Ottawa pledges $284 million to expand protections for fish habitats

Posted on February 21, 2018August 6, 2022 by david

Ottawa pledges $284 million to expand protections for fish habitats

By Mia Rabson The Canadian Press

WATCH ABOVE: The federal government has pledged to “restore lost protections” for fish habitats that were lost under the Harper government with a $284-million commitment

The federal government will spend $284 million over the next five years to enforce new laws protecting habitat wherever fish are present, Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc says.

A number of amendments to the Fisheries Act were introduced in the House of Commons Tuesday morning to expand the reach of a prohibition against anything that alters or impacts fish habitat to all waters where fish exist.

Changes to the act in 2012 meant the protections were enforced only for fish listed in provincial registries as being part of commercial, recreational or Indigenous fisheries.

Officials with Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in Ottawa today the 2012 changes resulted in a lot of confusion about exactly what projects would require a federal government assessment, because it wasn’t always clear which fish needed protecting and which didn’t.

The government intends to produce regulations that will spell out exactly which projects will require a federal assessment and ministerial permit to proceed and which will not. The department is consulting on those regulations now.

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As well, any reviews done will be captured in a public registry so the public can see the results of every review, something that is not required now.

The act also will require the minister to take into account Indigenous knowledge and expertise when it is provided and all decisions must take into account the possible impacts on Indigenous rights. However that knowledge will be protected from being revealed publicly or even to a project’s proponents without explicit permission from the Indigenous community or people who provided it.

The $284 million will be allocated to help implement and enforce the new law, including hiring new fisheries officers to enforce the act and educate people about it, however officials say there are no details yet about how many will be hired and when.

The legislation also will make it illegal to capture whales, dolphins and porpoises in Canadian waters for the purpose of keeping them in captivity. Officials say existing permits for such activities will be honoured, but in the future only animals captured because they are in distress, injured or in need of care can be held in captivity in Canada.

The amendments to the Fisheries Act are part of a package of government changes to the federal environmental assessment process and fulfills a mandate item issued to LeBlanc when he became the minister.

The bill will be followed later this week by another one that will overhaul the National Energy Board, as well as revise the Navigable Waters Protection Act.

Martin Olszynski, a University of Calgary law professor who worked as a lawyer for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans between 2007 and 2013, said the 2012 changes made to the Fisheries Act differentiated between fish that matter and fish that don

“More substantively, it signalled to a lot of people in Canada that suddenly this prohibition didn’t matter,” Olszynski said. “So you had what was already a very under-regulated issue which impacts fish and fish habitat mostly as a result of resource development becoming that much less supervised.”

He said after the act was introduced the number of projects referred to Fisheries and Oceans Canada for assessment was cut in half. Officials expect the number of referrals and project reviews will go back up, but they said it’s too early to say how many more assessments will be done.

There have been between 80 and 400 reviews in recent years. Lots more habitat news at fishiding.com

The government has been studying these changes since 2016, with online consultations, meetings with Indigenous communities and governments and a study by the House of Commons fisheries committee.

All Natural Fish Feeder Never Needs Filling and Cleans Water

Posted on January 23, 2013August 7, 2022 by david

The Hangout Artificial Fish Habitat Fish Feeder

Fishiding habitat products

Product Description

Growing big fish starts with growing lots of food to feed them. In order for the fry and forage fish to thrive and reproduce, they need mass amounts of food to develop and prosper.

Minnows, small panfish and fry feed on film that grows on surfaces underwater called peripyhton. This magical micro-floral community of bacteria and fungi, protozoa and zoo-plankton, dance together forming this wonderful highly efficient, nutrient converting fish food.

Phosphorus and nitrogen are often the biggest culprits in abundant weed growth and eutrophic waters. Converting these nutrients into fish food and ultimately fish, is not new and has been being used with ongoing success sometimes called brush parks. Create the food source and the fish will come.

The more surface area available, the more food can grow. Weed beds are a good example of surfaces for this film to grow and hiding places for the small fish.

The Hangout is where the smaller fish will congregate and eat this highest form of food available, within the protection of the maze of vinyl limbs that surround the feeder bag.

The plastic mesh feeder bag holds an incredible 400 square feet of surface area from a matrix of woven plastic recycled from drinking bottles. Weighing just over two pounds and approximately ten inches diameter and two feet long, these bags hold the key to fish development.

Over thirty two square feet of flexible vinyl limbs, the same material in all fishiding fish habitat products, complete this protective eating establishment. Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

Bend limbs and pinch crease with fingers, no tools or additional supplies needed.

Opens to a full 46″wide by 48″ tall, hang at any depth, unit sinks.

Each unit comes with 5.5 pounds of pre-drilled vinyl limbs, ranging in length from 12″-28″ long and 1″-4″ wide with feeder bag with ten feet of mono bait-ball line.

Hang unit from underside of dock or pier for year around fishing action.

Suspend unit from raft or tree limb to keep predators close by your food source.

Attach unit to full size habitat unit or anchor and add foam to feeder bag to add buoyancy.

Tie multiple units together for deep water applications.

Artificial reefs to boost fish supply

Posted on September 20, 2012August 7, 2022 by david

ARTIFICIAL reefs are to be built in local waters to boost fish supplies which have been depleted by over-fishing, pollution, dredging and dumping.

The Agriculture and Fisheries Department yesterday announced it was investigating sites for the reefs and had received $1.6 million from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club to start the project.
Reefs provide nursing and feeding grounds for all sorts of marine life including larger fish sold in local markets.
Fisheries officer David Cook said it was hoped local stocks would be boosted and the diversity of marine life in Hong Kong would increase with the reefs.
”We see that there’s a need to provide some level of redress for the perceived damage that’s occurring to the marine environment,” he said.
Fishermen and environmentalists have stepped up campaigns in the past year to call attention to the destruction caused by dredging and dumping for the airport projects. Silt is stirred up that can smother corals and drive away fish.
But overfishing is also a concern and Mr Cook said fishing around the reefs would be restricted.
He said fishermen in Malaysia and Thailand had abided by fishing restrictions around artificial reefs in their waters because they increased fish production by up to 400 times in some cases.
It was impossible to say how much impact the scheme would have on Hong Kong fisheries as this would be proportional to the scale of the project, he said.
But fish stocks are expected to increase when the first reefs are set up in soon-to-be-established marine parks where legislation already restricts fishing, he said. The first park is expected to be declared later this year, probably in the eastern waters.
But the declaration of the parks is likely to be slow and cover only a limited area, and any large-scale setting up of artificial reefs will require about $65 million.
The Jockey Club’s $1.6 million contribution will be used towards setting set up the first few reefs and determine the best reef sites.
The programme is separate from trials being carried out on an artificial reef made from coal ash in Hoi Ha Wan, which is still underway. Until results are available on its safety, the reefs will be made from more expensive reinforced concrete.
It is also hoped to use sunken ships, possibly some of the hundreds of vessels destroyed by the Marine Department each year, as these can provide the solid surface and nooks and crannies needed for a successful reef.
Hong Kong’s natural coral reefs are in the eastern waters and many have been damaged by dredging and pollution and by a mysterious water current last month that killed everything in a 40-square-kilometre area.
Most of the rest of the sea bottom is flat and soft, and the reefs will provide a place for marine organisms to grow, providing food for larger animals.By KATHY GRIFFIN
Mr Cook said. Dozens of unique habitat models at fishiding.com

Fish habitat crusader awarded Churchill Fellowship

Posted on July 23, 2012August 7, 2022 by david

Craig Copeland – working to save our fish habitat. Image NSW DPI

CRAIG Copeland, Manager of the Conservation Action Unit within the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) has been awarded a prestigious Churchill Fellowship to investigate the motivation of recreational fishers in the US, UK and Ireland to restore fish habitat.

“Craig, who is based at Wollongbar, is highly regarded throughout Australia for his work in aquatic habitat rehabilitation,” said NSW DPI Director General Richard Sheldrake.

“He has led the pioneering unit responsible for fish habitat rehabilitation in NSW which has resulted in massive improvements to fish habitat and fish populations through initiatives such as fishway construction, weir removals, fish-friendly road crossings, floodgate management, riparian revegetation and river resnagging programs.”

Copeland’s work in educating and engaging the broader recreational fishing community on habitat issues is proving successful with some of the larger recreational fishing groups through the establishment of the Fish Habitat Network program.

Dr Sheldrake said the Fellowship will provide an opportunity for Mr Copeland to travel to countries in the Northern Hemisphere where recreational fishing groups and individual fishers are the principal players in restoring fish habitat. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover at fishiding.com, the leader in proven science based, fish protection.

“By interviewing fishers in these countries, Craig will get to understand their motivations and capacities – and bring back expertise aimed at increasing the capability of Australian recreational fishers to support and improve their fishery.

“The lessons learned will be immediately transferred to recreational fishers and habitat managers here in NSW.”
Copeland said the sustainability of recreational fishing and the capacity of the sector to grow are dependent on healthy fish stocks.

“Over three million people fish recreationally each year making it one of the most significant outdoor activities undertaken by Australians,” he said.

“There is great scope to significantly increase the proportion of recreational fishers in NSW who contribute time, funding and effort to rehabilitate fish habitat and, as a result, increase fish populations.”

Copeland plans to undertake his Fellowship trip in early 2013 and will report back to the
recreational fishing community later in the year.

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, which was established after the death of Sir Winston
Churchill in accordance with his final wishes, has now funded more than 3,700 Fellowships for Australians. http://www.fishingworld.com.au/news/fish-habitat-crusader-awarded-churchill-fellowship

Audit finds fish habitat not well protected

Posted on July 10, 2012August 7, 2022 by david

Audit finds fish habitat not well protected, fire suppression system inadequate

Published on July 5, 2012 by DesiWireFeed · No Comments

THE CANADIAN PRESS

VICTORIA — An audit by British Columbia’s forestry watchdog has found 23 of 24 timber sales licence holders it investigated failed to comply with provincial legislation.

Auditors from the Forest Practices Board discovered instances where fish habitat was not being adequately protected because of sediment introduced into streams.

See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in proven science based, fish protection.

The board says some BC Timber Sales licence holders failed to maintain the natural drainage patterns of several small streams while others did not have an adequate fire suppression system on site during extreme fire hazard conditions.

The areas audited include Gold River on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Sayward on the west, and Lower Mainland areas across from Campbell River.

Board Chairman Al Gorley says more than 100 compliance audits have been conducted since 1996, including more than 20 of BC Timber Sales operations, and typically very few problems are found.

He says this audit is an exception, although BC Timber Sales has committed to taking action to address the board’s concerns.

Biorock giving new life to coral reefs

Posted on June 19, 2012August 7, 2022 by david

Johnny Langenheim explains how an innovative method is sustaining corals and why on World Oceans Day we need to pledge for more such projects

Coral reef restoration Biorock project at Ibu Karang, Pemuteran, Bali, Indonesia

Biorock project at Ibu Karang, Pemuteran, Bali, Indonesia. Photograph: T.Goreau/Biorock

Coral reefs are the rainforests of the world’s oceans. Like their terrestrial counterparts, they occur in tropical and sub tropical environments, support a bewildering variety of species and are diminishing at an alarming rate. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in proven science based, fish protection.

Marine biologists across the world are desperately trying to protect our remaining reefs from the impacts of global warming and destructive fishing. Others are building repositories of the known coral species – so that our grandchildren at least get to see them in aquariums or laboratories – and still others are constructing artificial reefs in areas of significant damage.

Humans have been creating reefs for thousands of years to improve their fisheries – you can pretty much sink anything solid in the right marine environment and calcium carbonate, the key ingredient in coral, will accrete to it. It’s a hit and miss affair, though, often bringing just a fraction of the biodiversity seen in a natural reef. But in the 1970s, some simple science created dramatic changes.

The biorock method was developed by architect and marine scientist Wolf Hilbertz and marine biologist Tom Goreau. They found that by running a small electrical current through seawater, a hard shell of calcium carbonate would form on the cathode. You could then attach small pieces of natural coral to the structure. The corals seemed to love these substrates, achieving growth rates often five times faster than normal. Today there are more than 20 Biorock projects around the globe, but by far the biggest – and arguably the most innovative – are in Indonesia.

“Right now we have 62 biorock structures around this island,” says Delphine Robbe, as she pulls on a wetsuit. “By 2012 we should have one hundred.”. Since coming to Gili Trawangan in 2005 with a vague plan to get her dive master certification, the Frenchwoman has become the driving force behind the island’s many eco programmes.

Trawangan is one of three tiny coral atolls off the coast of Lombok, Indonesia and increasingly a compulsory side trip to any Bali holiday, thanks to its bone white beaches, diving and snorkelling sites and absence of both dogs and motor vehicles. Pristine reef, however, is harder to find. “Probably 70 to 80% of our shallow reefs were destroyed by dynamite fishing,” Robbe tells me. “It was actually the local fishermen who kick started the eco movement here, when they set up patrols to try and stop the bombing.”

Goreau’s attention is on the Gili cluster, which has impressed him with its biodiversity and water quality. He and Hilbertz had chosen the tiny village of Pemuteran in north Bali as the site of what is today the largest biorock project in the world and are now looking for new areas to colonise with their artificial reef structures. Robbe met Goreau at the first Biorock conference and workshop in Trawangan in November 2005 and by the end of it, she’d been enlisted. “The next year, I led the workshop and brought in the major dive operators as sponsors,” she explains. “In return, they got their very own biorock installations in front of their dive shops.”

Besides stimulating biodiversity, the biorock structures also combat beach erosion, which became a serious problem with the destruction of the natural reefs. Increasingly, they are an attraction for tourists too – especially since English artist and environmentalist Celia Gregory joined the project.

Gregory, who besides being a mosaic artist and sculptor is also a dive master, contacted Tom Goreau after seeing the biorock project in Pemuteran. “I was really inspired by what they’d done and it gave me this idea of merging art with coral conservation,” she explains. “Plus I’d experienced dynamite fishing first hand when a device went off during a dive. We saw the shattered coral and the dead fish.”

Divers and snorkellers can now see underwater scultpures of a manta ray, dolphin, turtle, octopus, snake, moon, miniature phinisi schooner and even a komodo dragon. Gregory is now working with award winning industrial designer Tom Dixon who wants to create an underwater three-piece suite, while Bali based US photographer and vintage motorbike enthusiast Dustin Humphrey is thinking of sinking some old bikes and doing an underwater shoot complete with models.

Meanwhile, Robbe is building on the eco credentials of the project by exploring alternative sources of energy with which to power the biorock installations. “Running cable out to see and powering it with diesel generators is not exactly sustainable,” she says. “So we’re planning to build our first tidal energy turbines this year and then unroll much bigger ones by November 2012, the date of our next workshop.” She’s also landed some major commercial sponsors – oil company Total is looking to help fund the turbines, while Malaysian Airlines wants to put in an airplane sculpture.

But all of this comes with a caveat. The increasing popularity of the Gilis has prompted an unprecedented surge in development that threatens to scupper conservation efforts in the long term. Rising population and a rash of new construction is putting pressure on an island whose circumference is just 12km and which imports nearly everything, including fresh water.

Behind the quaint beach facing facades of the hotels, lies an open dump where most of the island’s rubbish goes, though Robbe recently set up a recycling system with the help of a Bali based company. The hotels often have rudimentary wastewater treatment systems, so biological waste goes straight into the sea, where it may create algae blooms that are toxic to coral.

There are a few exceptions. I stayed at the largely wind- and solar-powered Gili Eco Villas on the quiet north side of the island. They even have their own biorock sculpture of a whale.

“I have this vision of Gili Trawangan being a model of sustainability – it’s like a microcosm of the rest of the world, experiencing both threats and opportunities” Gregory says. “It has these amazing currents, endless sunlight and it’s small and contained enough to manage – if we were just smart about it.”

Rising Wealth of Asians Straining World Fish Stock and fish habitat

Posted on January 28, 2012August 7, 2022 by david

Up to 32 percent of the world’s fish stocks are over exploited, depleted or recovering, they warned. Up to half of the worlSee the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in science based, proven, fish protection.d’s mangrove forests and a fifth of coral reefs that are fish spawning grounds have been destroyed.

The U.N. Environment Program says less-destructive ways of fishing that use more labor and less energy are needed to help restore the health of the world’s oceans and coasts.

The agency is leading a five-day conference in Manila of experts and officials from 70 governments.

Jacqueline Alder, head of UNEP’s marine, coastal and freshwater office, said the increasing ranks of rich Asians are driving demand for better quality fish that are often not abundant, adding pressure to their supply.

“People don’t want to eat the little anchovies anymore when they can eat a nice snapper or grouper — much nicer fish, shows much more of your wealth,” she told reporters.

Alder said booming population, more awareness of health benefits from eating fish, fuel and boat-building subsidies in industrial fisheries, weak management and limited understanding of ecosystems’ values are also driving fish overexploitation.

She said subidies should be reduced or eliminated, fishing gears should be less destructive, and the number of boats and fishers reduced. Habitat management should also be strengthened and marine protected areas established.

Fish is the main source of protein for up to 20 percent of the of world’s population and some 180 million people are directly or indirectly employed by the fishing industry, she added.

Vincent Sweeney, UNEP’s coordinator for the Global Program of Action to prevent marine environment degradation from land-based pollutants, said up to 90 percent of sewage in developing countries is discharged untreated into rivers, lakes and oceans, posing one of the most serious threats to water resources.

Other pollutants from land including nitrogen and phosphorous from fertilizers and detergents result in hypoxia or “dead zones” where too many nutrients cause an undesirable growth of plants that compete with coral reef and other marine life for oxygen.

Jerker Tamelander, head of UNEP’s coral reef unit, said healthy coral reefs can produce up to 35 tons of fish per square kilometer each year while there is a catch reduction of 67 tons for every square kilometer of clear-cut mangrove forest.

The global market value of marine and coastal resources and industries is estimated at $3 trillion per year or about 5 percent of the global economy, he said. Non-market value such as climate, water, nutrients and carbon regulation is estimated at $22 trillion a year.

“We’ve lost a fifth of the world’s coral reefs and 60 percent are under direct and immediate threat and climate change plays an additional role in driving reef loss,” he said.

Tamelander said the decline in coastal ecosystems’ health and productivity can be reversed by shifting to greener and more sustainable strategies, addressing threats and better management that involves all stakeholders.

“The sooner we act, the easier it will be and the longer we wait the harder it will be,” he warned.

Fish love Snags and snags create habitat

Posted on January 22, 2012August 7, 2022 by david

Re-snagging the Goulburn to increase native fish habitat and improve recreational fishing opportunities between Seymour and Nagambie.

The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (CMA) is working along the Goulburn River between Seymour and Nagambie in the coming weeks to increase the amount of large woody habitat, or snags, in the Goulburn River, with the aim to increase in the native fish population and diversity in this section of the river.

Funded by the Victorian Government, through revenue from Recreational Fishing Licenses to improve recreational fishing in Victoria and the Goulburn Broken CMA, the snags are being placed in the Goulburn River, downstream of the Hume Freeway Bridge near Seymour. The works that are being carried out will lead to an increase in habitat for native fish in the area and an improvement in catch rates for recreational fishers.

Goulburn Broken CMA River Health Projects Coordinator, Mr Jim Castles explains, “Native fish rely heavily upon instream habitat such as tree roots, logs and branches called ‘snags’. Since European settlement, our streams and rivers have been de-snagged, in the belief this would increase water flow and quality. We now know this is not the case.”

Native fish ecologists from the Murray Darling Basin Authority estimate that fish populations have declined by 90% since European settlement. There have been many threats to native fish including removal of in-stream and riparian habitat and flow modification.

Snags are the inland equivalent of coastal reefs and provide habitat for native fish and other animals such as tortoises and native water rats. Native fish use them to shelter from fast currents and sunlight and take refuge from predation. Native fish also use snags as feeding and spawning sites, and as nursery areas for juvenile fish.

Recent fish surveys within the Murray Darling Basin have found that 80% of Murray Cod are found within 1 metre of a snag. All large bodied freshwater native fish use snags as habitat.

“Re-snagging is a sound management intervention we can use to restore native fish habitat to our waterways, and results so far suggest that native fish populations respond strongly as a result. Re snagging on its own, however, is unlikely to be the sole driver in native fish recovery in the Goulburn River. The key is to better manage our riparian zones by fencing to restrict stock access and protect native vegetation, and revegetating degraded areas so there will be a constant natural supply of snags in the future” says Mr. Castles. See the dozens of unique artificial fish habitat models, fish attractors and fish cover used at fishiding.com, the leader in science based, proven, fish protection.

The areas to be re-snagged have been identified via in-stream habitat mapping undertaken in 2011 by scientists from the Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI) in the Goulburn River between the Mitchellstown and Hume Freeway Bridges to identify areas that have a low density of snags. The sites where the Goulburn CMA carry out re-snagging are being selected based on priority zones identified by ARI as a result of this mapping, and access to the waterway within these zones.

The fallen trees used for the re-snagging project have been sourced from a number of nearby locations, including the Nagambie Bypass and a public reserve in Seymour. The Goulburn Broken CMA and its contractors work to rigorous guidelines that have been developed in other locations where re-snagging has been carried out over many years.

“The snags will be secured safely and positioned in a way that does not block the river channel to ensure fishing boats can still travel along the river,” explains Mr Castles “The snags will have very little or no net impact on water flow and will enhance native fish habitat, thereby leading to a more robust native fish community, which will result in huge benefits for recreational fishers in our region.”

This project is funded by the Department of Primary Industries Recreational Fishing Licence Grants Scheme, which uses revenue raised from the sale of recreational fishing licences to fund projects that directly improve recreational fishing in Victoria.

Snags on the riverbank prior to placement. Photo: Jim Castles, Goulburn Broken CMA

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Category: habitat around the world