Tag Archives: WWF-Canada
Fisheries Minister Wilkinson fires back at enviro groups for suing over killer whales
Canada’s fisheries minister has fired back at environmental groups for launching court action to protect endangered southern resident killer whales instead of working with the federal government on the issue. Jonathan Wilkinson said the groups abandoned discussions shortly after they began with federal officials and representatives from the transportation and fishing industries. “They were the ones who initially asked to convene the multi-stakeholder forum. They effectively attended one meeting and then decided that they would pursue a more adversarial approach rather than a collaborative approach.” >click to read<10:48
Canada’s marine protected area laws need a ‘floor of basic protections’
The oceans that surround Canada on three coasts are under considerable pressure from a range of human-driven stressors. But measures in place to protect and de-stress them are a weak patchwork. The consensus is that by prohibiting some of the main culprits, such as commercial fishing and oil drilling, within their boundaries, designated marine protected areas (MPAs) go a long way to relieving the stress seas are under. “But right now our MPA laws are like baby Aspirin,” says Linda Nowlan, who heads the marine program at West Coast Environmental Law. “What we need is a heavy duty Advil.” That was her message to the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards Friday during the first of three days of consultations in Ottawa. >click to read<14:27
Enviro group concerned about decline in capelin abundance in N.L.
A national conservation organization is expressing concerns about what it says is a 70 per cent decline in capelin abundance over the last two years in Newfoundland and Labrador. A news release from WWF Canada says that while environmental factors are driving the decline, it cannot rule out fishing as another factor. It says due to limitations with its surveys, the Fisheries Department cannot accurately estimate the total number of capelin in the water, and therefore cannot conclude with certainty the impact fishing has had on the stock. >click to read<11:23
WWF-Canada report says Canadian forage fish are in trouble
A new WWF-Canada report says Canadian forage fish are in trouble and more needs to be done to protect the small marine species. The conservation group says the report looked at 27 fisheries and found that three fisheries in Atlantic Canada are in critical condition, including two herring stocks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The report also said the status of stocks was unknown in 75 per cent of the fisheries, including all capelin fisheries and all the fisheries in British Columbia. It says in all cases, fisheries management does not sufficiently account for predator needs. The group says forage fish are a vitally important food source for predators such as whales and seabirds, and are also critical to the recovery of commercial fisheries such as northern cod. It says more needs to be done to protect forage fish, including gathering adequate data about stocks to inform fisheries management decisions. Link WWF-Canada warns that small fish are in big trouble Link 09:40
