The 8th World Recreational Fishing Conference will be held at the Victoria Conference Centre this year on July 16 – 20.

The conference unites the global recreational fishing community – providing an essential forum to discuss current research. Held every three years, this is the only international conference focused solely on recreational fisheries. The host organization for the 2017 conference is the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, in cooperation with the Sport Fishing Institute of BC.

The conference is not inexpensive to attend, and early registration has come and gone, but there are many sessions and talks scheduled of interest and value.

In Ottawa, June 15th saw the introduction of Bill C-55‘s proposed amendments to the Oceans Act, and complementary amendments to the Canadian Petroleum Resources Act.

The changes proposed in this Bill are aimed at facilitating the marine protected areas (MPAs) designation process without sacrificing sound science or the public’s opportunity to provide input.

The major improvements to the Acts are the ability to “freeze the footprint” of activity for a set time period in an area under consideration for protection; and when an area is designated as protected, the ability to cancel encompassed oil and gas interests while accepting the potential need to compensate the owners of those interests.

Conservation-minded groups in general see these proposed amendments as a good first step toward more effective protection of our marine environment than we have today.