1999 Archives
29 December 1999 Year 2000 quotas for the seal hunt in the Atlantic and the St. LawrenceHerb Dhaliwal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, announced last December 21 that the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for harp seals for the year 2000 will be frozen at the 1999 level of 275,000. The hooded seal TAC will also remain at the 1999 level, in this case 10,000 animals. As well, the harvest of a few hundred grey seals will be allowed in areas other than Sable Island where they are protected. The Minister pointed out that there was no information available at this time that would justify a change in the TAC. However, there are some initiatives underway to clarify available information. For example, results from the 1999 harp seal population survey will be known in the spring of 2000. New studies designed to estimate the amount of seals struck but not recovered and studies related to the abundance, distribution and potential impact of seals on fish stocks will complete this information. As well, the Minister agreed to the appointment of a panel of eminent persons to provide advice on a new long-term strategy for the management of seal populations at the beginning of the year. This initiative, and the consultation of more than 80 concerned groups which has already taken place, will result in a review of the Marine Mammal Regulations. Several environmental groups along with 22 Canadian scientists have nonetheless asked the government to reduce the hunting quota for the harp seal. It is their conclusion that the seal hunt cannot be maintained at current levels without producing negative impacts on the seal population, especially considering that the same population is harvested by Greenland hunters. However, fishermen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are worried about the impacts of seals on fish stocks and have asked that seal hunt quotas be raised.[Fisheries and Oceans Canada, The Ottawa Citizen] I want to know more Fisheries and Oceans press release Protest letter from a group of scientists Report on seals of the standing committee on fisheries and oceans of Canada, June 1999 Portrait of Mike Hammill, a Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientist who studies the seals of the St. Lawrence. September 28 1999 For the health of the Great LakesDuring the 1999 forum of the International Joint Commission held in Milwaukee, on September 27, Carole Browner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced measures to dramatically reduce the deliberate discharge of toxic residues such as mercury and dioxins into the Great Lakes. These measures will affect the states of Illinois, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have already eliminated the mixing zones of these toxic chemicals with the waters of the Great Lakes. [Environment News Service] For more information on the protection of the Great Lakes’ water quality: Our Great Lakes http://www.cciw.ca/glimr/intro-e.html International Joint Commission http://www.ijc.org/ijcweb-e.html September 10 1999 Whale-watching excursions: a new step towards good managementThe consultation committee on whale-watching activities at sea was created September 9 1999. This committee consists of 15 representatives, all stakeholders concerned by whale-watching activities in the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park and its outskirts. Representatives come from boat-owner associations, regional tourist associations, municipalities, aboriginal and scientific communities, and the government departments involved in the matter. Its mandate is to implement the action plan proposed by the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park following the workshop held in June 1998. The committee will, among other things, see to the implementation of the new regulations pertaining to the behaviour of whale-watching vessels on the observation sites, which should come into effect in the spring of 2000. [GREMM] August 18 1999 A moratorium on bulk water removal from the Great LakesThe International Joint Commission, an agency made up of Canadian and American specialists, recommended, in a preliminary report presented last August 18, that bulk sales or removals of water from the Great Lakes Basin be banned for a period of six months. The report concludes, among other things, that the Great Lakes have no surplus water, and that water removals could threaten the integrity of the Great Lakes and that of the St. Lawrence River as well. The commission also recommends that caution be exercised in matters involving water management since there are important uncertainties concerning the sustainability of the resource. From now until February 2000, the commission will hold several public hearings and will complete its final report, which will present its recommendations to protect the waters of the Great Lakes. [IJC] |