Yesterday, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Sean Casey and Member of Parliament for Miramichi—Grand Lake, Pat Finnigan traveled to the Miramichi River to observe Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s technicians and collaborators from local non-profit organizations carry out a daily check of a fish trap on the river.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s annual on-water operations to detect the presence of Asian carps in the Canadian waters of the Great Lakes has resumed for the 2019 season. The surveillance operations, which run from May into late October, involve the targeted sampling of 37 Canadian tributaries by 18 field staff organized into five Asian Carp Program sampling crews.
Wild Atlantic salmon is a keystone species, integral to the history and culture of many Atlantic Canadians communities. However, in many geographic areas, Atlantic salmon stocks have been declining. Significant and co-ordinated action is needed to restore and maintain healthy wild Atlantic salmon populations for future generations.
Canada is an ocean nation. With the world’s longest coastline and surrounded by three oceans, our marine ecosystems are home to an abundance of marine life and support over 350,000 Canadian jobs.
The Government of Canada is committed to a renewed relationship with Indigenous peoples, based on the recognition of rights, respect, cooperation, and partnership.
Communities across Canada are supported by small craft harbours that provide the commercial fishing industry with safe and accessible facilities. The communities of Bayfield, Lion’s Head, Port Elgin, Dyer’s Bay, Howdenvale, Meaford, Big Bay (North Keppel), White Cloud Island, Pembroke, and Silver Water in Ontario are welcoming important federal investments that will benefit their local harbour infrastructure.
With the longest coastline in the world, Canada’s coastal communities rely on the fish and seafood industry as an integral contributor to local and regional economies. This is why the Government of Canada and the Province of New Brunswick today announced funding support to the Association des Crabiers Acadiens Inc. (ACA) through the Atlantic Fisheries Fund.
Today, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Sean Casey, reaffirmed the Government of Canada’s commitment to combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing at the Collision Conference in Toronto. Our Government is contributing $1.2 million to Global Fishing Watch (GFW) to support the continued growth of its free, open-source mapping platform to track and analyse fishing activity around the world.
Canada has some of the most spectacular coastlines in the world, and our oceans are home to marine life of many kinds, including the iconic Southern Resident killer whale. These awe-inspiring mammals are celebrated by British Columbians and all Canadians and hold significant cultural meaning for coastal First Nations.
Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, and the Member of Parliament for Cumberland — Colchester, Bill Casey, met with the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq to discuss plans for their Coastal Restoration Fund projects in the Northumberland Strait and the Bay of Fundy.
