Canada Marine Protected Areas Update

In 2019, Canada announced that the nation had surpassed its marine conservation target of 10 percent protection of marine and coastal areas.

The progress is the result of collaborative efforts with indigenous peoples, all levels of government, marine industries, and stakeholders.

To date, Canada has established 14 MPAs under the Oceans Act, three National Marine Conservation Areas, one marine National Wildlife Area, and 59 marine refuges. These areas protect 13.81% of Canada’s marine and coastal areas.

Projects include:


2019

• Establishment of the Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area (MPA). This MPA contributes 5.55 percent towards Canada’s marine conservation targets and encompasses an area of 319 411 km2.
• Amendments to the Oceans Act enabling the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to designate interim MPAs to provide protection to vulnerable areas while further scientific research and consultation take place.
• Adoption of new protection standards for federal MPAs and other effective area-based conservation measures to better conserve sensitive and important parts of oceans.
• Establishment of 2 Oceans Act Marine Protected Areas.
• Banc-des-Américains MPA.
• Laurentian Channel MPA.
• Announcement of 8 new marine refuges in Howe Sound, between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island.

2018

• Establishment of Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area off Vancouver Island.
• Announcement of the Canada-Quebec Collaborative Agreement to Establish a Network of Marine Protected Areas in Quebec.

2017

• Announcement of 51 marine refuges; representing approximately 275,000 km2 and 4.78% of conserved marine territory.
• Establishment of 2 Oceans Act Marine Protected Areas
• Hecate Strait/Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reef MPA
• St. Anns Bank MPA
• Announcement of the final boundary for the Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area in the High Arctic.

2016

• Establishment of Anguniaqvia niqiqyuam Marine Protected Area in the Beaufort Sea, Northwest Territories.

Future Projects

The Government of Canada remains committed to carrying out the work set out under the five-point plan, including the protection of large offshore areas such as the Offshore Pacific Area of Interest, identified in May 2017, west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

source: Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans


Related Information

New Canada Marine Refuges (Nunavut - Newfoundland and Labrador)

Canada Inuit Nunangat Arctic Region

Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC)

In January, 2019, Canada announced it will provide $12.6 million in funding over four years to Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), a national network of ocean observation systems based at the University of Victoria.

The investment will strengthen high-quality, real-time data on the marine environment to support the work of scientists throughout Canada and around the world, According to Canadian officials.

In particular, this investment will build on ONC’s ocean noise monitoring program and will expand its monitoring of sea surface currents in Pacific waters.

killer whales | photo credit NOAA photo library

The data will augment Canada's efforts to protect the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale while improving navigation and emergency response.

Southern resident killer whales (SRKW) represent the smallest of four resident communities within the Northeastern portion of North America Pacific Ocean.

In Canada the SRKW are listed as endangered on Species at Risk Act Schedule 1. In the USA, SRKW is the only killer whale population listed under the Endangered Species Act by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).

A Government of Canada’s $3.5 million contribution from its Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund was highlighted by the official opening of the University of Victoria’s recently opened Ocean-Climate Building.

The new $9.5 million facility also includes investments of $5.15 million from the University of Victoria and $850,000 from the Province of British Columbia.

The nearly 30,000-square-foot building provides an interdisciplinary, collaborative space for the University of Victoria’s ocean, climate change, and data management research programs.

The new facility is occupied by more than 200 researchers, co-op students, scientists, and staff, who will conduct research into the effects of changing oceans and climate.

The Post-Secondary Institutions Strategic Investment Fund provides funding to help modernize facilities at Canadian universities and colleges, as well as improve their energy efficiency and reduce their impact on the environment.

source: Government of Canada

NOAA Finds Endangered Killer Whales Eat Chinook Salmon

New advances in genetic testing have allowed scientists to determine the specific origin of Chinook salmon that were consumed by  killer whales in the inland waters of Washington and British Columbia, according to new research by NOAA scientists and others. These findings will play a significant role in assisting the recovery of this group of endangered whales.

"Our findings identified specific Chinook stocks from Canada’s Fraser River that fish managers need to pay particular attention to because these killer whales are so dependent on them,” said Dr. Brad Hanson, lead author of the study and a marine mammal scientist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle. This group of killer whales, known to scientists as the Southern Resident population, is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and Canada’s Species at Risk Act.

Both governments identified lack of food as a risk factor that could interfere with the recovery of these killer whales.

Southern resident killer whales spend their time in the inland waters of Washington and British Columbia from late spring to early fall before swimming to the Pacific Ocean for the winter months.

Scientists estimated that the vast majority of the Chinook the whales ate – as much as 90 percent -- was from the Fraser River. The whales ate mostly salmon from the Upper Fraser in June, the Middle Fraser in July, and from the South Thompson and Lower Fraser in August and September. In general, only a small fraction of the Chinook salmon samples came from Puget Sound rivers. 

Salmon return to the same stream or branch of a river where they had hatched to spawn. Therefore, salmon from a particular stream become a genetically distinct population from those that spawn in other streams or river systems. Each population returns at a slightly different time of year than other populations. The whales ate the salmon as the fish returned to the Fraser River to spawn.

The four-year study involved collecting fish tissue and scales, as well as whale feces, while the killer whales fed during the summer months. In the laboratory, scientists used a relatively new molecular genetic tool to identify which fish species were eaten and, more specifically, where they came from.  

 “This study not only confirmed previous research that suggested these whales eat mostly Chinook salmon, it also allowed us to identify the specific genetic groups, and therefore the specific areas from within the river system, from which these salmon came,” said Hanson.  This gives managers more information with which to make decisions about conservation measures to ensure survival of these salmon stocks, which in turn are vital to the survival of the killer whales.

The study, titled “Species and stock identification of prey consumed by endangered ‘Southern Resident’ killer whales in their summer range” was published in the journal Endangered Species Research. Collaborators included scientists from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and in Washington, Cascadia Research Collective, the Center for Whale Research, the University of Washington and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

For more information on Southern Resident killer whale recovery, see the Web at:  http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Marine-Mammals/Whales-Dolphins-Porpoise/Killer-Whales/ESA-Status/Orca-Recovery-Plan.cfm