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Southern Resident Killer Whale Symposium

October 10-12, 2017
Vancouver, British Columbia

What We Heard Report

SYMPOSIUM OPENING ADDRESS

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Key Messages

Minister LeBlanc acknowledged the Coast Salish people, on whose traditional territory the symposium was taking place, and outlined that the objective of the symposium was to create an environment for collaborative dialogue and develop collective responsibility for the SRKW’s protection and recovery.

The agenda allowed all key stakeholders and Indigenous communities to comment on the protection and recovery needs for the SRKW. The Government of Canada is already taking action to enable long-term recovery of the SRKW, including:

“Individually, each of us has the capacity to effect change in our own small way. However, if we want to see lasting and meaningful change on a grander scale, we need to collectively invest in the health of our oceans and manage our marine ecosystems more thoughtfully. By doing that we can not only reduce the stressors associated with human activities, we can increase the resilience of ocean species like the Southern Resident Killer Whale.”

The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
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