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IQALUIT
Protecting Arctic aquatic species was a top priority for Nunavut environment minister Daniel Shewchuk as he hosted federal and provincial fisheries ministers for an annual conference Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.

Federal fisheries and oceans minister Keith Ashfield speaks to reporters at a news conference at Iqaluit's Frobisher Inn Sept. 1 at the conclusion of the Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers conference. Nunavut environment minister Daniel Shewchuk (to his right) hosted fisheries ministers from Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador. Most of the ministers remained in Iqaluit September 2 for the meeting of Atlantic ministers. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo

"What we're looking for with the increased marine traffic, is what's coming in here when that traffic increases," Shewchuk told Nunavut News/North. "We really need to watch that and make sure there's proper regulations in place and monitoring so we know what's coming through this area."

The Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers meeting typically allows ministers to discuss issues on all three coasts, but the minister from British Columbia did not attend, despite the fact the province will be hosting the 2012 conference. Also absent were the other territorial governments, Prince Edward Island, Ontario and the prairie provinces.

The meeting led to an agreement-in-principle to create a national framework for marine protected areas, which federal fisheries minister Keith Ashfield said was "critical" to the "protection and conservation of Canada's rich and varied marine environments."

"Aquatic invasive species continue to be a matter of concern to all of our governments," Ashfield said. "We recognize that we need to work together to stop species like Asian carp from moving into our waters and to ensure that we are ready to respond quickly and effectively if they do."

The ministers received an update on a $415,000 pilot project launched in 2009 to tackle the threat of this species, which has reduced native fish populations in the Mississippi Delta by 90 per cent, and is moving north.

With the expanse of the Canadian shoreline and waterways, conferences such as the one hosted in Iqaluit, which changes venue each year, are important to keep everyone up to date, Ashfield said.

"There are a number of departments within governments that are working in the areas of protecting the environment, and a lot of the jurisdictions have some overlapping responses to protected areas," he said. "The group is put together to ensure the agencies all work together ... to ensure everybody knows what the other person is doing."

As well as giving Shewchuk a forum to state Nunavut's case for its rightful share of the offshore turbot and shrimp stocks, it also allowed him to show off his territory's beauty and culture. The ministers visited Pangnirtung to "see the progress on our small craft harbour, and our government's new research vessel and local fish plant," he said.

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