October 06, 2016 - 5:09 AM
HALIFAX - A marine conservation group says there is nothing surprising in the bleak findings of a new report that looked at the state of Canada's major fish stocks.
Susanna Fuller of the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax says the report by the commissioner on environment and sustainable development found that only three of 15 severely depleted stocks have rebuilding plans.
Also, only 21 out of 110 of the so-called Integrated Fisheries Management Plans included an assessment of whether objectives in the plans had been met.
Environment Commissioner Julie Gelfand said in her report not having rebuilding plans "increases the risk that these depleted stocks may not recover."
Fuller added that most of the plans are not up to date or not available to the public.
Fuller, who wrote a report last June that reviewed the state of Canada's fish stocks, says 80 out of 154 stocks in the commissioner's report did not have science-based reference points, making assessments of stock health difficult.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2016