Courtenay-Alberni MP Gord Johns says plastic trash is “literally choking our ocean” and is proposing new fees for industry to help reduce the problem.
Johns spoke to the House of Commons late last week during adjournment proceedings.
“Create an ecosystem service fee,” he said. “Create a small fee on trans-cargo shipment units and on the industrial use of plastics in the aquaculture industry. Use that like the government does with marine response.”
In response, Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s Parliamentary Secretary Mike Kelloway agreed more work needs to be done, but on a broader scale, including tackling trash from fisheries.
Kelloway says lost or abandoned fishing gear, which can drift around the ocean and harm sea life, is a significant issue that needs to be addressed. So-called “ghost gear” makes up 70% of all large plastics in the ocean.
The federal government has a fund in place with tens of millions of dollars earmarked to retrieve gear lost during Hurricane Fiona on the East Coast. In recent years the fund helped remove derelict boats and old fishing gear from waters around Vancouver Island.
