Location: West Coast and East Coast
Summary of Issue/Background
- Transport Canada (TC), in collaboration with the marine industry, academia, Indigenous groups, environmental organizations, other government departments, the United States (U.S.) and the broader international community, is assessing, testing and implementing measures to reduce the impacts of marine traffic on at-risk whale populations, in particular the Southern Resident killer whale (SRKW), and the North Atlantic right whale (NARW). These measures are adaptively managed, to be stronger and more effective year after year.
- For the SRKW on the west coast of Canada, underwater noise and physical disturbance from vessels are one of the 3 key threats facing the species. Lack of prey and contaminants are the other two threats, which are being managed by Fisheries and Oceans and Environment and Climate Change Canada respectively.
- With only 73 remaining as of October 2019, the SRKW are facing imminent threats to their survival and recovery. TC has implemented a suite of voluntary and mandatory measures to reduce vessel impacts from both large commercial vessels and smaller recreational and whale watching vessels.
- In addition to a seasonal voluntary slowdown of large commercial vessels, for the 2019 season, TC issued an Interim Order under the Canada Shipping Act, 2001 to establish mandatory “interim sanctuary zones” to restrict on an interim basis all boats from key foraging areas, and increased the minimum distance (from 200 to 400 metres) that vessels could approach any killer whale.
- On the east coast, the NARW are facing two primary threats: entanglements in fishing gear and vessel strikes. They are present in both Canadian and U.S. waters. Since 2015, their distribution has shifted from the Bay of Fundy and southeast of Nova Scotia to the Gulf of St-Lawrence.
- In the summer of 2017, 12 NARW were found dead in Canadian waters, with some showing evidence of fishing gear entanglement and others vessel strikes. Mandatory measures to reduce vessel speed were implemented starting in late summer 2017, and these measures are re-instated each spring before the whales return. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has also been implementing a package of measures to reduce the risk of entanglements in fishing gear.
- No NARW were found dead in Canadian waters in 2018, but suddenly 8 died in Canadian waters in the summer of 2019, prompting the Government to quickly expand the vessel slowdown measures, both in terms of the geographical area and vessels covered.
- The mandatory slowdown to 10 knots now covers a wide area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and it applies to all marine vessels over 13 metres in length. Designated shipping lanes north and south of Anticosti Island are managed on a dynamic basis. These designated shipping zones are exempt from the speed limit if a recent aerial surveillance patrol confirm no NARW is observed in these zones. In the summer of 2019, the frequency of these aerial patrols was increased significantly, as one of the additional protection measures.
- The speed limits for marine vessels to protect NARW are strictly enforced. To date, TC has issued a total of $256,800 in Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs) to 38 vessels for failure to observe these speed limits. In 2019 alone, TC issued a total of $130,800 in AMPs to 17 vessels.