"Unfortunately, the news is not good," Robert Rangeley, science director at Oceana Canada, said in an interview Monday.

Since 2017, the number of healthy fish stocks in Canada dropped by nearly eight per cent, the audit said, adding, "a mere 26.5 per cent are now considered healthy."

It said little progress had been made to grow fish populations that were already critically depleted — including shrimp, snow crab and several forage fish, which drive much of the country's fishing revenues.