In Canada, marine reserves are generally referred to as Marine
Protected Areas (MPA). MPAs take on many forms and fall within
various categories including: Marine Protected Areas; Migratory
Bird Sanctuaries; National Wildlife Areas; Marine Conservation
Areas; and Ecological Reserves. They are designated or regulated by
federal and provincial government departments. Canada also has
international commitments to protect its coastal and marine
biodiversity, resources and environments under the Convention on
Biological Diversity (1992) and the 1982 UN Convention on
the Law of the Sea. For more information on federal and
provincial legislation related to the establishment of protected
areas in the marine environment
click here.
Marine Protected Areas have been created in Canada to preserve
some unique and vulnerable ecosystems, and to allow habitats and
species to recover from destruction and overexploitation.
Currently, six MPAs have been established in Canada, accounting for
a total area of 2,536 sq. kilometres. This represents just
0.0005 per cent of the 5 million sq. kilometres of marine
environment under Canadian jurisdiction. Additional areas of
interest have been identified and are under assessment.
In 2003, the first MPA, the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Area,
was established in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Vancouver Island,
B.C. The Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents is home to 12 species that do
not exist anywhere else in the world and numerous species that only
exist in the general region. In 2005, the Eastport Marine
Protected Area was created which comprises the Eastport Peninsula
located in Bonavista Bay in north eastern Newfoundland. The
productive waters of this area are home to an abundant stock of
lobster, which is important for local subsistence. Increased
pressure on the cod fishery due to the collapse of, and 1992
moratorium on the Atlantic cod fishery raised concerns among the
local harvesters over the state of the stock. A conservation
strategy was developed and studies were conducted on the
relationship between restricting harvesting, protecting habitat and
the impact on the local fishery. The establishment of the MPA is
designed to further these studies and protect the stock from
overexploitation and damage to their habitat.
The Gully Marine Protected Area, the largest marine canyon in
the western North Atlantic, was designated on the edge of the
Scotian Shelf near Sable Island, Nova Scotia. The Gully is home to
a highly productive and vulnerable ecosystem with deep-sea corals,
a variety of fish, dolphin, and whale species and unique habitats.
The deep waters of the canyon provide a crucial habitat for the
Scotian Shelf population of northern bottlenose whales that are
currently designated as endangered under the Species at Risk Act.
The Gully's regulations prohibit any disturbance, damage,
destruction or removal of living marine species or habitat within
the MPA; however, the regulations also allow for a limited number
of human activities.
More information about other MPAs established in Canada:
Two National Marine Conservation Areas have been established -
one in Ontario and one in Quebec - and Parks Canada has a long-term
goal to establish National Marine Conservation Areas in 29 marine
regions representing divisions of all three oceans and the Great
Lakes. Numerous Migratory Bird Sanctuaries and National Wildlife
Areas have also been established in many provinces. No Marine
Wildlife Areas have been established to date but several potential
sites are being assessed. Under provincial jurisdiction, protected
areas have been established. For example, in Nova Scotia the
Eastern Shore Islands Wildlife Management Area comprises
116 sq. kilometres of ocean environment and just over five sq.
kilometres of coastal wetlands. Hunting and trapping are allowed in
season but access to the islands is prohibited from April 1 to
August 15 so as not to disturb breeding birds. On the other side
of Canada, B.C.'s ecological reserves cover approximately
476 sq. kilometres of marine waters that are protected under
legislation.
Unfortunately, designation under the law does not always mean
protection. The low percentage of the marine environment that is
protected in Canada is even less when taking into consideration the
fact that much of that area is recreational and permits human
activities. When humans are allowed to move within or close to the
boundaries of reserves, there are many negative impacts on the
marine environment and species, as illustrated by the hunt of
whales (some of which are endangered), in the Southern Ocean Whale
Sanctuary. Even whale sanctuaries here in Canada face threats, as
was shown last August when diesel spilled into Robson Bight
Ecological Reserve. Better enforcement of reserve boundaries and
more attention to these fragile ecosystems are required in order to
ensure marine protected areas are not just established but actually
protect the marine species and habitats for which they were
created.
For more information on the diesel spill in
Robson Bight.