TELL THE GOVERNMENT TO STOP OVERFISHING AND REBUILD WILD FISH

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

This year many Canadians have been directly harmed by climate change, with the hottest ocean temperatures ever recorded. And we’re starting to get a taste of what this means for fisheries and coastal communities. More than a billion mussels, clams and other invertebrates were killed by the 2021 heatwaves, hurricanes wrought havoc on fishing communities in Atlantic Canada and species are starting to migrate north.

In the face of growing threats from climate change, the time to act is now.

According to the latest assessment in Fishery Audit 2023, less than a third of Canada’s marine fish and invertebrate populations can be considered healthy and nearly 40 per cent of fisheries lack enough information to assign the health status needed to properly manage them.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Sign the petition to email the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and demand the rebuilding of 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 new 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 2023. According to this report, less than a third of Canada’s marine fish and invertebrate populations can be considered healthy and nearly 40 per cent of fisheries lack enough information to assign the health status needed to properly manage them. 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 in the critical and cautious zones under the Fish Stocks provisions in the Fisheries Act and make management decisions that are consistent with the rebuilding regulations. 
2.	Manage fisheries based on the best available science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems by revising the suite of policies under the Sustainable Fisheries Framework to meaningfully implement Two-Eyed Seeing approaches, including through collaborative agreements. 
3.	Account for climate change effects on marine ecosystems by implementing climate-adaptive approaches in fisheries management and prioritizing rebuilding depleted forage fish. 
4.	Improve fisheries monitoring by counting everything caught in a fishery — including for recreational and bait purposes — and make decisions that account for all sources of fishing mortality.

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

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