There was relief among Manitoba farmers last week when told Fisheries and Oceans Canada has trimmed its enforcement staff in Western Canada.
Farmers learned during a meeting of Keystone Agricultural Producers that the enforcement staff is being cut by about half. The employees are watchdogs over projects such as drainage works and road construction that could affect important fish habitat.
The department of fisheries and oceans is not abandoning its work on the Prairies, but will have less of a physical presence. It will instead rely more heavily on a list of guidelines to be established for farmers and others whose activities could affect fish habitat, said KAP vice-president Ian Wishart.
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His hope is that the guidelines will provide predictability for producers.
“As long as (fisheries staff) follow their own guidelines, I think this will be a worthwhile process,” said Wishart.
The department did not meet requests for an interview before the Western Producer deadline April 18.
Several years ago, the department had only nine employees on the Prairies working to preserve fish habitat. In 1999, the federal government gave the department responsibility for fish habitat protection in the region. The number of prairie staff was increased to more than 100, including 27 in Manitoba devoted to habitat protection.
Farmers and municipalities have complained for years that the enforcement staff added unnecessary costs and hindrances to drainage projects and to road works, particularly where bridges or culverts were involved.
KAP president David Rolfe said the department of fisheries and oceans went overboard in its efforts to protect fish habitat.
“I think everybody shares a common goal for the environment, but DFO seems, in some cases, to have taken that to the extreme when it comes to the preservation of fish stocks.
“It wasn’t just maintaining fish habitat. It was enhancing fish habitat, regardless of the cost to agriculture or to municipalities.”
