Mixed reaction to new fish habitat rules: ‘Would have preferred to see it go further’ – Times Colonist

The federal government will spend $284 million over the next five years to enforce new laws protecting habitat wherever fish are present, says Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc.

A number of amendments to the Fisheries Act were introduced Tuesday in the House of Commons to expand the reach of a prohibition against anything that alters or affects fish habitat to all waters where fish exist.

Changes to the act in 2012 meant the protections were enforced only for fish listed in provincial registries as being part of commercial, recreational or Indigenous fisheries.

Officials with Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in Ottawa the 2012 changes resulted in a lot of confusion about exactly what projects would require a federal government assessment, because it wasn’t always clear which fish needed protecting and which didn’t.

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