But what about the oceans? Now is your chance to speak up for their protection
‘But what about the oceans?’
Now is your chance to speak up for their protection
Written by Enzo Ferland, Communications Intern
From lobsters and fisheries to beaches and boats, it is hard to deny that the ocean is of great cultural and economic importance to New Brunswick. But, despite this, most of the province’s conservation efforts have historically been pushed toward land areas and not marine ones.
While not currently enough to cope with climate change-driven nature loss, there are many terrestrial protected areas formed due to international agreements, government protections, or by the actions of private entities and NGOs like the Nature Trust, with our network of 83 permanently-protected nature preserves.
There are very few marine areas that are similarly protected. Furthermore, those which do exist have very little connecting them, which means they are not as effective as they could be if they worked closer together to form an overall protection network that follows the movement of species and other ecological processes.
Map of proposed Chignecto Bay network site
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
This has led many people, particularly those working for nature protection, to ask, ‘What about the oceans?’ Well, after many years of hard work from nature advocates and concerned citizens alike, the federal government has listened and is proposing a network of new marine protected areas to rectify these problems and better protect the marine ecosystems which New Brunswick and coastal communities across the county rely so heavily upon.
But your help is needed to make sure the most ecologically important areas in the Bay of Fundy are included in the finalized network. Until June 29, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is conducting a survey to get public input on its plan. Read on to learn more about marine protection, why it’s important, and how you can help ensure the Bay of Fundy gets the attention it deserves while also increasing the effectiveness of the protections already afforded by our land-based nature preserves in the region.
What is a marine protected area (MPA)?
Marine protected areas are parts of the ocean that are legally protected and managed to achieve long-term conservation of the local ecosystem. These areas will then be connected through an overall marine conservation network, a collection of areas that are linked by species movement and other ecological processes. By creating such a network of protected areas, we will be able to better conserve our oceans in the long run.
A harbour seal, a species that would benefit from the proposed marine conservation network
Why is this important?
This plan matters since it will protect these regions from the threat of climate change. As the waters warm and become more acidic it becomes ever more difficult for certain species to thrive, while other species will migrate in step with the warming water. This would, if unchecked, lead to a gradual loss of many important species such as striped bass, Atlantic salmon, harbour seals, and white shark, that are vital to the continued functioning of local ecosystems.
This would also be a problem as the oceans are necessary in New Brunswick’s economy due to the food production that is linked to them. As these species die out or move away, we will be unable to produce as much food as before, and workers will fall into more precarious positions as the animals they catch and process begin to disappear. If it continues to an extreme, many might even lose their entire livelihoods.
The ocean is also an important source of clean air. Roughly 50 per cent of the world’s oxygen is produced in the ocean. If these ecosystems die off, then the plankton—which are largely responsible for this production—would die off with them and the overall quality of our air and the amount of oxygen found within it would drop.
Finally, Canada has pledged in international agreements to protect 30 per cent of its oceans by 2030, but currently only protects 14.66 per cent. By adding new marine protected areas in the Bay of Fundy, we will get closer to reaching this goal.
How do these areas protect the oceans?
These protected areas will be maintained to conserve the marine wildlife within them and to remove dangerous waste, mineral extraction, and bottom-trawl gear that threatens marine ecosystems.
But this removal of human activities does not mean that these areas will become entirely human-free. Many of them will become parks and tourist destinations where, just as at our nature preserves, people can experience the wonder and awe of unfettered nature and the spectacular species that live there.
A great blue heron, one of the species which would lose a food source if our oceans are not protected.
Similarly, certain non-disruptive forms of fishing will be allowed to continue. Perhaps most importantly, Indigenous uses of areas with historic or cultural importance will be unrestricted for their use. So, these areas will continue to be important and active places culturally and economically, just in a safer, more sustainable way than they currently are.
This marine protection will even help the wildlife which we are already protecting on land. Many animals in New Brunswick depend on the oceans just as much as we do. The protection of marine species will help animals like great blue herons, black ducks, and greater black-backed gulls, who depend on the ocean for food, continue to thrive, too.
The Nature Trust already protects some of the terrestrial sites where these animals live, such as our Western Isles Nature Preserve, the Grindstone Island Conservation Easement, and Seven Days Work Cliff Nature Preserve, to name only a few. These preserves would benefit from greater marine protection, especially the currently proposed MPAs in Chigneto Bay, Long Eddy, and West Isles and Passages, which could all help to protect the sea life which our preserves depend on.
How can you help
If you would like to get involved and learn more about the proposed marine protected area network, consider visiting the government’s official site for the plan and filling out Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s survey. The survey will remain open until Saturday, June 29. We strongly encourage Nature Trust supporters to push for protection in the proposed sites of Chigneto Bay, Long Eddy, and West Isles and Passages to improve the resilience of our preserves and the broader ecosystem.