National Marine Conservation Area Explained

National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCAs) is a Parks Canada programme responsible for marine areas managed for sustainability and containing smaller zones of high protection. They include the seabed, the water itself and any species which occur there. They may also include wetlands, estuaries, islands and other coastal lands.[1] They are protected from dumping, undersea mining and oil and gas exploration and development, which may damage the aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems in the conservation area. However, not all commercial activities are prohibited in these zones. Shipping, commercial and sport fishing, and recreational activities are allowed.[2] [3]

Marine conservation at Nature Canada

In 1996, Nature Canada[4] developed its Marine Conservation Program in recognition that marine ecosystems were as affected by human activity as terrestrial ecosystems. At that time, Canada's National Parks Act[5] was designed to guide conservation and protection only on land. So that year, Nature Canada began advocating for new legislation that would enable the creation of national marine conservation areas.[6] Over the next several years we met with federal government policy decision-makers, gave testimony at hearings, and conducted a public awareness campaign about marine conservation areas.[7]

List of National Marine Conservation Areas

, established NMCAs and NMCA Reserves protect of waters, wetlands, and coastlines, representing five of the 29 identified marine regions with studies underway for protected areas in three additional regions.[8]

scope=col width=12%Namescope=col width=1%px class="unsortable"Photoscope=col width=7%Locationscope=col width=7%Establishedscope=col width=8%Area (2017)scope=col width=9%Marine regionscope=col class="unsortable"Description
bgcolor=#cedff2 scope=rowFathom Five National Marine Park
45.3167°N -119°W
data-sort-value="1987-07-20" 20 July 1987 Georgian BayThe marine counterpart to the adjacent Bruce Peninsula National Park, Fathom Five is named for a line in Shakespeare's The Tempest. The first marine unit in the national parks system preserves a unique aquatic environment and several small islands including Flowerpot Island. The unusually clear waters and numerous shipwrecks on the shoals of Georgian Bay make the park a popular destination for scuba divers.[9]
scope=rowGwaii Haanas NMCA Reserve & Haida Heritage Site
(Reserve)

52°N -143°W
data-sort-value="2010-06-11" 11 June 2010[10] Hecate Strait, Queen Charlotte ShelfAlong with the National Park Reserve of the same name, Gwaii Haanas protects an area extending from the ocean floor of the Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Basin to the mountains of the Haida Gwaii. The marine reserve preserves the Haida people's traditional use of the waters while protecting the area from oil exploration and commercial fishing. As a Reserve, it is a proposed NMCA, pending settlement of Native claims, but managed as a park unit in the interim.
scope=rowLake Superior NMCA
48.4333°N -102°W
data-sort-value="2015-09-01" 1 September 2015Lake SuperiorAdjacent to the United States' Isle Royale National Park and several Ontario provincial parks, Lake Superior NMCA forms part of the world's largest freshwater reserve.[11]
bgcolor=#cedff2 scope=rowSaguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park
48.0667°N -109°W
data-sort-value="1998-06-08" 8 June 1998[12] St. Lawrence EstuaryLocated at the confluence of the Saguenay and St.Lawrence rivers and adjacent to Quebec's "Saguenay Fjord National Park" (a provincial park), Saguenay–St. Lawrence protects a portion of the St.Lawrence estuary, a common feeding ground for marine mammals such as the endangered St.Lawrence beluga whale.

Proposed National Marine Conservation Areas

scope=col width=20%Study areaLocationAreaMarine region
Magdalen Islands[13] [14]
47.5833°N -93°W
Magdalen shallows
Southern Strait of Georgia[15]
(Reserve)

49.3°N -171°W
Strait of Georgia
Tallurutiup Imanga
74.2167°N -84°W
Lancaster Sound
Central coast of BC (Reserve)
52.1374°N -128.7666°W
Queen Charlotte Sound
Northern coast of Labrador (next to Torngat Mountains National Park)
59.5293°N -63.4004°W
Labrador Shelf
Eastern James Bay (Eeyou Istchee)
52.6679°N -79.3951°W
James Bay
Western James Bay & Southwestern Hudson Bay
55.44°N -82.1315°W
James Bay and Hudson Bay
Tuvaijuittuq
82.8376°N -91.6636°W
Arctic Basin and Arctic Archipelago

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: National Marine Conservation Areas. Parks Canada Agency, Government of. Canada. www.pc.gc.ca. February 7, 2018.
  2. Web site: Ottawa to create protected zone in northern Lake Superior. CBC News. 2007-10-24. 2007-10-25.
  3. Web site: Canada sets largest freshwater conservation area. Reuters. 2007-10-25. 2007-10-26.
  4. Web site: Nature Canada. NatureCanada.ca. February 7, 2018.
  5. Web site: Consolidated federal laws of canada, Canada National Parks Act. Legislative Services. Branch. laws-lois.justice.gc.ca. February 7, 2018.
  6. Web site: Find a National Marine Conservation Area. Parks Canada Agency, Government of. Canada. www.pc.gc.ca. February 7, 2018.
  7. Web site: Nature Canada – National marine conservation area. NatureCanada.ca. en-US. 2017-10-18.
  8. Web site: Completing the National Marine Conservation Areas System . Parks Canada . 30 March 2017 . 25 January 2017.
  9. Book: Guide to the National Parks of Canada . National Geographic . Washington, D.C. . 2017 . 978-1-4262-1756-2.
  10. Web site: Minister visits, celebrates marine park's creation . Haida Gwaii Observer . 14 June 2010 . 15 December 2017.
  11. News: Canada creates world's biggest water reserve . . 25 October 2007 . 23 January 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080105022946/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jV5wUUkH_NxhNSdrOOzUlh8c872A . 5 January 2008.
  12. Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park . 17 February 2018 . PDF . Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement et des Parcs du Québec .
  13. Lise . Rochette . Study on the Creation of a Marine Protected Area in Îles-de-la-Madeleine . Parks Canada & Government of Quebec . Cap-aux-Meules, QC . 9 May 2012 . 15 December 2017.
  14. Departmental Performance Report 2013-14 . 31 March 2014 . Parks Canada . Gatineau, QC . 18 January 2018.
  15. Feasibility Study for the Proposed Southern Strait of Georgia National Marine Conservation Area Reserve . Parks Canada . 30 March 2017 . 15 December 2017.