North America Falls Far Short of Ocean Protection Goals

A Coast Guard icebreaker sits in the waters of Lancaster Sound at the eastern gates of the Northwest Passage. The area was first proposed for protection by the Inuit in 1987. (The Canadian Press/ Bob Weber)

North American governments aren’t living up to promises to protect their oceans and Canada is performing worst of all, according to a new study.

“We’ve been concerned about just how slow the progress has been in protecting our marine environment,” said Sabine Jessen, who did the study for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Canada, Mexico, and the United States have all pledged to protect at least 10 percent of their waters. For Mexico and Canada, that commitment dates back to international agreements ratified in the early 1990s.

Jessen’s analysis found that less than one percent of the oceans off the continent are in fully functioning protected areas with permanent legal status and a management plan. Commercial or industrial activity is banned from only 0.04 percent.

Canada, with the largest coastline of the three, has protected 0.11 percent of it. The U.S. figure is 1.29 percent. Mexico is the best of a bad lot at 1.62 percent.

And just 0.02 percent of Canadian oceans are in strictly protected reserves that ban all commercial fishing, shipping, and industry. Canada has 14 marine protected areas under consideration, which could bring the total up to three percent.

It’s the word “consideration” that is the problem, said Jessen. Consideration has lasted for decades.

The Lancaster Sound area at the eastern gate of the Northwest Passage was first proposed for protection by the Inuit in 1987.

Jessen recalls marine conservation icon Jacques Cousteau joining local advocates in calling for a marine park in B.C.’s southern Georgia Strait in the late 1960s.

“We’re still working on it,” she said. “I just don’t think it’s been a high enough priority for government to do.”
The report urges Canada to streamline what’s required to create new protected areas and recommends that waters that come under such management be larger.

It suggests the three countries work together to establish jointly managed areas such as in the Beaufort Sea, which is shared by Yukon and Alaska.

Modern fishing technology leaves fish few places to hide, said Jessen. Marine protected areas could give them safe water to reproduce and replenish stocks elsewhere.

“We have to make sure there are some places where nature can thrive.”

From The Canadian Press

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