CPAWS calls for 12 new marine protected areas by 2012: Two sites in Nova Scotia recommended

Halifax - As Oceans Day 2011 approaches, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is challenging the federal government to establish 12 new marine protected areas by the end of 2012.

“Creating 12 new marine protected areas within the next year and a half is an ambitious but do-able target for the federal government and an important step towards meeting Canada’s international commitment to create a full network of marine protected areas in all of our oceans,” says CPAWS’ Oceans Program Manager Sabine Jessen.

“With less than 1% of its oceans protected, Canada lags far behind other countries in marine conservation.  If we want to ensure healthy oceans and sustain healthy fisheries, Canada has to pick up the pace on conservation,” adds Jessen.

 “We’ve identified 12 important marine areas, many of which have long been proposed for protection.  It’s time for the federal government to move ahead with Aboriginal peoples, provincial and territorial governments, local communities and other partners to protect these by December 2012,” says Jessen.

The 12 marine areas that CPAWS is recommending for protection by 2012 include the Pacific’s Hecate Strait Glass Sponge Reefs, Scott Islands, Southern Strait of Georgia, and Big Eddy. These areas are important habitat for sea life including Tufted Puffins, endangered Orca whales and rockfish. In the North, CPAWS highlights the opportunity to protect the Arctic Ocean’s Lancaster Sound, critical habitat for Narwhal and Bowhead whales, and a biologically rich area in James Bay off Quebec, called Tawich.

In the Atlantic, CPAWS recommends protecting the South Coast Fjords of Newfoundland, the Laurentian Channel, American Bank (La Gaspesie) and les Iles de la Madeleine in the Gulf of St Lawrence, St. Anns Bank off Nova Scotia, and parts of the Bay of Fundy. These marine areas are home to a range of endangered sea life including Leatherback turtles, Right, Blue and Beluga whales, and nurseries for fish including herring, mackerel, flounder and Atlantic cod. 

“The two sites identified in Nova Scotia are ecologically, culturally and economically important areas. The Bay of Fundy is a global treasure, supports important fisheries and provides key habitat for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. St. Anns Bank is a key migration route for fish and marine mammals and home to cold-water corals and sponges,” says Rodrigo Menafra, Marine Conservation Coordinator for the CPAWS Nova Scotia Chapter. “Establishing these marine protected areas will have positive effects on the health of Nova Scotia’s marine resources,” add Menafra.

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Contact:  Rodrigo Menafra, marine@cpawsns.org, cell (902) 229-3519 or Sabine Jessen, sabine@cpawsbc.org, cell (604) 657-2813

CPAWS is Canada’s voice for wilderness. Since 1963, CPAWS has played a lead role in creating over two-thirds of Canada’s protected areas. Read more at: www.cpaws.org