User:Alaney2k/Fisheries Act
The Fisheries Act (long name: An Act respecting fisheries) (the Act) is an Act of Parliament legislating fishing activities and fish habitats in the national waters of Canada. It was first passed in 1868. It gave authority to the Department of Marine and Fisheries, now Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which came into being in the formation of the Canadian federal government after Confederation. It was most recently revised in 2019.
History[edit]
The Act, then known as An Act for the regulation of Fishing and the protection of Fisheries was passed into law on May 22, 1868, in the 1st Canadian Parliament.[1] The Act replaced An Act to amend Chapter 62 of the Consolidated Statutes of Canada, and to provide for the better regulation of Fishing and protection of Fisheries passed by the Province of Canada.[1] It was passed at the same time with An Act respecting fishing by foreign vessels.[2]
The initial Act defined Fishery Officers, who each had Justice of the Peace powers, and defined forbidden practices in the cod, whale, seal, salmon, lake and river trout, whitefish and bass and pickerel fisheries. This included closed seasons when fish could not be taken and prohibitions in various areas critical to fish reproduction. It also prohibited the dumping into various fish habitats of "prejudicial or deleterious substances" with a fine of not more than CA$100.[1]
The initial Act included controls on freshwater fishing. These were diminished in the late 1800s by Britain's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which ruled that these were more the responsibility of provincial governments. Licensing of fishing was taken over by the provinces, except for sea fisheries, which remained a federal responsibility. However, the Government of Canada did not impose licensing on sea fishing, except on the BC salmon fishery.[3]
In the 1970s, the Act added environmental protection. The Act specifically prohibited the "harmful alteration, disruption or destruction of fish habitat".[4]
The Harper government reduced protections in the Fisheries Act during its term. Its 2012 amendments reduced protections to only apply to "a commercial, recreational or aboriginal fishery." Previously, the Act prohibited the killing of fish by other than fishing and prohibited any undertakings that caused harmful disruption or destruction of fish habitat.[5] One election issue in the 2015 federal election was the resurrection of environmental protections eliminated during the Harper government. The Liberals, under Justin Trudeau, unseated the Harper government, and in 2018, the Trudeau government revised the Act to provide for clearer permit requirements, the incorporation of policies into regulations, provisions to protect biodiversity, Indigenous participation on habitat decisions, and the requirement to rebuild fish habitats.[6] The Act became law in 2019.
Related legislation[edit]
The following Acts refer to or support the Fisheries Act.
- Canada Shipping Act
- Canada Shipping Act, 2001
- Coastal Fisheries Protection Act
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans Act
- Financial Administration Act
- Fish Inspection Act
- Fisheries Development Act
- Fisheries Prices Support Act (repealed)
- Fishing and Recreational Harbours Act
- Freshwater Fish Marketing Act
- Navigable Waters Protection Act
- Oceans Act
- Species at Risk Act
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Parliament of Canada. Statutes of Canada ... being the first session of the first Parliament of Canada, begun and holden at Ottawa, on the sixth day of November, and adjourned on the twenty-first December, 1867, to the twelfth March following : part second from 12th March, 1868. pp. 177–195 – via canadiana.ca.
- ^ Parliament of Canada. Statutes of Canada ... being the first session of the first Parliament of Canada, begun and holden at Ottawa, on the sixth day of November, and adjourned on the twenty-first December, 1867, to the twelfth March following : part second from 12th March, 1868. pp. 195–199 – via canadiana.ca.
- ^ Gough, Joseph (August 12, 2013). "History of Commercial Fisheries". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ "Canada's Environmental Reviews: Fisheries Act". envirolawsmatter.ca. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ Finley, Michael (October 5, 2018). "Canada: Déjà Vu All Over Again: The New (Old) Fisheries Act". modanq.com. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
- ^ Introducing Canada's modernized Fisheries Act
External links[edit]
- "Fisheries Act". laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. Government of Canada.
Category:Canadian federal legislation Category:1868 establishments