Dartmouth, Nova Scotia - Ensuring our fishery officers have the equipment and tools they need to protect marine biodiversity and enforce the Fisheries Act is important to the Government of Canada. Investing in the Small Craft Acquisition Program to replace and update Conservation and Protection (C&P) vessels is one of many ways that we are supporting our fishery officers.
Today, the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard announced the arrival of two 44-foot vessels to replace the aging small vessel fleet and support the C&P program; one at its home port in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and the other with a shared home port of Pictou and Cheticamp, Nova Scotia. These vessels are the final of four patrol vessels built to replace four aging vessels that are no longer in service in the C&P fleet.
The vessels will increase the capacity of fishery officers to monitor compliance with the Fisheries Act, retrieve more abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear, and monitor endangered whales and other species of concern in Atlantic Canada. They will also support officer safety, as these vessels are capable of operating in adverse weather conditions.
The vessels were built by Samson Enterprises Ltd., of Pondville, Nova Scotia, who was awarded the $5.4 million contract through an open, transparent and fair process.
