VANCOUVER,
BC (Pacific Free Press) – After nearly a year of unlawful delays, the latest caused by the Canadian
military, environmental groups issued a warning to Fisheries and Oceans Canada
(DFO) today to release the Recovery Strategy for BC’s famous resident killer
whales, or face a lawsuit.
The
Southern Resident Killer Whales are an endangered species under Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA). Under SARA a team of marine scientists was
tasked with creating a science-based plan that identifies habitat, conservation
threats, and recovery recommendations.
For the last year, DFO has blocked the release of the Team’s Recovery
Strategy, which DFO was legally required to release by June 1, 2006.
Additionally,
according to a Canadian military document, the Department of National Defence
(DND) is trying to downplay and re-write scientists’ concerns over military
sonar threats to killer whales in BC waters. The Canadian military conducts
sonar testing in the whales’ habitat, often in joint operations with the US
Navy.
“Even
the military acknowledges that sonar threatens whales with harm,” said
Christianne Wilhelmson of Georgia Strait Alliance. “The military must stop interfering with this
science-based Recovery Strategy, and we call on the Canadian government to
release it immediately.”
As an
example of DND efforts to weaken the Recovery Strategy, it wants to remove the
scientists’ recommendation that new laws to reduce injury to killer whales from
sonar testing be considered. The military is arguing that Canadian and American
naval vessels operating in Canadian waters should not be bound by
sonar-specific regulations.
“Military
objectives have no place in a killer whale recovery strategy,” said Gwen Barlee
of the Wilderness Committee. “If
battleships trump science we won’t be able to recover this species.”
“The Species at Risk Act requires Recovery
Strategies to follow strict timelines to protect endangered species, to
discourage bureaucrats from talking endlessly while a species faces
extirpation,” said Lara Tessaro of Sierra Legal. “DFO delays risk not only the Killer Whales,
but many endangered marine mammals and fish as well.”
The
environmental groups have sent DFO a letter, threatening to file a lawsuit if
DFO does not release the Resident Killer Whale Recovery Strategy by June 4,
2007.
Governments allow a lot of bad things to happen, because when human individuals get into office, one of the first things they find out is they don't have any real power, that when they try to do something, they can't, for myriads of reasons. Also, when someone wants to do something effective, they don't run for public office, they just go ahead and do what they have in mind. People in government office, really, most of them, are not competent. If they were, they'd be doing something else.
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June 01, 2007
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