FEDERAL PROTECTIONS FOR FISH EXPAND UNDER NEW LAWS

The federal government will spend $284 million over the next five years to enforce new laws protecting habitat wherever fish are present, Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc says.

A number of amendments to the Fisheries Act were introduced in the House of Commons on Tuesday to expand the reach of a prohibition against anything that alters or impacts fish habitat to all waters where fish exist.

Changes to the act in 2012 meant the protections were enforced only for fish listed in provincial registries as being part of commercial, recreational or Indigenous fisheries.

Officials with Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in Ottawa the 2012 changes resulted in a lot of confusion about exactly what projects would require a federal government assessment, because it wasn’t always clear which fish needed protecting and which didn’t.

Under the new law, only major projects will go through a federal assessment with more minor ones, such as smaller things being done on individual farms or in small municipalities, being given guidelines to follow.

Martin Olszynski, a University of Calgary law professor who worked as a lawyer for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans between 2007 and 2013, said it makes sense to allocate the funds available to the biggest projects to be assessed, as long as the government requires all small projects to be tracked and registered so the cumulative effects within a specific ecosystem or watershed can be considered.

The new law does require the government to take cumulative effects into consideration when new projects are being considered.

Exactly which projects will require a federal assessment and ministerial permit to proceed and which will not will be spelled out in regulations which are in development now. Decisions made through assessments will be made public, something that is not required now.

Susanna Fuller, senior marine coordinator at the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax said this overhaul was badly needed and the act now provides a clear mandate for conservation of fisheries and fish habitat as well as protection from pollution. However, Fuller said important details have yet to be sorted out when it comes to rebuilding depleted fish stocks.

The new act also gives the minister legislated authority to take emergency action to respond to unexpected events or threats to fish or marine mammals.

LeBlanc said the change was inspired by the incidents in the Gulf of St. Lawrence last summer when a dozen endangered North Atlantic Right Whales were killed.