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Environment
"No Net Loss/Net Gain of Habitat" Policy
All decisions regarding the use of waterlots and the management of habitat
along the Fraser River are based upon a No Net Loss/Net Gain principle. Fisheries
and Oceans Canada (DFO) created this policy to prevent any further erosion of
the productive capacity of existing habitat.
The DFO applies this principle to all its work with developers, and federal
and provincial agencies in order to ensure that development or construction projects
are designed in a way that maintains a fish habitat's productive capacity.
The Fraser River Port Authority supports the principle of No Net Loss/Net
Gain of Habitat and applies it through the assessment of construction applications
for works on all waterlots under its administration.
In cases where impacts on habitat are unavoidable the losses in productive
capacity must be mitigated or compensated for by habitat replacement or net gain,
which are determined on a case-by-case basis. Where mitigation or compensation
is impossible, development projects will not receive approval.
Mitigation involves altering structure design, installation, timing of construction,
or operating procedures in order to reduce or eliminate effects on the productive
capacity of fish habitats.
Compensation is the building of new habitat to replace habitat lost due to
development. Compensation should occur on fee simple lands immediately adjacent
to the development. The Port Authority does not permit compensation areas on lands
owned or administered by the Port Authority.
Current compensation ratios are:
- 1:1 for mudflats
- 2:1 for intertidal marshes
- 2:1 for riparian losses
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