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Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. And thank you for the opportunity to speak to you.
Let me start by congratulating you on your 75th anniversary. As Minister — and as a husband — I certainly know the importance of remembering anniversaries!
I admit it’s been a long time coming. For the last number of years, Gary Penney and Tony Rodgers have been encouraging me and my predecessors to attend and address your Sunday morning breakfast gathering. The truth is — we’ve been putting it off waiting for this Anniversary!
But seriously, let me commend you on this momentous occasion. As Minister — and a proud Nova Scotian — I know the special place our natural resources have in the hearts of all Nova Scotians. Our long-standing heritage of hunting and angling is one of the clearest examples of this.
And for the last 75 years, your members have provided a strong and consistent voice for the men and women who keep this heritage alive.
I know that the people who founded your organization seven-and-a-half decades ago would be proud of the work you’re doing to carry their vision into the future.
And they’d be proud of your commitment to partnerships throughout the province — and throughout Atlantic Canada.
That’s why your theme this year — "75 Years of Partnerships in Wildlife Conservation" — is so appropriate. And I’m pleased to say that my department — represented by a number of officials here this morning — shares your commitment to partnerships.
This isn’t just a happy coincidence. Over the years, the people in this room — from your federation and from DFO — along with countless others, have worked hard to protect and enhance our natural resources, and to do it as a team.
This morning, I want to look to the future of these partnerships, and describe three new initiatives to enhance and protect Nova Scotia’s fish and fish habitat, and to do it, once again, as a team.
The first is the recent Budget investment of $30 million to establish the Atlantic Salmon Endowment Fund.
The Fund is similar to the one created on the West Coast in 2001. And, like its West Coast counterpart, the Fund opens up new avenues for co-operation.
Over the years, DFO has worked with a number of groups to maintain, protect and enhance the once-mighty salmon and its habitat. Groups like yours. Groups like the 40,000-member strong Atlantic Salmon Federation. Aboriginal groups. Sportfishing groups. Community watershed groups. Basically anybody who cares about the salmon’s future.
The Fund takes co-operation to a new level.
It will be managed at arms’ length from DFO. It will have charitable status and be held in trust, and be capable of drawing on contributions from public and private sources. It will give the thousands of Atlantic Canadians who care about the salmon’s future the tools and resources they need to help the Atlantic salmon through these tough times, and ensure that future anglers can enjoy strong, sustainable salmon stocks.
Over the coming weeks and months, DFO will invite the Atlantic provinces and Quebec — along with a variety of stakeholders, including Aboriginal and local community groups — to share their views on the Fund’s design and establishment. We expect that the first funding announcements will commence in 2006.
But clearly, measures like this need to be supported by long-term change.
Which brings me to the second initiative I’d like to talk about this morning.
In January, I asked Neil Bellefontaine to lead the development of a Wild Atlantic Salmon Policy.
I think everyone in this room knows the challenges faced by Atlantic salmon. This once-strong stock has fallen on hard times. We’ve seen serious declines over the last thirty years, to the point that some stocks — like Inner Bay of Fundy salmon — were listed under the Species at Risk Act.
We need a policy that does three things:
- one — a policy that maintains and restores healthy and diverse populations of Atlantic salmon, and productive habitat for them;
- two — a policy that safeguards genetic and ecosystem integrity;
- and three — a policy that will help us make decisions in an open and transparent manner, while balancing biological, social and economic costs and benefits.
In short, we need a policy that takes into account the many challenges facing salmon — and that proposes a way to deal with these challenges.
Neil and his team are working hard to meet this goal. We’ve established a DFO steering committee to develop a policy framework. A draft overview of the policy is in the works, and two series of consultations with key stakeholders — including groups like yours — will be completed by the fall. Once the consultations are carried out, a final framework will be developed and released for public review.
I’m confident that the approved, final policy will help us build a brighter future for salmon on this coast.
The third initiative I’d like to talk about is the Maritime Provinces Stewardship Strategy. For some time now, a working group led by Stephen Chase of DFO’s Gulf Region — with representatives from the Atlantic Salmon Federation and the governments of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and PEI — has been working on the Strategy.
Like the Fund and the Policy for Atlantic salmon, the Strategy — while not focused on salmon alone — operates with the overarching premise that we stand a better chance to conserve, restore and enhance fish and fish habitat by working co-operatively, rather than individually.
I firmly believe that co-operation and partnerships with the provinces, NGOs and groups like yours is the single best approach for conserving and protecting our fisheries over the long term. Through the Strategy, we want to expand and strengthen this kind of relationship, and give people who care about fish and fish habitat the ability to play a role in protecting and conserving it for the future.
Ladies and gentlemen, these three initiatives will spell a brighter future for the recreational fishery in Atlantic Canada — and of course, for anglers such as yourselves.
The Atlantic Salmon Endowment Fund gives us the means to finance projects that conserve and restore Atlantic salmon and its habitat.
The Wild Atlantic Salmon Policy gives us the guidance for using those funds and other DFO resources targeted to Atlantic salmon.
And the Maritime Provinces Stewardship Strategy gives us a template for partnering and delivering projects on the ground — "where the rubber hits the road."
While there’s still much work to be done, I’m confident that we’re on the right track to finding new and better ways to work together for the good of our fish stocks.
I’d also like to say a few words this morning about some of the work being done under the Species at Risk Act, which came into force almost two years ago, and has a direct impact on hunters and anglers across the country.
As you know, the Act identifies wildlife species at risk in Canada, and sets out actions necessary to ensure the protection and recovery of these species. If a species is listed as threatened or endangered, it’s now an offence to harm an individual member of that species, or its critical habitat.
As I mentioned earlier, salmon in the inner Bay of Fundy are already listed under the Act. After careful review, my officials have advised that the likelihood of harming these salmon with activities like angling is remote. As a result, recreational angling seasons for other species have not been closed in the inner Bay of Fundy.
In the meantime, all new activities that could harm inner Bay of Fundy salmon will require applications and assessments to ensure that they pose no risk to salmon recovery. So far, only scientific stock-recovery activities will be permitted.
Many of you are also aware that last year I was asked to provide commercial access to striped bass in the Bay of Fundy. I did not approve that access for a number of reasons, including conservation. Subsequent to my decision, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada — or COSEWIC — assessed the Bay of Fundy striped bass population as threatened. I expect the formal COSEWIC assessment later this year. This will prompt consultations with provinces, stakeholders and Aboriginal groups throughout the region. Those consultations will help determine if the Bay of Fundy striped bass population becomes listed under the Species at Risk Act.
The consultations and the decision process will take some time and no changes to striped bass angling seasons in the Bay of Fundy are expected for 2005. Your federation will be given full opportunity to express its views on how such a potential listing of striped bass will affect your members.
The point is that the Act isn’t simply something for government to do alone. Successful implementation requires active stewardship and participation from groups like your federation. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to learn about how to get involved in this Act’s implementation. I can assure you that my department will continue to work closely with other governments, Aboriginal groups, NGOs and groups like yours to make the Species at Risk Act work.
Ladies and gentlemen, if I have a key message in my remarks today, I suppose that’s it. Co-operation is essential.
From building a brighter future for fish stocks like salmon, to dealing with issues like the Species at Risk Act, we rely on groups like yours making your voices heard.
So I encourage you to continue working with my department, to protect and enhance fish and fish habitat for the future.
Now earlier, I said that we’d put off coming here to wait for this special anniversary.
I was only half-joking.
Because I wanted to be here in person on the event of your 75th anniversary to present your federation with this certificate. It commemorates 75 years of dedicated service by your federation and its members. It’s something that your federation’s members — past and present — can take great pride in.
[Presentation of Certificate]
On behalf of the Government of Canada, and everyone in my department, I thank you.
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