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News release
SLV 2000 Presents Implementation Plan for Recovery of St. Lawrence Belugas
Quebec City, July 4, 1996 – Fred Mifflin, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Sergio Marchi and David Cliche, the federal and Quebec ministers of the Environment, who are signatories of the St. Lawrence Vision 2000 (SLV 2000) Agreement, today released the SLV 2000 government partners' implementation plan for ensuring the recovery of the St. Lawrence beluga population.
This plan is based on the recommendations contained in the Beluga Recovery Plan prepared by a group of independant experts and submitted last February to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Monte Hummel, President of the World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWF). According to the implementation document, 75% of the recommendations issued by the panel of experts have already been carried out, are currently being acted upon or are being planned by the various government departments involved in SLV 2000.
In addition to identifying all the government actions likely to promote the recovery of the St. Lawrence belugas, the document outlines a series of new measures, of which the most noteworthy are:
- Designation of the St. Lawrence beluga population as a threatened population under Quebec's Threatened or Vulnerable Species Act, and development of a concerted strategy for cleaning up water bodies and a comprehensive water management policy for the province.
- Adoption of new laws such as the Canada Oceans Act and the Act Creating the Saguenay—St. Lawrence Marine Park to provide tighter control over disturbances of belugas caused by human activities.
- Implementation, on the territory of the Saguenay—St. Lawrence Marine Park, of a series of surveillance and awareness activities aimed at minimizing such disturbances.
- Creation of a multipartite working group on contaminated sites which will be mandated to analyse and clarify issues related to contaminated sites along the St. Lawrence River and, more specifically, their direct impacts on belugas.
- Additional research studies on the status of the beluga population, its genetics, and its exposure to diseases.
- Establishment of a committee that will follow up on the implementation of planned measures.
"The implementation plan represents an important step toward ensuring the recovery of the St. Lawrence Belugas, and complements the wide-ranging efforts already undertaken by SLV 2000 partners to achieve this objective," Mr Mifflin said. "I am pleased to reiterate, through this plan, my Department's commitment toward conservation of our marine resources, particularly marine mammals."
"This plan shows that federal and provincial government partners can successfully work together on a major project," Mr Marchi added. "Environment Canada is proud to contribute to the collective initiative, SLV 2000, which has encouraged us to harmonize our respective actions in order to protect and conserve the St. Lawrence ecosystem on which the belugas' health and very survival depend."
"To Quebecers, the beluga represents an excellent indicator of the health of the St. Lawrence ecosystem and of our environment," David Cliche said. "The Quebec Department of the Environment and Wildlife intends to play a dynamic role in preserving the St. Lawrence belugas, and implementation of the beluga recovery plan is a pre-requisite for the welfare of this species."
Many key initiatives which address the experts' recommendations and have already been undertaken or are underway are described in the federal-provincial implementation plan. Among the most important ones are the completion of Quebec municipal wastewater treatment program, which will ensure that 98% of the population connected to a wastewater system, representing around six million people, will have its wastewater treated; the 96% reduction in the toxic effluents discharged into the river by the 50 priority industrial plants targeted under the St. Lawrence Action Plan (SLAP), and the creation of the Saguenay—St. Lawrence Marine Park by the two levels of government.
On behalf of St. Lawrence Vision 2000, Mr Mifflin congratulated the non-governmental partners, in particular the World Wildlife Fund, on their dedicated and tireless efforts to protect the environment.
The St. Lawrence Beluga Recovery Plan, the first recovery plan to be developed in Canada for a cetacean, was prepared by a team of experts in accordance with an agreement between Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWWF).
St. Lawrence Vision 2000 is a federal-provincial action plan, launched in 1994 after SLAP ended, which seeks to protect, conserve and restore the St. Lawrence ecosystem and to reclaim the river for all Canadians within a context of sustainable development. Some 10 federal and provincial government departments are involved in carrying out SLV 2000. On the federal side, they include Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, Health Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Heritage Canada and the Federal Office of Regional Development — Quebec. The Quebec government also plays an active role through its various departments: the Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Faune du Québec, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec and the Ministère des Affaires municipales du Québec.
For more information:
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Viviane Haeberlé
(418) 775-0526
Environment Canada
Clément Dugas
(418) 648-5777
Canadian Heritage
Claude Fillion
(418) 235-4703
Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Faune du Québec
Yvan Bédard
(418) 644-3055
Également offert en français
Date modified: 1996/07/04 – Important Notices
