too results in duplication. I see no need for two federal 

 agencies in these areas. Accordingly, I recommend that — 



20. Exclusive administrative responsibility over all habitat 

 protection provisioas in the Fisheries Act and over the 

 Ocean Dumping Control Act in the Pacific region 

 should be assigned to the Department of Fisheries and 

 Oceans, together with related staff and fluids. 



The Department of the Environment also administers 

 the Canada Water Act (referred to above): the Environ- 

 mental Contaminants Act.-' aimed mamly at regulating 

 the use and disposal of insidious industrial chemicals; the 

 Pest Control Products Act," which provides for the con- 

 trol of insecticides and related similar toxic substances; 

 and the Clean Air Act,-' which deals with acid rain, 

 among other things. Although these enactments contrib- 

 ute to fish habitat protection, they also serve wider objec- 

 tives. The same is true of the Environmental Assessment 

 and Review Process, the mechanism for reviewing the 

 environmental impact of major federal projects, which is 

 also coordinated by the Department of the Environment. 

 I see no need to disturb the existing administrative 

 arrangements for any of these programs and initiatives. 



Federal responsibilities for dealing with spills of oil 

 and other hazardous materials are divided. Since 1971 the 

 Environmental Protection Service has attempted to pro- 

 vide a coordinated federal response to emergencies and 

 has developed a fairly sophisticated national program for 

 preventing and reporting spills, for contingency planning 

 and research and for developing technology to deal with 

 spills. The primary statutory authority, however, is the 

 Fisheries Act. Responsibility for cleaning up spills of oil 

 from ships rests with the Department of Transport under 

 the Canada Shipping Act", although responsiblity for 

 protecting the environment when such spills tKcur (even 

 from chemicals used for clean up) rests with the Depart- 

 ment of Fisheries and Oceans and the Department of the 

 Environment. This allocation of responsibilities is 

 cumbersome and needs to be rationalized. I therefore rec- 

 ommend — 



21. The federal arrangements for dealing with spills of oil 

 and other hazardous materials should be reviewed in 

 an effort to rationalize the division of responsibilities 

 among departments and agencies. 



This review is urgent because the transfer of full 

 responsibility for section 33 of the Fisheries Act to the 

 Department of Fi.sheries and Oceans, as recommended 

 above, could lead to further confusion and conflicts with 

 the Department of the Environment. 



For the Yukon Territory, additional interdepartmental 

 relationships have to be considered and 1 deal with these 

 issues in Chapter 20. 



HABITAT MANAGEMENT 31 



Departnjental Organization and Resources 



Habitat-related work in the Pacific region is done by 

 three separate branches within the Department of Fisher- 

 ies and Oceans and by other federal departments, inter- 

 national commissions and the provincial government. 

 The main agencies involved and the resources devoted to 

 fish habitat protection are summarized in Table 3-1. 



Table 3-1 



agcnc\ 



Resources devoted to fish habitat manage- 

 ment in the Pacific resion, 1981-82 



Deparlmenl of Fisheries and Oceans 

 Field Services Branch 



Habilal Division 



Fishery Officers 

 Research Branch 

 Salmonid Enhancement Program 



Department of the Environment 



EriMronmental Protection Service 

 International Pacific Salmon 



Fisheries Commission 

 British Columbia Fish and Wildlife 



Branch 



total 



Source: Information provided by the various agencies. 



In the headquarters of the Department's Pacific region, 

 a habitat division of the Field Services Branch has the 

 main responsibilitx for habitat protection. (A recent deci- 

 sion to elevate this unit to the status of a branch, and to 

 change its name to the Habitat Management Branch. 

 reflects a concern to strengthen its capabilities.) In the 

 field. fisher> officers, who report through area managers, 

 enforce habitat legislation as well as perform resource 

 management responsibilities. The Fisheries Research 

 Branch conducts habitat-related research in Nanaimo 

 and West Vancouver. The Salmonid Enhancement Pro- 

 gram, based in Vancouver, is directly involved in habitat 

 improvement projects. The International Pacific Salmon 

 Fisheries Commission conducts research and habitat- 

 improvement work on the Eraser River system. And. as 

 explained later in this chapter, the provincial Fish and 

 Wildlife Branch is involved in habitat management and 

 enforcement as well. .Altogether, about 265 person-years 

 and more than S12 million are currently being directed 

 annually to fish habitat protection, management and 

 improvement in the Pacific region. 



Many participants in the Commission's hearings have 

 maintained that the budgetary commitment to habitat 

 protection in the Pacific region is inadequate. Certainly, 

 the Department of Fisheries and Oceans is stretched too 

 thinly to adequately discharge its heavy responsibilities in 



