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Proactive Disclosure

Recovering Aquatic Species at Risk

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is committed to protecting the aquatic biodiversity of Canada and recovering species at risk of becoming extinct. While recovery efforts can take years before realizing a difference, significant progress is being made. Let’s look at some of the issues, advances, and ongoing efforts, which have occurred in recent years in our shared struggle to recover some of Canada’s precious and aquatic species at risk.

And remember, Fisheries and Oceans Canada works closely with many partners in its recovery efforts. It is through our combined efforts that we really make a difference.

An Educational Kit for the Observation of Marine Mammals at Risk in the St. Lawrence

Photo credit:
Parc national de l’Île-Bonaventure-et-du-
Rocher-Percé

Marine observation activities in the St. Lawrence represent a flourishing industry. In 2008, nearly 600,000 visitors—20% of whom were international tourists—took part in whale-watching activities in Quebec. This being said, disturbance by watercraft can be a source of stress for marine mammals and affect the recovery of species at risk. To raise public awareness about good practices for marine mammal observation, the Réseau d’observation de mammifères marins (ROMM) (French only) has developed an educational kit on marine mammals at risk.

Patrol Project in Quebec Aids Copper Redhorse Recovery

Photo credit:
COVABAR

During the summer of 2010, through the efforts of Comité de concertation et de valorisation du bassin de la rivière Richelieu (French only) (COVABAR) awareness officers, nearly 1800 people were informed about the precarious status of the Copper Redhorse, a freshwater fish at risk found nowhere else in the world but in Quebec.

A Three Year Multi-Country DFO Investigation Around Threatened Northern Abalone Concludes Successfully

Photo credit:
Rick Harbo, DFO

The Conservation and Protection Intelligence and Investigation Services Unit from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) successfully concluded a three-year multi-country, multi-agency operation involving the illegal sale and possession of Northern abalone, a threatened species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA). In Canada, harvesting this species is strictly prohibited and possession is illegal under the federal Fisheries Act and SARA.

Protecting the Right Whale in the North-Atlantic Ocean

The north Atlantic right whale is one of the world’s most endangered large whales. Named the ‘right’ whale by whalers because it is slow-moving and easy to catch, this whale was hunted to near extinction by the late 1800s. In 1935, the League of Nations banned hunting of right whales in all oceans, but today only approximate 350 individuals survive.

Recovering Sea Otters in British Columbia

Once common across the Pacific Rim from northern Japan and Russia, to the Pacific coast of North America, down to Baja California, Mexico, sea otters were hunted to near extinction during the fur trade of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Canadian population was wiped out.

Watching Recovering Mussels in Ontario's Ausable River

Few people realize that freshwater mussels are the world’s most endangered species group. The mussel is a veritable “canary in a coalmine.” Amongst other things, mussels require good water quality to thrive, so their presence or absence is a clear indicator of the health of the river or lake they call home. And the sad reality is that they are disappearing from lakes and rivers across North America.

Deterring Abalone Poachers with Stiff Penalties

Photo credit: Bart DeFreitas

The stiffest penalties for abalone poaching in Canada’s history were handed down in April 2007 to three men caught by DFO Enforcement Officers illegally harvesting the threatened B.C. mollusc.

Building Better Natural Resource Stewardship in the North

After nearly two years of negotiations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Environment Canada, Parks Canada and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board have reached a landmark memorandum of understanding. This agreement spells out all of the required steps for working through the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) listing process in a collaborative, responsible way in the Nunavut Settlement Area of Canada's Arctic.

A New Generation of White Sturgeon Stewards

Spike, Nemo, and Terry Fox were carefully lowered and released into the Nechako River under the watchful eye of their kindergarten guardians. The three juvenile sturgeon were among 1,200 named and briefly adopted by elementary students in the 2008 Save Our Sturgeon Juvenile Release Event in Vanderhoof, B.C.