FOPO Committee News Release

NEWS RELEASE

COMMITTEE CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION TO COUNTER THE THREAT OF AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, May 27, 2003 – Mr. Tom Wappel, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, tabled today in the House of Commons the Committee’s unanimous report on aquatic invasive species.  The report entitled Aquatic Invasive Species: Uninvited Guests makes 14 recommendations for the government to take immediate action to counter the threat of alien species in Canadian aquatic ecosystems.

“In the early 1990s world leaders, not just ministers of Canada, recognized invasive species as one of the most serious threats to our health and to our ecological, social, and economic well-being. We signed on to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and presumably, we signed on also to its philosophy. In 1995, the federal government published its strategy for honouring the pledge made when it signed on to the convention. Since then, there has been a dismal lack of action from the federal government that motivated our decision to undertake this study.  And it's too bad, because we've wasted eight years, it seems to me. I think this reflects the frustration expressed in our report,” said Mr. Wappel. “I'm at a loss to understand why aquatic invasive species doesn't seem to Canada to be the kind of problem world leaders saw it to be over a decade ago. The inaction and delay at all levels of the Canadian government is unacceptable,” added Mr. Wappel.

“World leaders said that it was imperative to take action on these issues, and yet this is 2003, and a ship can still come in and dump invasive species in the Great Lakes. Call me naive, call me ignorant, but I find that absolutely incredible. We're talking about the recreational and commercial viability of fishermen and everything else. The federal government already has all the evidence. We are playing around with this issue, and not doing anything about it,” said Mr. Peter Stoffer, the Opposition Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Among its recommendations, the Committee calls on the Government of Canada to take immediate action on the following urgent matters:

-        Contribution to the full extent of our commitment to the budget of the Sea Lamprey Control Program in the Great Lakes;

-        Prohibitions on importation and sale and trade of live Asian carp under existing statutes and regulations;

-        Adoption of Canadian nationwide ballast water management regulations and development of treatment standards; and,

-        Seek a permanent reference to the International Joint Commission to coordinate and harmonize binational efforts for action to counter the threat of aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes basin.

The Committee believes that its recommendations will help the federal government focus and speed-up its actions to counter the threat of aquatic alien species in vulnerable ecosystems such as the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin.

The Committee’s report is available on the Parliament of Canada’s web site at: .  Copies can be obtained by contacting the Clerk of the Standing Committee.