This year’s recipient of the National Individual Commitment Prix d’Excellence bestowed by the Harbour Authority Recognition Program was Sylvain Gaumond, port warden and member of the Harbour Authority’s executive office of the Sainte-Anne-des-Monts multipurpose harbour. 

Striped bass, a fish typically found in estuaries up and down the eastern coast of North America, is globally classified as widespread and abundant. Beginning in the 19th century, the St. Lawrence Estuary population of striped bass was subjected to intensive fishing pressure. A highly combative fish, striped bass became a prized catch among recreational fishermen in addition to its important role in the commercial fishery. By the late 1960s, however, this fishing pressure, poaching and significant changes in certain habitats led to the complete disappearance of the estuary population.

Hydrography helps to add to our knowledge about the sea floor by establishing detailed bathymetry (water depth) as well as identifying any obstacles or other objects resting there. This work is performed using modern tools such as high-resolution, multi-beam echo sounders and side-scan sonar combined with a precise positioning system.

Opened to traffic in 1962, Champlain Bridge is one of the busiest bridges in North America. Ongoing wear has led to the current need to build a new bridge over the St. Lawrence River linking Brossard to Montréal. Work at the site was started in June 2015, and the bridge is scheduled to open by December 2018.

Last March, four Inuit members of Nunavik communities from the Kativik Regional Government came to Québec City to participate in the Aboriginal Fishery Guardians training. Through their participation in the training, they obtained fishery guardian certification under subsection 5(1) of the Fisheries Act.

Not everybody has the chance to navigate the St. Lawrence, much less discover its bed in detail. The Canadian Hydrographic Service provided this experience of a lifetime to two girls in Secondary I and II who had received a Jury's Choice award from Fisheries and Oceans Canada as part of the provincial Wanted: Young Cartographers contest.

For the second consecutive year, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Parks Canada are encouraging recreational boaters to adopt good practices on the water to protect the beluga whales of the St. Lawrence. Under this year's theme Show you care, keep your distance!, boaters are encouraged to move away from beluga whales to avoid disturbing this endangered species.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) recently modified the eligibility criteria for acquiring an inshore fishery enterprise in Quebec. As of April 1, 2016, DFO requires a fisher or assistant fisher certificate issued by the Bureau d'accréditation des pêcheurs et des aides-pêcheurs du Québec (BAPAP) to manage a fishery enterprise.

On August 27, the Governor in Council published its decision on whether or not to list several species under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) in Canada Gazette, Part I. Canadians are invited to provide comments on the listing decision for a 30-day consultation period.

In Fall 2013, the ZIP Committee in the Magdalen Islands, together with Merinov and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, started a targeted response plan to combat the dispersion and establishment of vase tunicate in the Magdalen Islands.