Recent Changes to the Fisheries Act and What it Means for Freshwater Biodiversity
Published by karen | Tue, 07/10/2012 - 15:1Written by Eric B. (Rick) Taylor, Professor UBC Zoology and Curator of Fishes, Beaty Biodiversity Museum
The conservative government of Stephen Harper introduced several profound changes to Canada’s environmental legislation in its “budget” bill (C-38) of June 2012. Amongst these were changes to the federal Fisheries Act (FA), Canada’s longest serving and much envied1 piece of environmental legislation. Here, I will outline the history of the Fisheries Act, how it has been changed by the passage of Bill C-38, and what it means for Canada’s freshwater fish biodiversity. I focus on freshwater fishes because the key change to the FA involves habitat protection, and habitat loss and degradation are much more series threats to freshwater fishes than for marine fishes2,3. In addition, while there is often much focus on the diversity of marine fishes which is, undoubtedly, spectacular, consider that almost 40% of all fishes (some 33,000 species and counting) occur in freshwaters yet freshwater habitats make only 0.8% of the total surface area of the Earth! Per unit area, diversity of freshwater fishes is unmatched.
The current Fisheries Act received royal ascent one hundred and forty-four years ago in 1868, and replaced statutes regulating fisheries in the former Province of Canada and in New Brunswick that were even older. Despite its age and claims by some politicians that the FA is static and ripe for change, it is a living document that has been amended 17 times.
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