The federal government is moving forward with plans to protect more fish and their habitat, and recognize fishing as culturally and socially important to Canada's coastal communities. One of the marquee updates to the Fisheries Act rolls back a controversial Conservative policy. Before 2012, the Fisheries Act banned all activities that harmed fish habitat. That year, Stephen Harper's Conservative government introduced omnibus legislation that prohibited activities that affected fish in commercial, recreational or Indigenous fisheries. Inshore fisheries addressedThe Liberals' changes also hope to protect the independent inshore commercial fishery.

Source: CBC News February 06, 2018 17:07 UTC