News & Events
Developer fined $134,000 for destroying Skagit salmon streams - The Washington Department of Ecology has fined real estate developer David Milne $134,000 after continued mismanagement of a 40-acre construction site caused the destruction of steelhead and salmon streams in Mount Vernon in 2008. The Department of Ecology also issued an administrative order requiring restoration of the damaged streams.
Illegal Alteration of Fish Habitat Results in Heavy Fines for B.C. Development Corporation
A British Columbia development corporation was required to pay $375,000 in reparation costs and fines after pleading guilty to illegally altering fish habitat in the Shuswap Lake area of British Columbia. The Corporation was charged with clearing forest and vegetation from seven hectares of a relatively rare landform in the Eagle River delta area on Shuswap Lake.
CanNor Invests in Yukon Fish Habitat Management System - Yukon Department of Environment has received $93,000 over two years to further develop the fish habitat model and monitoring system that assist with the regulation and monitoring of placer mining.
4th International Conference on Natural Channel Systems
September 27-28, 2010
Mississauga, Ontario
HydroVision International Conference
July 27-30, 2010
Charlotte Convention Center – Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Audit Report on Federal Fish Habitat Management in Canada
The Office of the Auditor General for Canada (Commissioner on the Environment and Sustainable Development has issued a report entitled 2009 Spring Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development - Chapter 1 Fish Habitat.
The report draws several recommendations aimed at improving fish habitat management at the federal level in Canada.
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) should ensure that an appropriate risk-based quality assurance system is in place for the review of decisions on referrals;
- DFO should accelerate implementation of Habitat Compliance Decision Framework;
- DFO should ensure that its enforcement quality assurance and control processes are sufficient to demonstrate that actions have been taken in accordance with the Compliance and Enforcement Policy. The Department should provide guidance on the type of complaints that fishery officers should respond to and take action on, and specify minimum documentation requirements for occurrences;
- DFO should clarify the parts of the Habitat Management Program that it will continue to administer, the extent that it wants others to deliver the program on its behalf, and the resource implications. The Department should assess whether accountability mechanisms in all of its existing agreements are working effectively enough to report and assess the results achieved through its collaboration with others. In addition, it should review the agreements to ensure that they are aligned with its view of the long-term goals of the Habitat Management Program;
- DFO should develop habitat indicators to apply in ecosystems with significant human activity and should use these indicators to assess whether progress is being made on the Habitat Policy’s long-term objective to achieve an overall net gain in fish habitat;
- DFO should determine what actions are required to fully implement the 1986 Habitat Policy and confirm whether it intends to implement all aspects of the Policy;
- Environment Canada should set out clear objectives and results expectations for its Fisheries Act responsibilities, and establish accountability for achieving the desired results, including providing national coordination and guidance on the administration of the Act;
- Environment Canada should develop a risk-based approach to the Fisheries Act pollution prevention provisions to identify, assess, and address significant risks associated with non-compliance with the Act;
- Environment Canada should review existing Fisheries Act regulations, guidelines, and best management practices to ensure that they are adequate, up-to-date, relevant, and enforceable;
- Environment Canada should ensure that its enforcement quality assurance and control practices are sufficient to demonstrate that its actions have been taken in accordance with the Compliance and Enforcement Policy; and
- DFO, with the support of Environment Canada, should clearly establish the expectations for Environment Canada’s administration of the pollution prevention provisions, including the expected interactions between the two departments to support the delivery of the 1986 Habitat Policy.
New Canadian Memorandum of Understanding on Fish and Fish Habitat
On March 7, 2008 the Government of Canada and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Fish and Fish Habitat to better work together to better conserve, protect and enhance fish and fish habitat throughout Canada. The agreemtn allows the Government of Canada, through Fisheries and Oceans Canada, to collaborate with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to share information and develop tools to increase stewardship of fish and fish habitat, and to improve the efficiency of regulatory reviews for municipal projects that may impact on fish and fish habitat.
Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Fisheries and Oceans Canada Memorandum of Understanding on Fish and Fish Habitat
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