Order Acknowledging Receipt of the Assessment Done Under Subsection 23(1) of the Species at Risk Act (Striped Bass): SI/2026-60

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 160, Number 22

Registration
SI/2026-60 November 4, 2026

SPECIES AT RISK ACT

Order Acknowledging Receipt of the Assessment Done Under Subsection 23(1) of the Species at Risk Act (Striped Bass)

P.C. 2026-1016 October 23, 2026

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, acknowledges receipt, on the making of this Order, of the assessment done under subsection 23(1) of the Species at Risk Act^{footnote a} by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) with respect to the wildlife species referred to in the schedule to this Order.

SCHEDULE

Special Concern

Fish

Bass, Striped (Morone saxatilis) Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population
Bar rayé population du sud du golfe du Saint-Laurent

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

Proposal

The Order acknowledges receipt of the assessment by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) of the status of the Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population, done in 2012.

Objective

The objective of this Order is for the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, to acknowledge receipt of the assessment conducted pursuant to subsection 23(1) of the Species at Risk Act (SARA) by COSEWIC with respect to the Striped Bass Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population.

Background

The Striped Bass Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population was assessed as a special concern species in 2012. The assessment was conducted by COSEWIC in accordance with SARA.

The purpose of SARA is to prevent wildlife species from being extirpated or becoming extinct; to provide for the recovery of wildlife species that are extirpated, endangered, or threatened as a result of human activity; and to manage species of special concern to prevent them from becoming endangered or threatened. COSEWIC was established as an independent scientific body with a mandate to provide a single, official, scientifically sound, national classification of wildlife species in Canada.

The 2012 COSEWIC assessment found that the Striped Bass Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population was known to spawn at only one location and was susceptible to high rates of poaching as well as bycatch in legal fisheries. The COSEWIC assessment and status report included data up to 2011.

Implications

Acknowledging receipt of the 2012 assessment starts the nine-month timeline set out in SARA for the Governor in Council (GIC), on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, to either add the Striped Bass Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk (the List), decide not to add the species to the List, or to refer the matter back to COSEWIC for further information or consideration.

If the GIC has not taken a course of action within nine months after acknowledging receipt of the 2012 COSEWIC assessment, the Minister of the Environment must, by order, amend Schedule 1 of SARA in accordance with COSEWIC’s assessment.

Contact

Species at Risk Program
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6
Email: SARA_LEP@dfo-mpo.gc.ca