Transcript Southern Gulf Islands Marine Protected Area

Southern Gulf Islands
Marine Protected
Area
Federal Level
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Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act
Proposed Sites in BC
Southern Gulf Islands National Park
National Marine Conservation
Areas Act
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National Marine Conservation Areas (NMCA)
Provides for Marine Protected Areas (MPA)
NMCA
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Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS)Proposal for Bill C-10 Canada National Marine
Conservation Areas Act, October 2000.
Provide Canadians with special places to connect with
the rich and diverse environments on our shores, and
ensure lasting benefits to our coastal communities and
the ecological integrity and healthy proliferation of the
valuable marine environments.
Each marine conservation area shall be divided into
zones, which must include at least one zone that fosters
and encourages ecologically sustainable use of marine
resources and at least one zone that fully protects special
features or sensitive elements of ecosystems, and may
include other types of zones (NMCA Act 2002, c. 18 - 4.4).
MPA
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Marine Protected Areas (MPA) would protect all or a portion of the
elements within a particular marine environment prohibiting: ocean
dumping, dredging, exploration for, or development of, non-renewable
resources.
Existing marine areas under some form of legislaion comprise only
2% of BC's marine environment.
In 1994, the federal and provincial government created a committee
to develop a Marine Protected Area Strategy for BC
Canada is committed to the completion of a system of marine
protected areas on the Pacific coast by 2010.
In 1998, a draft MPA strategy for the Pacific Coast was released.
In June 2002, the National Marine Conservation Area Act was
passed, providing Parks Canada with the legislation to establish
MPAs.
Gwaii Haanas and Southern Strait of Georgia are poised to be BC's
first national marine conservation areas.
In 2000, Race Rocks was announced to be Canada's first Marine
Protected Area under the Oceans Act but the Endeavour Hot Vents
were established as the country's first Oceans Act MPA.
Proposed MPA Sites
1. Southern Gulf Islands
2. Gwaii Haanas
3. Scott Islands
4. Queen Charlotte Strait
5. Hakai
6. Gabriola
7. Race Rocks
8. Bowie Seamounts
9. Endeavour Hot Vents
Oceans Act
 MPA
Criteria:
 (1) High biodiversiy
 (2) Fish and habitat
 (3) Threatened
 (4) Unique habitat
 S.
Gulf Islands:
 (1) Nutrients upflow
 (2)Rockfish,lingcod
 (3) Killer whales
 (4) Sponges, sea
anenomes
Southern Gulf
Islands
Map
Size of No-Take
Zones (MPA)
 Small
areas - few kilometers wide, for small
animals (Roberts and Haukins 2000)
 Large areas - tens of kilometers wide, for
larger animals and bird colonies (Mosquera
et al. 2000)
 Buffer
zones - to protect core not-take zone
(NTZ) centers
MPA Connections
 Distance
- No take zones should be 10 to
50 km apart to maximize biodiversity
protection
 Currents - link no take zones
 Upstream - need to be protected to
conserve downstream areas
 Arrange - to maximize links between no
take zones
MPA LINKS
Square = No
Take Zone
(NTZ)
Line = links
(connection
between
zones)
As the number
of no take
zones increase,
the conections
double and
triple between
these protected
areas
The overall
protected area
increases in size
because of the
substantial
increase of links
between sites
Representational
Areas - types of MPAs
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Percentage
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Ecosystem
Identification
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20-50% of each
ecosystem type
should be
protected for longterm viability
Topography /
ocean features
Exposure
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High and low tidal
exposed areas
consist of different
species
Biodiversity Protection
Summary
 Small
- few kilometers for non-moving
species
 Large - 10-20 kilometers for mobile
animals
 20% - of each habitat type
 Research - a survey over time to
identify best design for
maximum biodiversity
People Benefit
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First Nations
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Public
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Culture preservation
The establishment of MPAs in British
Columbia will be without prejudice to
First Nations treaty processes and the
Constitutional rights of First Nation
governments.
Participation and Education
Economic benefits
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Fisheries
Ecotourism
Stake-holders
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Study on local involvement in Mediterranean
(Badalamenti, 2000)
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Success is proportional to the involvement of the local
community
Kelp bed ecology
Fisheries
 Adult
Recruitment
 Species Recovery
 Life Stage Protection
 Genetic Reservoirs
 Insurance Against Uncertainty
Adjacent Fishing
Areas
 Florida (Taylor et al. 2000)
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Tagged fish left MPA to enter fishing grounds
Several world records set near MPA
 Caribbean (Taylor et al. 2000)
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Greater abundance, size, and biomass near MPA
 California (Thompson 1997)
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Median catch close to MPA significantly greater than median catch far
from MPA
 Gulf
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of Mexico (Jones 1998)
No increase in yield, but compliance by fishers only 65%
MPAs in BC
 Whytecliff
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Above average lingcod spawning in MPA
Large coppers, quillbacks, and lingcod in MPA
 Porteau
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Park:
Cove:
Greater lingcod spawning than in controls
Southern Gulf
Island Fisheries
 Migration
route for salmon
 Bottom fishery for halibut
 Shellfish
 Crabs and prawns
 Rockfish
Conclusions
 NMCA in
Southern Gulf Islands will
benefit:
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Biodiversity
Culture
Ecotourism
Fisheries