Tony Walker

Lost and discarded fishing gear dumped off the southwestern coast of Nova Scotia — site of Canada's most lucrative lobster fishery — is trapping species at risk and hurting the lobster industry, a new scientific study says.

A survey estimates more than 1.8 million pieces of garbage are strewn over the bottom of the Bay of Fundy, prompting concerns about potential harm to marine life.

An environment professor at Dalhousie University says Canada's push to lead the G7 into a war against plastic garbage would get a whole lot more heft if the federal government started enacting stronger policies at home.