National Marine Conservation Areas of Canada

Canada’s National Marine Conservation Areas System Plan

National Marine Conservation Areas of Canada Program

Who?

Parks Canada is responsible for National Parks and National Historic Sites. It is also charged with setting up a national system of marine protected areas, the National Marine Conservation Areas Program, to represent the full range of marine ecosystems found in Canada's Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans, and the Great Lakes.

Why?

Canada has over 243,000 km of coastline along three oceans and another 9500 km along the Great Lakes - the longest coastline in the world. The vast marine ecosystems off these coasts are varied, productive - and precious. We have a responsibility, both at the national and international levels, to protect examples of this marine heritage for present and future generations.

What?

National Marine Conservation Areas, or NMCA for short, are marine areas managed for sustainable use and containing smaller zones of high protection. They include the seabed, the water column above it and they may also take in wetlands, estuaries, islands and other coastal lands.

NMCAs are protected from such activities as ocean dumping, undersea mining, and oil and gas exploration and development. Traditional fishing activities would be permitted, but managed with the conservation of the ecosystem as the main goal.

NMCAs are established to represent a marine region and to demonstrate how protection and conservation practices can be harmonized with resource use in marine ecosystems. Their management requires the development of partnerships with regional stakeholders, coastal communities, Aboriginal peoples, provincial or territorial governments and other federal departments and agencies.

The NMCA Program is designed to:

• represent the diversity of Canada's oceanic and Great Lakes environments
• maintain ecological processes and life support systems
• provide a model for sustainable use of marine species and ecosystems
• encourage marine research and ecological monitoring
• protect depleted, vulnerable, threatened or endangered marine species and their habitats
• provide for marine interpretation and recreation
• contribute to a growing worldwide network of marine protected areas

How?

National Marine Conservation Areas are established in a manner set out in the National Marine Conservation Areas Policy and guided by the national system plan, Sea to Sea to Sea. As Parks Canada's goal is to represent each of the 29 marine regions, establishment of new NMCAs is focused on the unrepresented regions.

The steps in the establishment of a new NMCA are as follows:

1. Identifying representative marine areas (candidate sites) takes into consideration:

• geologic features (such as cliffs, beaches, and islands on the coast; and shoals, basins, troughs and shelves on the seabed)
• marine features (tides, ice, water masses, currents, salinity, freshwater influences)
• marine and coastal habitats (wetlands, tidal flats, estuaries, high current areas, protected areas, inshore and offshore areas, shallow and deep water areas)
• biology (plants, plankton, invertebrates, fish, seabirds and marine mammals)
• archaeological and historic features

2. Selecting a potential NMCA from the candidate sites identified involves looking at:

• quality of regional representation
• relative importance for maintaining biodiversity
• protecting critical habitats of endangered species
• exceptional natural and cultural features
• existing or planned marine protected areas
• minimizing conflict with resource users
• threats to the sustainability of marine ecosystems
• implications of Aboriginal claims and treaties
• potential for education and enjoyment
• value for ecological research and monitoring

3. Assessing the feasibility of a NMCA requires the cooperation and support of:

• other federal departments and provincial or territorial governments
• local communities, regional stakeholders and Aboriginal peoples

Extensive local consultations are undertaken. Working groups or advisory bodies may be set up to develop and assess proposals. Proposals may also be considered within other appropriate planning processes.

4. Negotiating an agreement

If the feasibility study demonstrates support for the initiative, a federal/provincial or federal/territorial agreement will be negotiated to set out the terms and conditions under which the NMCA will be established and managed.

5. Establishment of a NMCA

NMCAs are established under the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act.

Where?

Currently, there are two operating sites within the NMCA program: Fathom Five National Marine Park in Georgian Bay, Ontario, and Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park in Quebec. The latter was established by special complementary federal and provincial legislation allowing for co-operative management with the Province of Quebec (Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park Act).