Government of Canada invests in aquatic habitat through the Oceans Protection Plan

VANCOUVER, March 10, 2020 /CNW/ - Making our oceans and coasts safer, cleaner and healthier for all Canadians and future generations is a top priority for the Government of Canada.

Today, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, the Honourable Bernadette Jordan, announced over $13 million in funding as part of the Coastal Restoration Fund. Funding for 24 projects will help restore and protect aquatic ecosystems on Canada's three coasts. This funding is provided under the Oceans Protection Plan.

The Minister's announcement came at a gathering of over 80 participants from over 40 of the groups who have received funding, directly or as project partners, under the Coastal Restoration Fund.  Participants came together for a three-day workshop to exchange best practices and discuss their coastal habitat protection and recovery efforts. 

In May 2017, the Government of Canada announced the $75 million Coastal Restoration Fund to help rehabilitate some of our most vulnerable coastlines and protect marine life and ecosystems.

Launched in November 2016, the five-year, $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan is the largest investment ever made to protect Canada's coasts and waterways. Since the Ocean Protection Plan's launch, the Government of Canada has invested in hundreds of projects that are making our marine safety system stronger, and protecting our coastal environments and marine species more than ever before.

Quotes
"Through our Oceans Protection Plan, we are partnering with local communities to make our oceans and coasts safer, cleaner and healthier. The Coastal Restoration Fund provides an opportunity to address threats to marine habitats and species, and I am thrilled that 24 more projects will now be funded to carry our this work. Together we are helping to ensure healthy, thriving coastal habitats on Canada's three coasts for the benefit of future generations."

- The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Quick Facts

• The Coastal Restoration Fund has provided or approved funding for 64 partnered projects, and supported marine mammal response efforts.
• Over 37% of the projects are led by Indigenous organizations, and almost all projects involve Indigenous Peoples in their design and implementation.
• Funding for the Coastal Restoration Fund is now fully allocated. No new applications will be accepted.

Associated Links

• Coastal Restoration Fund
• Protecting our Coasts - Oceans Protection Plan

Stay Connected

• Follow Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
• Subscribe to receive our news releases and more via RSS feeds. For more information or to subscribe, visit http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/media/rss-eng.htm

Backgrounder
Coastal Restoration Fund Projects

As part of the third and final call for proposals under the Coastal Restoration Fund, more than $13 million in funding was provided for an additional 24 projects to help restore and protect aquatic ecosystems on Canada's three coasts. This funding is provided under the Oceans Protection Plan.

Along with the 21 projects listed below, details for three additional projects will be released at a later date.

British Columbia

• The Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance (the Alliance) will receive over $800,000 over three years for conservation activities in the Lower Fraser River. A partnership between First Nations, conservation organizations, and researchers, the Alliance will create a more strategic and holistic restoration plan that directly engages First Nations communities; informs the public, industry, and developers; and will lead to opportunities for funding of specific restoration projects.
• The Secretariat of the Haida Nation will receive over $1.1 million over three years to develop and implement a community-based Restoration Strategy for sensitive marine areas at priority sites that have been impacted by historic forestry practices.
• The 'Namgis First Nation will receive over $480,000 over three years to assess the Lower Nimpkish River and Estuary for existing chum spawning and rearing habitat, develop a restoration plan, and improve the habitat quality through restorative actions.
• The Fraser Valley Watershed Coalition will receive over $1.2 million over three years to restore, conserve, and manage salmon habitat in the "Heart of the Fraser", located in and around the Harrison River and its confluence with the Fraser River.
• The Nootka Sound Watershed Society will receive over $900,000 over three years to accelerate the recovery of riparian forest on six Chinook salmon streams in Nootka Sound.
• The Fraser Basin Council Society will receive over $370,000 over three years to improve the mapping and inventory of habitats (Nicola and Coldwater Rivers), determine appropriate sites for habitat restoration in the Nicola Watershed and construct habitat restoration through instream and riparian enhancements/management, and improve the understanding of groundwater and surface water in the Coldwater River.
• The Shuswap Nation Tribal Council will receive over $420,000 over three years to help protect and restore critical habitats for several salmonid species at risk in the Thompson Basin.
• The Nature Trust of British Columbia will receive over $480,000 over three years to restore coastal estuarine processes and improve the connectivity of estuarine fish habitat in the Nanaimo River Estuary.

Nunavut

• The Kivalliq Inuit Association will receive over $420,000 over three years to addresses existing migratory barriers that increase stress on culturally and economically important Arctic char populations in the Kivalliq Region.

Northwest Territories and Yukon         

• Dalhousie University will receive over $680,000 over three years to conduct community consultations and feasibility studies to identify: important aquatic species for local communities within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region; the stressors impacting each of these aquatic species; culturally important coastal areas impacted by environmental degradation; and potential mitigation strategies for each of the communities.

Quebec

• The Listuguj Mi'gmaq Government will receive $230,000 over 3 years to to offset the impacts of urban run-off directly by reducing urban shoreline erosion and indirectly by increasing available habitats for fish species.
• The Comité Zone d'interventions Prioritaire de la Rive Nord de l'Estuaire will receive $50,000 over one year to collect additional data to finalize the development concept and to plan restoration work on the Comeau estuary.
• The Université du Québec à Rimouski will receive over $550,000 over three years to rehabilitate habitats, such as eelgrass beds, maritime marshes and sandy ecosystems in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Magdalen Islands).
• The Comité ZIP Saguenay-Charlevoix will receive $50,000 over one year for planning the restoration of the shores of the Saguenay River between the mouth of the Sables River and the spit located on the territory of the municipality of Saint?Fulgence.
• The Comité ZIP Côte-Nord du Golfe will receive over $500,000 over three years to restore the connectivity of fish habitat between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Saint-Georges Lake.
• The Comité ZIP Sud-de-l'Estuaire will receive over $400,000 over three years to restore a coastal marsh in the municipality of Saint-André-de-Kamouraska on the south shore of the St. Lawrence estuary.

New Brunswick

• The Fort Folly Habitat Recovery Program will receive over $780,000 over three years to restore access to and quality of aquatic habitat (freshwater and estuarine) to mitigate stressors impacting marine life in the Petitcodiac (Petkoutkoywek) and Memramcook (Amlamgog) estuaries.
• The Department of Geography at the Université de Moncton will receive over $700,000 over three years for a project that will help restore coastal habitats in southeastern New Brunswick.

Nova Scotia

• The Nova Scotia Salmon Association will receive over $660,000 over three years to restore an aquatic ecosystem in coastal Nova Scotia through restoration of water quality and physical habitat restoration in the West River Sheet Harbour (West River) and its estuary. Atlantic Salmon, and salmonids in general, are the focus of this initiative.
• The St. Mary's River Association will receive $1.2 million over three years to continue Atlantic salmon recovery efforts in the St. Mary's River by addressing the degradation of water chemistry and fish habitat through proven restoration techniques.

Newfoundland and Labrador

• The Humber Arm Environmental Association Incorporated will receive over $770,000 over three years for: the identification and restoration of eelgrass meadows and areas of erosion susceptibility; field research into the presence and distribution of Banded Killifish as well as American Eel; stressor suppression of green crab; and development of a coastal map of Bay of Islands.

SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada