Speaking notes for The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc P.C., Q.C., M.P. Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard at the Monaco Blue Initiative 9th Edition

Edinburgh, SCOTLAND

April 9, 2018

Good morning, and thank you to our hosts for their warm welcome and hospitality here in Edinburgh.

We are honoured with the presence of:

• His Serene Highness, Prince Albert II of Monaco;
• Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal;
• Robert Calcagno, CEO of Oceanographic Institute;
• Serge Segura, French Ambassador of the Oceans; and
• Many other distinguished guests.

For over a decade, it has been the mission of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation to focus the world’s attention on combating climate change, supporting sustainable development, and encouraging environmental protection, especially for our oceans.

Canada shares the Foundation’s commitment to these activities and they are priorities for me as Canada’s Oceans Minister.

Last summer, the world watched as North Atlantic Right whales died in unprecedented numbers off the coast of Canada and the United States.

There are only about 450 of these majestic mammals left in the world. In the span of just a few months, twelve perished in the waters not far from my home in New Brunswick, on Canada’s East Coast.

These whales were killed by human activity. They were hit by ships and entangled in fishing gear. It was a real and stark reminder of the overwhelming impact that we, humans, are having on our planet, and especially on our oceans.

Canada was built on its oceans. The Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic coastlines mean that fisheries and shipping have been part of our way of life for centuries. And we know that we must develop an affordable and reliable path to a sustainable economy and a healthier planet.

At home, we have introduced new legislation that would enhance the rebuilding of depleted stocks and give us more flexibility to implement to protect species that face sudden threats.

We’re also making unprecedented investments in marine safety through our $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan, and focusing on restoration of sensitive coastal ecosystems.

As a signatory to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, we are committed to protecting and conserving at least 10% of our marine and coastal areas by 2020.

We are well on our way, having now protected 7.75%, up from less than 1% only three years ago, and last year I introduced legislation that would allow us to put a freeze on activities in our oceans while we carry out the process for the area to become a Marine Protected Area.

The panel on minimum standards that I announced at the Our Ocean Conference in Malta last fall is hard at work, and I look forward to sharing their recommendations.

I am also proud that Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity continues to have its home in beautiful Montreal, Quebec.

 I am thrilled that IMPAC5 – the 5^th International Marine Protected Area Congress – will be hosted in Vancouver, Canada, in 2021. We are also leading the way on developing stringent, science-based, meaningful criteria for Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures.

Significant investments by our government in science are helping Canadian researchers continue their important work in monitoring and studying changing ocean conditions. Canada is strengthening its observation systems and improving the availability of data to detect and track ocean conditions and stressors, monitor risks, and forecast storm surges to better understand the impact of these changes on coastal nations.

We are open to international partnerships that will support more robust global observational networks, hydrography and charting activities, and improve data sharing.

Worldwide economic and ecological losses from illegal, unreported and unregulated, or IUU, fishing are immense.

Canada is stepping up its efforts to combat IUU fishing on the high seas by building stronger international partnerships—with other governments, technology providers and law enforcement—to enhance our world’s food security and the health of our ocean ecosystems. Having signed the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing, we are now working to ratify it by next year.

We know that major challenges cannot be successfully addressed by any one country, or actor, alone. That’s why Canada is a committed leader and partner on many international initiatives to help protect our ocean ecosystems while at the same time growing the economy.

In December 2016, Canada signed the Hamilton Declaration on Collaboration for the Conservation of the Sargasso Sea, helping to protect an area of the high seas that’s home to juvenile fish and turtles, and is the spawning ground for the American eel which then migrates to freshwater in Canada’s Atlantic coast.

I’m also proud that Canada was part of the historic agreement in principle to prevent unregulated commercial fishing in the high seas of the central Arctic ocean — the first time an international agreement of this magnitude was reached before any commercial fishing takes place on a region of the high seas.

Oceans are a theme in Canada’s G7 presidency this year. We know that previous G7 meetings on oceans led to important commitments to address marine litter, including plastics and micro plastics; to combat IUU fishing; to enhance our knowledge and understanding of the ocean and its bio-diversity, including the seabed; and to help address the challenges faced by small island developing states and other vulnerable states.

Canada looks forward to conversations at the Leaders’ Summit, and at a Ministerial meeting in the fall on oceans, around enhancing global ocean observation, building stronger coasts and coastal communities, and to reducing global IUU fishing.

We also look forward to discussions around oceans at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting happening in London later this month.

Our planet is endowed with an abundance of natural wealth, and we all have tough choices to make about how we develop our resources, how we share those resources and how we grow our economies.

As the North Atlantic Right whales were dying last summer, an incredible thing happened.

Commercial fishers, the shipping industry, scientists, environmental organizations and countless others came together to figure out how to save these whales. It was by no means a perfect process, and we don’t know the outcome yet—we will see what happens when the whales migrate northward in the coming months.

What we do know is that industry, scientists, environmentalists, and dare I say, even politicians, put aside their differences to tackle a pressing problem.

Our oceans face the same fate as the North Atlantic Right whale: they are dying.

We understand the impacts that our actions have on the planet, and especially on our oceans. But the flip side of the destructive force of human activity is our ingenuity and the potential for us to come together to solve the problems we have had a hand in creating, and to build resilient communities that are capable of taking on these challenges too.

I believe that, working together, we can protect our oceans for generations to come, and Canada stands ready to be a global leader in tacking the challenges ahead.

I very much look forward to our discussions today.

Thank you.