Concept
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO; Pêches et Océans Canada, MPO) is a department of the Government of Canada that is responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs in support of Canada's economic, ecological and scientific interests in oceans and inland waters. Its mandate includes responsibility for the conservation and sustainable use of Canada's fisheries resources while continuing to provide safe, effective and environmentally sound marine services that are responsive to the needs of Canadians in a global economy. The federal government is constitutionally mandated for the conservation and protection of fisheries resources in all Canadian fisheries waters. However, the department is largely focused on the conservation and allotment of harvests of salt water fisheries on the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coasts of Canada. The department works toward the conservation and protection of inland freshwater fisheries, such as on the Great Lakes and Lake Winnipeg, through cooperative agreements with various provinces. Provincial governments have enacted provincial fisheries legislation for the licensing of their fisheries. With the exception of Saskatchewan, conservation rules for freshwater fisheries are enacted under the Fisheries Act; six provinces administer these regulations in their own fisheries. To address the need for conservation, the department has an extensive science branch, with research institutes across the country. Typically the science branch provides evidence of the need for conservation of various species, which are then regulated by the department. DFO also maintains a large enforcement branch with peace officers (known as fishery officers) used to combat poaching and foreign overfishing within Canada's Exclusive Economic Zone. DFO is responsible for several organizations, including the Canadian Coast Guard, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation and the Canadian Hydrographic Service. The Department of Marine and Fisheries was created on July 1, 1867, although it did not receive legislative authority until May 22, 1868.