'Law and Order' actor Sam Waterston in Ottawa to discuss rebuilding fish stocks

How Canada protects its fisheries and oceans is the main topic of conversation as conservation group Oceana holds its symposium in Ottawa this week.

Actor Sam Waterston, known for his varied film and television work, including a long-standing role on “Law and Order,” is chair of Oceana's board of directors.

Waterston, who joined CTV Atlantic virtually for an interview Tuesday to discuss Oceana’s 2021 fish audit, says the group has found that nearly one in five fish stocks in Canadian waters are critically depleted and there is also a lack of rebuilding plans.

“Now Canada has a law and regulations to go with the law that, if enacted properly, will rebuild those stocks to abundance, which is what the subject of the symposium is – the building of abundance in Canada’s oceans.”

Waterston says it is a “crucial matter” that the laws become action, and if they do, the world will look to Canada as an example.

“More fish in the water means more profit, more food, more of everything that we want out of the sea,” he says.

He also points that more abundance of fish will help coastal communities in Atlantic Canada.

“You can’t have a fishing village without fish,” says Waterston. “And you can only have healthy fish stocks by paying attention and exercising – not allowing – the horrible thing that happened to the cod fishery to happen ever again, here or anywhere else, where they are beaten down so badly that they are utterly collapsed.”

Waterston says his interest in oceans began while he was a child growing up in Massachusetts.

“All of us who grew up in the northeast learn as children that Europeans came to North America in the first place chasing cod. So for that 400-year history of fishing for cod to suddenly brought to our crashing halt was just astonishing and shocking to me.”

He then was invited to an Oceana meeting by his friends, actor Ted Danson and producer Keith Addis.

“There is so much frustrating news in the world, including frustrating news about the oceans, including frustrating news about the state of the fisheries in Canada,” Waterston says. “But Oceana provides an opportunity and a place to get to work to deal with those hard facts and to make the future better.”

While Waterston admits he can’t predict what the future might hold for cod in Atlantic waters, he says it provides a cautionary tale about what to do when other stocks are threatened with collapse.

“Just never let it happen. Do what needs to be done, which mostly has to do with restraint, to let them build back to abundance ... When you’ve achieved abundance you need a cushion. The world is changing, climate change is affecting the life of fish, and you can’t be satisfied with just sort of bumping along the bottom of survivability. The goal has got to be abundance.”

He says the United States is a good example of a country with tough measures that are benefitting the fishing industry.

“Over time, since our fishery’s laws came into place, 47 depleted fish stocks have come back to sustainable levels and the result on commercial fishing has been a 54-per-cent increase in profits in those fisheries,” Waterston says. “So it can be done and the results are wonderful.”

With headlines like inflation, the war in Ukraine, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic competing for government time and attention, Waterston says he’s still optimistic Oceana's message will be heard.

“I’m here to celebrate what Canada has done, which is really magnificent in the last six years, and to encourage the whole body/public of Canada, including the government, while the iron is hot and to really put these laws into action because the results will be felt for a century or more,” he says. “There’s really only one option there – optimism is really the only option.”