TELL THE GOVERNMENT TO STOP OVERFISHING AND REBUILD WILD FISH

Only 35% of wild fish stocks are healthy and 17% are critically depleted, according to Oceana Canada’s 2024 Fishery Audit.

Canada once had healthy oceans and thriving fisheries, but decades of mismanagement and overfishing have devastated them.

With urgent, science-based management, Canada could see up to 80% of fish stocks reach healthy levels within a decade, fostering resilient oceans that support biodiversity and sustain coastal communities. But not without intervention right now.

Canada updated its Fisheries Act five years ago, in part to prioritize rebuilding wild fish populations, yet the majority of fish stocks aren’t protected by the law because they are still waiting to be included in the Act’s regulations. This allows for inconsistencies, failures in transparency, and mismanagement to continue unchecked.

The government has work to do to ensure our fisheries are as abundant and productive as they once were. We know what actions are needed and we need your help getting the message to government.

Sign the petition and call on the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to rebuild depleted fisheries

Mr.

Justin

Trudeau

Government of Canada

The Honourable

Diane

Lebouthillier

Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Dear Hon. Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada,

As Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, I urge you to address the current state of Canada’s fisheries, as assessed by Oceana Canada’s Fishery Audit 2024. According to this report, just over a third of Canada’s marine fish and invertebrate populations can be considered healthy, while another third are either critically depleted or in the cautious zone. The remainder languish in an uncertain state due to insufficient stock status information, and most stocks are still unprotected under the modernized Fisheries Act. The future of coastal economies and ocean health depend on DFO's actions to end fisheries mismanagement.

I am emailing you to tell you that I support healthy fisheries and oceans and call on you to take the following actions:

1.	Prescribe all remaining stocks to the Fish Stock provisions in the Fisheries Act by 2025, and make management decisions that are consistent with the law. 
2.	Account for climate change effects on marine ecosystems by implementing climate-adaptive approaches in fisheries management and prioritizing rebuilding forage fish. 
3.	Manage fisheries based on the best available science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems by modernizing the suite of policies under the Sustainable Fisheries Framework to meaningfully implement Two-Eyed Seeing approaches, including through collaborative management agreements. 
4.	Count everything caught in a fishery — including for recreational and bait purposes — and account for all sources of fishing in management decision-making.

Sincerely, 
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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