Fisheries and Oceans Canada

News – DFO Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program Wave 2 Launch

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After a very successful Wave One Engagement, DFO’s Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program (FFHPP) is ready to undertake the next wave of engagement. FFHPP’s Wave Two Engagement is seeking input to continue modernizing and/or developing policies, frameworks, instruments, and guidance to further implement the fish and fish habitat protection provisions of the Fisheries Act.

The FFHPP Engagement Platform will house all engagement activities, provide participants with information and updates, and ensure all input and feedback will be directed to the FFHPP team.

Please visit the FFHPP Engagement Platform to register to participate in platform activities, and find new opportunities to participate, share, collaborate, and learn.

Government of Canada

Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health, 2021

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The Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health is the federal-provincial agreement that supports the restoration and protection of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. The Agreement outlines how the governments of Canada and Ontario will cooperate and coordinate their efforts to restore, protect and conserve the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. It is the means by which Canadian federal departments interact with the Ontario provincial ministries to help meet Canada’s obligations under the Canada-US Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA).

On May 27, 2021, the governments of Canada and Ontario renewed their commitment to restore, protect and conserve the Great Lakes by signing the Canada-Ontario Agreement on Great Lakes Water Quality and Ecosystem Health (COA), 2021. Read more

News – Registration Now Open for Canada Water Agency National and Regional Freshwater Policy Forums

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Registration Now Open for Canada Water Agency National and Regional Freshwater Policy Forums

The Government of Canada is creating a new Canada Water Agency to work together with the provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, local authorities, scientists and others to find the best ways to keep our water safe, clean and well-managed. In December 2020, the Canada Water Agency discussion paper, Toward the Creation of a Canada Water Agency, was released. It presents key issues for consideration in the Government of Canada’s approach to creating a Canada Water Agency.

Read more

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

News – DFO Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program

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Over the coming months DFO’s Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program will be seeking input from Indigenous Peoples, governments and regulators, the regulated community and conservation groups to modernize or develop new policies, frameworks, instruments and guidance to further implement the fish and fish habitat protection provisions of the modernized Fisheries Act.

Please visit the FFHPP engagement platform frequently for opportunities to participate, share, and learn.

Ontario’s Sustainable Bait Management Strategy

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Province releases sustainable bait management strategy

A decision was made on June 17, 2020 to proceed with Ontario’s Sustainable Bait Management Strategy. Following a 45-day comment period, as well as feedback received from previous engagement throughout the Bait Policy Review process, revisions were made to the draft strategy to create a revised Sustainable Bait Management Strategy.

This policy includes a variety of elements related to bait management in Ontario, including the movement of bait, personal harvest, permitted bait species, the use of bait in Brook Trout lakes, and aspects related to commercial bait operations.

The proposal will be implemented through amendments to the Ontario Fishery Regulations under the federal Fisheries Act, and Ontario Regulation 664/98 (Fish Licensing) under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.

Consultation: Ontario Conservation Authorities

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Consultation: Ontario Conservation Authorities

The Province is reviewing the Conservation Authorities Act to define the core mandate of conservation authorities and their programs and services. Feedback is requested to help improve the overall governance, oversight and accountability of conservation authorities to protect and preserve Ontario’s natural spaces.

See https://www.ontario.ca/page/consultation-ontario-conservation-authorities for more information.

North American minnows are no longer Cyprinids

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Most minnows native to North America are now considered family Leuciscidae (minnows). Family Cyprinidae (carps) includes Common Carp and Goldfish. Grass Carp, Silver Carp, Bighead Carp and Black Carp are family Xenocyprinidae (East Asian minnows). Recent phylogenetic analyses have resulted in several sub-families being recognized as full families. See Phylogenetic classification of bony fishes (https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-017-0958-3), Phylogenetic classification of extant genera of fishes of the order Cypriniformes (https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4476.1.4), and Phylogenetic relationships and classification of the Holarctic family Leuciscidae (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.026).

New Proposal to Protect Ontario’s Waters and Fisheries

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Province releases draft bait management strategy

“Our government is committed to protecting Ontario’s vibrant fisheries and the industries that rely on them by reducing the risk of spreading aquatic invasive species and fish diseases,” Minister Yakabuski said. “We are aiming for a policy that protects our lakes and rivers while minimizing the impact on anglers and increasing business certainty for the commercial industry that relies on bait.” Read more

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

A modernized Fisheries Act for Canada

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On June 21, 2019 Canada modernized the Fisheries Act.

On August 28th, 2019 provisions of the new Fisheries Act came into force including new protections for fish and fish habitat in the form of standards, codes of practice, and guidelines for projects near water.

Changes to the Fisheries Act will help:

  • restore protections for fish and fish habitat
  • enhance marine protection and habitat restoration
  • improve management of projects
  • preserve independent inshore fisheries
  • strengthen Indigenous role in project reviews, monitoring and policy development

See Introducing Canada’s modernized Fisheries Act for additional information.

Tench captured in Bay of Quinte

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Tench (tinca tinca) are native to Europe and western Asia, and were introduced to North America in the late 19th century for use as a food and sport fish.

In eastern Canada, Tench were illegally imported from Germany to a Quebec fish farm in the late 1980s and had escaped into the Richelieu River by the early 1990s, a tributary of the St. Lawrence River. In 2016, Tench first appeared in Ontario waters of Lake St. Francis near Cornwall, downstream of the Moses-Saunders Dam, a barrier to natural upstream dispersal.

In the October of 2018, a commercial fisherman captured a Tench in the Bay of Quinte near the Belleville water treatment plant. The fish measured 46.5 cm TL and weighed 1.39 kg. It is possible that the fish was introduced via “bait bucket transfer” as juveniles could easily be mistaken as species of baitfish.

View the Tench distribution at EDDMapS.