters beyond the 200-kilometre territorial limit of their respective shores, an area the size of the Mediterranean Sea. Read the rest here 08:11
Atlantic Salmon Federation calling on Greenland to end commercial fishery of Atlantic salmon
Fishermen and conservationists are urging Greenland to end its commercial fishery of 
, arguing the stock is at historic lows and won’t recover if the harvest continues. It says that even though the population has been steadily declining over the last several years, Greenland has maintained its factory fishery of salmon that migrate north from river systems in Canada, the United States and elsewhere. The group released the figures ahead of a critical meeting next week in Labrador,,, Read the rest here 14:55
Russia furthers Arctic dreams while America sleeps
Murkowski’s starting point in her presentation was that the United States should have prepared for assuming the chairmanship of the Arctic Council but did not. The United States took over the two-year position from Canada last Friday. Obama and, I imagine, his predecessors would never admit any such failure. Why, last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry, the Arctic Council’s new chairman, stated the president’s Arctic policy. It is coping with climate change, period. Read the rest here 13:35
Fish farm madness: Harper proposes lax regulations for fish-farm industry
In its proposed regulatory changes to the Fisheries Act, the Harper government is not only catering to the Norwegian-based multinational fish-farm industry in Canada, it is also collaborating with the U.S. government in little-known efforts to “harmonize” regulations across many sectors, including the aquaculture industry. The results could have devastating impacts on Canada’s ocean environment, wild fish, and our fishing industries. Read the rest here 09:41
The Future of Fishing in the Central Arctic
Increasingly, it’s the future of fisheries that is taking center stage in the geopolitical discussions that come with planning for the future Arctic. This was made evident on January 15 and 16, 2015, when 40 Arctic experts from the United States, Canada, Russia, China, Iceland, Denmark, and Greenland travelled to Tongji University in Shanghai to attend the first “Roundtable on Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Issues.” Read the rest here 18:21
Alexandra Morton: Canada is changing its laws for dirty salmon
On the January 10, 2015, hurricane-force winds hit the coast of Norway. Over 100,000 farm fish escaped during the storm, including 63,000 North American steelhead. Sport fishermen, furious that these foreign fish were teeming through the fjords near Bergen, set to work recapturing the oddly disfigured steelhead. They sent samples to a lab at the University of Bergen, where their fears were confirmed. The farm fish were positive for a suite of farm viruses. Read the rest here 20:37
Opinion: The race to catch the last fish in the sea – WILL we ever get our fisheries management better than half right?
I guess it was as a result of being asked to write the Keep Australian Fishing report that I continue to keep a weather eye on developments in fisheries management around the globe. Well perhaps “globe” is something of an exaggeration. Given that I speak and read only two languages – English and Australian – perhaps it would be more accurate to say that my interests tend to centre on NZ, Oz, USA, Canada, Ireland and the UK. Read the rest here 22:04
Why Canada, U.S. must resolve their Arctic border disputes
As most Canadians are aware, Canada and United States have two sovereignty disputes in the Arctic. Our differences regarding the Northwest Passage are better known, but we have also had an ongoing dispute with the Americans as to how to divide the Beaufort Sea. Read the rest here 09:11
Canada mulled withdrawing from program that snagged illegal Chinese fishing boat
Canadian authorities last year seriously questioned their continued participation in international efforts to scour the Pacific Ocean for illegal drift net fishing boats. “We internally debated whether we should even continue because we could only identify legitimate fishing vessels,” Fisheries and Oceans Canada conservation and protection director Larry Paike said in an interview. Read more here 18:30
Canada is ready to create a joint venture with Russian companies on the catch of king crab in the Barents sea
Representatives of the fishing industry Canada is ready to create a joint venture on extraction of snow crab in the Barents sea. In addition, canadian business intends to discuss unclaimed quotas for the catch of fish and other seafood in the North Atlantic. Canada is ready to increase export of shrimp is the main part of canadian exports of fish industry in Russia. Read more here 12:53
Canada – changing its laws to fit salmon farming , Alexandra Morton
The salmon farming industry in BC is on the verge of a major expansion and the federal government is changing Canada’s laws to make sure it happens.,, While there are many forms of aquaculture, the committee seems preoccupied with net pen salmon farming. Farming salmon in net pens is the problem child of aquaculture in Canada, the sqeaky wheel, with lobby presence in Ottawa. Read more here 16:27
Canada agrees to work to prevent fishing in High Arctic until there’s more study
Canada and four other Arctic nations have agreed to work toward a deal to block commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean until more is known about the potential of the resource. The agreement with the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway was reached late Wednesday in Nuuk, Greenland, after three days of talks Read more here 18:56
Computer Model Predictions: Major Reductions in Seafloor Marine Life from Climate Change by 2100
An international team of scientists predict seafloor dwelling marine life will decline by up to 38 per cent in the North Atlantic and over five per cent globally over the next century. These changes will be driven by a reduction in the plants and animals that live at the surface of the oceans that feed deep-sea communities. As a result, ecosystem services such as fishing will be threatened. Read more@sciencedaily 11:13
Canada signal’s intentions to claim the North Pole and surrounding Arctic waters
After a decade of surveying the country’s eastern and far north seabeds and gathering supporting evidence, a claim was submitted to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf on Friday. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said the filing mainly concerns the outer limits of Canada’s continental shelf in the Atlantic Ocean. But it also includes “preliminary information concerning the outer limits of (Canada’s) continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean,” he said. more@abs-cbnnews 20:14
Shea extols trade agreement with EU at P.E.I. oyster conference
WOODSTOCK – Federal Fisheries Minister Gail Shea told an oyster conference Friday that Canada has some of the most rigorous standards in the world to ensure that its aquaculture industry is safe, healthy and sustainable. more@theguardian 14:26
Pact between Canada, U.S. – Columbia River Treaty: Review of landmark deal could have big implications for county
As local leaders gathered to discuss the treaty during a meeting last month, they did so against a backdrop of political acrimony at the federal level. Representatives from a wide range of agencies and organizations gathered in a Northeast Portland office building on what turned out to be the final day of October’s government shutdown. People in the room talked about consensus and collaboration. Down the hall, shuttered federal offices offered a visual reminder of dysfunction elsewhere. more@thecolumbian 10:35
Third Time in Three Years – Pesticides Believed to be Cause of Fish Kills in Canada
For the third time in three years, dead fish have been spotted rising to the surface of Barclay Brook where thousands of fish died in 2011 and 2012 after pesticides from farmers’ fields ran off into the water. Agricultural runoff into streams and other aquatic habitat is not a rare occurrence. Runoff impacts aquatic life, especially sensitive and endangered species. In the U.S., sizeable fish kills have resulted from pesticide use, continued@newsparkforest
Low price for lobster stirs anger in Canada – But protests similar to the ones last year are not expected to target Maine.
Protests in Canada over low lobster prices are rekindling memories of last summer, when Canadian fishermen blocked truckloads of Maine-caught lobsters from being delivered to processing plants, but industry members in Maine don’t expect a repeat. continued
Arctic Commercial Fishing Deal Would Set a Precedent
World Politics Review – Later this month, representatives from Russia, Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United States will meet in Washington to discuss a possible accord that would regulate commercial fishing near the North Pole. continued
Nova Scotia company ships live crab worldwide
Frozen snow crab harvested off the coast of Nova Scotia has fed the masses for decades, but shipping the product live has long been thought impossible due to low survival rates. That was until NovaCan Live Seafood Ltd. came along with an entirely new ship-to-shore-to-dinner table process that has put another Nova Scotia seafood product in stores worldwide. Read more
