Program to Respond to Dead and Distressed Marine Animals in the Pacific Waters

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada has a requirement to support the Pacific Marine Mammal Response Program in Canadian Pacific waters by coordinating marine animal response efforts; responding, where possible and safe, to marine animals incident; providing response guidance to other authorized partners; and maintaining marine animal incident data and sharing with DFO.

It aims to ensure all dead and distressed marine animal incidents in Pacific Canadian waters are reported, particularly those involving species currently listed under the Species at Risk Act (SARA), entangled pinnipeds and other live and distressed marine animals, as well as rehabilitating injured marine mammals. The program has the added benefit of both improving communications with commercial fishers and the public regarding marine animal conservation and providing an opportunity to collect scientific data safely to improve our understanding of these species.

The purpose of the Program to Respond to Dead and Distressed Marine Animals in Pacific waters is to support the coordination to respond to marine animal emergencies; responding, where possible and safe, to marine animal incidents; providing response guidance to other authorized partners; and maintaining marine animal incident data to inform conservation measures and improve understanding of marine animal species.