This weekend's canola oil spill in Burrard Inlet has prompted calls for new and improved regulations. Environmentalists say the rules for vegetable oil should be just as tough as they are for petroleum products.

Companies transferring petroleum products in the harbour have to use booms to protect birds and other wildlife. But the rules don't apply to the transfer of cooking oil.

David Cadman of the Society Promoting Environment Conservation says that needs to be changed.

"The danger to aquatic wildlife is just the same from vegetable oils," he says. "It's not an onerous task for those shippers to also boom, and in fact it would save them money in the long run in terms of clean-up costs."

Clean-up crews were kept busy all weekend after tonnes of canola oil spilled into the harbour after a pipe broke at Neptune Terminals in North Vancouver. A couple of cormorants from Stanley Park died and several other water birds are being treated.