Oceana Canada has now released its third annual Fishery Audit which reports on the state of fish stocks and tracks progress on how well the government is meeting its policy and management commitments.
Since our first Fishery Audit was released in 2017, we’ve seen worrying declines. Less than a third of Canada’s fish populations, 29.4 per cent, can confidently be considered healthy and 17 per cent are in the critical zone, where conservation actions are crucial.
Despite the decline, some progress has been made in the last year. Most importantly, a modernized Fisheries Act became law in June. For the first time in Canada’s history, rebuilding plans will be required for depleted fish populations. If implemented and supported by strong regulations, this provides a rare opportunity for ambitious progress in 2020 and beyond.
Visit FisheryAudit.ca or Oceana.ca and watch our new “Ocean Abundance is Ours to Protect” video and read more about the state of Canada’s fisheries and recommendations for what needs to be a priority in the year ahead to rebuild fish populations. You can download the report here.