Fisheries Department says more staff on waters to protect Canada’s whales
VANCOUVER — New regulations to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises are in effect for all coasts in Canada as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans works to ensure more officers and patrol vessels are available to enforce the rules.
Adam Burns, director general of fisheries resource management, said the number of officers deployed to keep people and boats away from the marine mammals has yet to be determined.
Extensive consultations with the whale-watching industry indicated support for the regulations in order to keep the animals in areas where tourists flock to see them, he said.
As of Wednesday, people and vessels must maintain a minimum distance of 100 metres from most whales, dolphins and porpoises to protect them from human disturbance, which is now more clearly defined to include feeding the marine mammals, swimming with them, removing them from their group or going between a mother and its calf.