Tag Archives: Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jonathan Wilkinson

Opinion: Federal fisheries committee challenges B.C. licensing policies

With a sole focus on protecting fish stocks, since the mid-1990s Fisheries and Oceans Canada has largely ignored the economic well-being of B.C.’s commercial fish harvesters and coastal communities. Something really extraordinary just happened. Someone in the government of Canada started paying attention to the B.C. fishery. Not just to the fish in the water, but to the 2,400 small- and medium-sized businesses that employ more than 5,000 fish harvesters to deliver high-value seafood products to local and global markets and sustain B.C.’s coastal communities and First Nations. >click to read< 21:52

MPAs – Canada to ban industrial activities inside marine-protected areas

Canada is banning industrial activities inside marine-protected areas (MPAs), including offshore oil and gas development and bottom-trawl fishing, but the prohibition won’t automatically apply to activities in fisheries conservation areas designated as marine refuges. The decision, effective Thursday, also bans ocean mining and ocean dumping in MPAs, which are being created to help meet an international commitment to protect 10 per cent of Canada’s ocean and coastal areas by 2020. >click to read<13:19

Canada: Scientist, fishermen applaud loosening of whale-protection restrictions

The federal government is easing restrictions aimed at protecting North Atlantic right whales based on data from last year, when no whales were found dead in Canadian waters. Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Transport Minister Marc Garneau were in Shippagan on Thursday to announce the changes, which include reducing the area that is out of bounds to fishermen.,, Lobster and crab fishing will not be allowed in the static-closure zone, where 90 per cent of North Atlantic right whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence were sighted last year. >click to read<21:45

Talking kettles of fish with Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jonathan Wilkinson

iPolitics spoke with Fisheries and Oceans Minister Jonathan Wilkinson earlier this month, on the day before his six-month anniversary at the helm of the department. We asked him about his role, marine protected areas, whales and oil spills, and other issues. This interview has been edited and condensed. Q: You’re half a year in. How’s it been going so far? A: Well, you’ve been keeping better track (of time) than I have. It’s been incredibly interesting and incredibly busy. I have been travelling enormous amounts. Obviously, when someone becomes a new minister in a new area, there’s a huge learning curve, but I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s certainly a challenge; lots of the files are not simple, but it’s been great. >click to read<12:45