BC Ferries agrees a plan to cut underwater noise by half by 2036

BC Ferries’ release, headed For Immediate Release October 29, 2026, says the company has a new agreement with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada. It is a Species at Risk Act section 11 conservation agreement. The agreement sets a framework for the parties to seek to quantify and reduce, where feasible, vessel-related threats from ferry operations, for Southern Resident killer whales and other at-risk cetacean species in BC coastal waters.

BC Ferries plans to develop and maintain an Underwater Radiated Noise Management Plan that aims to achieve a 50% reduction in overall underwater radiated noise from its vessels in Southern Resident killer whale critical habitat, compared with 2019, by 2036, through fleet renewal and/or retrofits. The company also plans to research, develop and deploy quieting technologies and maintenance and operating practices, and to work on vessel-cetacean strike risk through an adaptive monitoring and mitigation framework.

Transport Canada is to support the noise plan with expertise and advice, and to engage internationally so that measures under the agreement are informed by discussions at the International Maritime Organization. Fisheries and Oceans Canada is to provide expertise on the impacts of underwater noise and vessel strikes.

Brian Anderson, interim president and chief executive, said: “BC Ferries has a responsibility to connect customers and coastal communities while protecting the marine environment we all value.” He said the agreement builds on steps already taken, with Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, on quieter vessels, operating practices and measures to reduce the risk of vessel strikes.