common finback | common rorqual | fin whale | finner | herring whale | razorback

common finback | common rorqual | fin whale | finback | fin-backed whale | finner | herring whale | razorback | true fin whale

common finback | common rorqual | fin whale | finner | herring whale | razorback

Bryde's Whale | Common Bryde's Whale | Eden's Whale | Pygmy Bryde's Whale | Tropical Whale | Balaenoptera edeni

sei whale | sei

blue whale | Sibbald's rorqual | sulfur-bottom

Federal Office of Communications [ OFCOM ]

(Return tabled) Question No. 680 Mr. Hoang Mai: With regard to the transshipment of an endangered fin whale from Iceland to Japan through Canada: (a) is the government committed to stand against the illegal trade of endangered wildlife; (b) when were the following departments first notified of this transshipment, (i) Canada Border Services Agency, (ii) Fisheries and Oceans Canada, (iii) Environment Canada, (iv) Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, (v) Canadian Food Inspection Agency; (c) what actions did the following departments undertake after being notified, (i) Canada Border Services Agency, (ii) Fisheries and Oceans Cana ...[+++]da, (iii) Environment Canada, (iv) Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, (v) Canadian Food Inspection Agency; (d) what steps is the government taking to ensure that this transshipment of endangered species across Canada does not happen again; (e) did Environment Canada’s Wildlife Enforcement Directorate raise any concerns regarding this shipment, (i) if so, what were they, (ii) if not, why not; (f) has the government examined the appropriateness of this shipment in light of the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act; and (g) has the government considered following the example put forward by the United States by banning the transit of meat from endangered fin whales or any endangered species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora?

The rich diversity of marine life found at the confluence of the Saguenay fjord and the St. Lawrence River supports many species and is visited each summer by blue whales, fin whales, minke whales and on occasion by humpback and sperm whales.

We also had a large-scale fishery for large baleen whales basically fin whales and sperm whales and that fishery was closed due to international pressure.

Environment Canada said, with respect to the shipment, that they had to allow it to proceed since Iceland and Japan do not agree to the listing of the fin whale under the convention.