Prohibit industrial activities in marine protected areas: panel
HALIFAX — Oil and gas exploration and bottom-trawling fishing should be prohibited in the marine protected areas off Canada’s coasts, a federal advisory panel says.
In a final report released Tuesday, the panel said Ottawa should adopt standards developed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which prohibits industrial activities in marine protected areas.
“There is an increased potential for protected areas overlapping with areas that have economic potential,” the report said.
“Clear guidelines about the activities allowed and prohibited in protected areas can help to curtail the conflicts we see emerging from these overlaps.”
The report also calls for First Nations to become fully integrated in the development of marine protected areas, saying “Indigenous protected areas” should be recognized in law and provided with long-term funding.
The panel said Indigenous protected areas will play an important role in advancing Canada’s marine conservation objectives and would count toward the stated goal of protecting 10 per cent of ocean and coastal waters by 2020.
“By appropriately recognizing Indigenous Protected Areas, Canada has a unique opportunity to uphold and support Indigenous peoples in a transformative way. None of Canada’s MPA legislation explicitly limits the opportunity for Canada to establish Indigenous Protected Areas with Indigenous peoples.”
The panel also said it recognizes that socioeconomic needs must be considered as marine protected areas are developed, and it points to concerns raised by the premiers of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Last May, Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball told the panel that confusion between existing marine refuge zones and potential marine protected areas had “stranded investment” for offshore oil activity.
“We don’t need to shut down the economy to be good stewards of our oceans,” he said.
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil told the panel environmental protections should be balanced with economic factors.
The panel said that can be done. “We believe that Canada’s approach to marine conservation should include highly protected MPAs that have a consistent national standard of protection, complemented by other management tools that can offer flexible approaches to combining effective biodiversity protection with economic development,” the panel said.
As a result, the panel recommended that in protected areas where industrial activities are allowed, the minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard must be satisfied through legislation or regulation that the risks to biodiversity are “avoided or mitigated.”
Environmental groups were generally receptive to the recommendations, especially when it comes to limiting oil and gas exploration. “We were very happy with the clear statement that industrial-scale activities have no place in the Oceans Act and marine protected areas,” said Jordy Thomson, marine co-ordinator for Ecology Action Centre.