Question Period Note: Fisheries Enforcement

• Our government is committed to conserving and protecting fish and fish habitat, and places a priority on ensuring fisheries are carried out in an orderly manner.
• We amended the Fisheries Act in 2019 to strengthen these protections.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada manages implementation of the Act, and verifies compliance through a risk-based and intelligence-led enforcement approach.
• We promote voluntary compliance through education and collaboration, however, we also employ a comprehensive range of compliance measures depending on the circumstances and severity of an offence.

• Enforcement Operations comprises a variety of compliance and enforcement tools to detect and deter illegal activities.
• Education and Shared Stewardship units, under the Conservation and Protection Directorate, promotes compliance, through education, promotional campaigns, and engagement of partners and stakeholders.
• Educational activities raise awareness and understanding and result in a more informed public and encourage resource users to comply with regulatory requirements.
• Major Cases and Special Investigations focus on solving high-risk, complex compliance issues that pose significant threat to the sustainability of Canada’s aquatic resources and cannot be addressed through education or, regular monitoring, and control and surveillance activities.
• Fisheries monitoring and audit activities provide an oversight function to determine participants’ compliance with legislation, regulations and management measures.
• The program uses land, water and air-based surveillance along with modern technology such as vessel monitoring systems, video monitoring and satellite surveillance to detect illegal activities.

If pressed about a case before the courts

• We do not comment on ongoing investigations, or cases currently before the courts.