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Fish Habitat Management Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Fish includes all parts of fish, shellfish, crustaceans and marine animals, and their eggs, sperm, spawn, larvae, spat and juvenile stages of fish, shellfish, crustaceans and marine animals.
Fish habitat means "all areas that fish depend on directly or indirectly throughout their life stages. It includes spawning grounds and nursery, rearing, food supply and migration areas".
Any work or undertaking that may affect fish habitat.
Any project that upsets the physical, chemical and biological balance of fish habitat may damage it. Examples of projects that could potentially cause harm to fish habitat include the following: removal of riparian habitat and potential introduction of sediment into nearby aquatic habitats; infilling of fish habitat due to causeway construction; dredging operations for shoreline development (e.g. wharf or breakwater construction); removing an old dock at a cottage, etc.
A HADD is the abbreviation for "harmful alteration, disruption or destruction" of fish habitat. HADD is any meaningful change in one or more habitat components that can reasonably be expected to cause a real reduction in the capacity of the habitat to support the life requisites of fish.
The Letter of Advice is the document that DFO will send you after reviewing the project you submitted, confirming that your project will not cause a HADD.
An authorization is a document that DFO will issue under Subsection 35(2) of the Fisheries Act in cases where a HADD cannot be avoided and appropriate measures can be applied to compensate for loss of fish habitat. An Authorization deals only with the impact of your project on fish habitat. Authorizations are not unconditional; they permit HADD to fish habitat only under carefully prescribed conditions.
Compensation is the replacement of natural habitat, increase in the productivity of existing habitat, or maintenance of fish production by artificial means, where other measures are not adequate to maintain habitats for Canada's fisheries resources.
