> MVHIIAI MANACil.Ml.Nr 



utidcr the Salnionid I'nhancomcnt IVngram have been 

 devntcd lo mipiDvmg lisli habitat. A.s I rccDriimcikl 

 above, money piud into the Pacific Fisheries Conserva- 

 tum F'unil should be earmarked tor this purp*>sc and 

 related hsh-prodiictioii measures. Bevt>nd that, the 

 amounts to be provided for habitat enhancement should 

 be determineii b\ the criteria tor projects uruler the Sal- 

 nionui J nh.uicemenl FVogram. discussed in C'iiaptcr 5. 



Iii(e{;rated Kc-mhitcc Maiui^eiiieiit 



The Department's responsibility should be to properly 

 manage the habitat available, to develop it further even 

 at the e.Kpense of other values wherever this can be shown 

 to be advantageous to Canadians generally, and to 

 sacntice it only when the loss is fully compensated in 

 other ways. 



Where an area of land and water supports other indus- 

 trial activities as well as fish, an obvious need arises to 

 minimize conflict among various competing interests. 

 Therefore, as a general principle — 



6. The IX'parlinent should be explicitly conuiiitted to the 

 principle of integrated resource development planning 

 and management. 



This has already been endorsed by the federal and pro- 

 vincial governments in their Salmoiud Enhancement 

 Agreement: 



. . .Canada and British Columbia agree that, 

 in the implementation of the Program, they 

 shall recognise the principles of integrated 

 resource management practice.'" 



My recommendation implies broadening the federal 

 commitment to this principle. 



The referral process The Department participates in a 

 variety of arrangements with other federal agencies, pro- 

 vincial ministries, municipalities, and private interests 

 whose operations threaten fish habitat. Some 8,000 refer- 

 rals of development proposals are received by the 

 Department each year. The forest industry is the largest 

 source; in 1981, timber-cutting permits alone accounted 

 for over 2,000 referrals. These procedures are informal 

 insofar as they have no legal consequences and are not 

 specifically sanctioned under fisheries legislation. 



In considering referrals that involve provincial 

 resource agencies or municipalities, the Department usu- 

 ally deals with the relevant government agency. For 

 example, timber-cutting applications by forest companies 

 are referred by the Ministry of Forests to the Department 

 for its assessment before the Ministry finally approves 

 them. The Department suggests modifications it consid- 

 ers necessary to protect fish habitat; if accepted by the 

 Ministry of Forests, these are incorporated into the cut- 

 ting permits issued to the forest company. With varia- 



tions, this same general approach is applietl to mining 

 operations, highways, dams, numicipal developments and 

 so on. For projects initiated by federal agencies, similar 

 procedures apply and the IX-partment participates in the 

 federal l.iivironmental Assessment and Review Process 

 for projects such as major harbour and airport develop)- 

 ments. 



Ihe potential for avoiding damage to fish habitat 

 offered by reterral and other integrated planning proce- 

 dures is considerable. 



1 therefore recommend — 



7. The Depiulmenl siMiuld continue to participate in 

 referral arrangements with provincial and other fed- 

 eral agencies. 



To ensure that the referral process is effective however, 

 certain specific requirements must be met. 



First, the Department will need information about the 

 habitat that will be affected by a proposed development 

 and about its sensitivity to disturbance. This underlines 

 the importance of the habitat inventory program recom- 

 mended earlier. (In Chapter 6, I discuss the need for 

 expanded research on fish habitat and the effects of dis- 

 turbances to it.) 



Second, the Department must participate early in the 

 planning of proposed developments in order to influence 

 their design before commitments are made by other gov- 

 ernment agencies and private interests. Under current 

 referral arrangements, the Department normally has little 

 control over the timing of its involvement because it can- 

 not respond until it receives a specific proposal. I regard 

 this as a serious shortcoming of referral systems as they 

 are now administered. 



Third, the Department needs to become more involved 

 in the field. While habitat inventory will help to identify 

 problems and determine priorities, the Department's 

 involvement in resource planning will be successful only 

 if its staff is able to personally inspect sensitive sites to see 

 first hand what is being proposed and to judge how it 

 might affect the productivity of fish habitat. 



Approvals With more than 8,000 referrals annually 

 and with its present meagre resource information and 

 staff, the Department cannot thoroughly review all of 

 them. Under present arrangements the Department's 

 contribution to resource planning tends to be uneven and 

 often cursory, and proponents of developments often 

 encounter lengthy delays." In any event, most referrals 

 do not pose serious threats to fish habitat, and the burden 

 of reviewing all in the same detail should be avoided. To 

 enable the Department to focus its attention and 

 resources on those proposals that pose the most serious 

 threats to fish habitat, I recommend — 



