The walrus family contains only one extant species, which is divided into two subspecies: the North Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) and the North Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmaru rosmarus) (Riedman 1990). Once widely distributed in Canada, North Atlantic walruses were common south of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Sable Island but were extirpated from these areas by the late 1700s.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada's new Aquaculture Activities Regulations (AAR) clarify the federal regulations governing aquaculture activities, particularly when they involve disease control and the discharge of organic matter.

As the year draws to an end, we would like to wish you peace, joy, health and happiness for the holiday season. This joyful time gives us an opportunity to look back and take stock of our progress in the last year.

The Fisheries and Oceans Canada regional management team is pleased to welcome Andrew Rowsell as the new Area Director, North Shore. He took over from Martin St-Gelais, who has retired.

For many of you, the holiday season is not only a time for merrymaking, but also an opportunity to look back at the year and everything that you have accomplished. The same is true for our organization.

How do eels travel from their river to the southwestern Sargasso Sea? This is quite a long way to travel, 2,400 km to be exact, for a fish that, once it arrives, will reproduce, and then die. A team of university and government researchers, to which Fisheries and Oceans Canada is party, managed to solve the mystery using satellite tags.

The American eel has been identified as Threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). This designation was made following a review of the status of the species in 2012.

Oceanography is a science that requires a lot of information to properly understand the structure and inner workings of complex marine systems, such as the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. However, it is not easy to obtain temperature and salinity data at any time, far below the surface of the water, many kilometres offshore.

The Fisheries and Oceans Canada regional management team is proud to announce the appointment of Maryse Lemire as Regional Director, Fisheries Management. Ms. Lemire took over the position in November.

On November 4, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the appointment of Hunter Tootoo as Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard.