Canada is failing to protect at-risk species of fish that are commercially valuable, its environment commissioner said in an audit published Tuesday, blasting bureaucrats for putting commercial interests ahead of conservation.

In a statement, commissioner Jerry DeMarco said Fisheries and Oceans Canada had shown "a bias against protecting species of commercial value under the Species At Risk Act."

This -- combined with "significant delays in listing species for protection, gaps in knowledge about species, and limited enforcement capacity" -- was having "adverse effects on ecosystems and communities," he said.

The audit looked at nine fish, two mussels and a sea turtle that a committee on the status of endangered wildlife had found were in need of protection.

Five of the fish have significant commercial value, and in all five of those cases, the fisheries department decided against listing the fish as a species at risk.

They include Atlantic cod and bluefin tuna, steelhead trout, a population of chinook salmon in western Canada, and yellowmouth rockfish.

When the department did move to protect aquatic species, the commissioner said, it took an average of 3.6 years to complete the listing process under the act, which came fully into force in 2004. Some cases took as long as 11 years.

DeMarco noted also that the ministry was woefully understaffed, with too few officers to enforce compliance with the act.

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