Abstract Manager

Roads and other transportation infrastructure intersect and impact countless waterways across Canada. When development or maintenance of this infrastructure cannot avoid or mitigate impacts to fish and/or fish habitat in these waterways, the federal Fisheries Act, 1985 and its associated policies require project proponents to offset said impacts.

Effective fish habitat offsets are therefore critical for mitigating the overall impact our transportation infrastructure has on fish and aquatic ecosystems. However, this requirement can complicate project planning, timelines, and execution. Obstacles include characterizing and quantifying unavoidable impacts, identifying suitable locations and measures to offset, offset planning and permitting, navigating discrepancies between project and offsetting timelines, balancing stakeholder perspectives, and reconciling budget realities with achieving meaningful benefits.

This presentation will highlight examples of how the Conservation PRO team at Ducks Unlimited Canada navigates these challenges throughout our offsetting work. Reflections will be made regarding the creation of meaningful impacts through projects conducted within the guidelines of the offsetting policies. Based on these experiences and insights gleaned from years of conducting wetland and species-at-risk offsetting measures, efficiencies, recommendations, and new avenues for conservation will be explored. The case will be made for 1) multi-year, full “offsetting life cycle” agreements, 2) proactive and locally collaborative inventory identification, and 3) third-party offset banking. Finally, various case studies will be presented that illustrate the merit of these ongoing and proposed approaches.