A Fisheries and Oceans Canada report proposes First Nations join the Coast Guard in policing marine traffic in whale habitats, including commercial shipping lanes, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. .“Whale species are significant to indigenous people’s cultures,” said Fisheries and Oceans Canada in a report. .“Some opportunities for improvement were identified.” .Fisheries Canada suggested the Coast Guard have shared authority with First Nations for monitoring traffic in the St. Lawrence River, Bay of Fundy, and southern British Columbia waters off Vancouver Island — all habitats to endangered whale species. .It said there was “a desire to have shared responsibility and authority.”.Atlantic coast First Nations were interested in guiding trials related to new innovations, and Pacific coast members were interested in leading monitoring and enforcement efforts. .Cabinet has spent $227.1 million on whale protection programs since 2018. Protection measures targeted 70 to 80 Southern Resident killer whales off Vancouver Island, another 340 North Atlantic right whales in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of St. Lawrence, and about 900 belugas in the St. Lawrence. .It said the three targeted whale species are significant to indigenous people’s cultures, communities, and ecosystems. .Potential suggestions to address enforcement gaps included requiring automatic identification system tracking on smaller vessels, introducing mandatory slowdown requirements for small vessels, implementing approach distance restrictions beyond 400 metres, and having shared authority with First Nations for monitoring compliance. .Fisheries Canada said there was little it could do about whale watching. .“There are currently no comprehensive regulations in place to regulate the activities of whale watching vessels aside from the minimum approach distances,” it said..An Ontario judge ruled on August 5 indigenous Canadians do not have an automatic treaty right to disturb fish habitats. .READ MORE: Ontario judge rules indigenous peoples not exempt from Fisheries Act.The ruling focused on a clause in the Fisheries Act which had been the subject of the dispute. .“To find the existence of a treaty right is to bestow upon a particular activity the highest form of recognition and protection available in Canadian law,” said Ontario Provincial Court Justice Peter Wright.
