Lance Underwood has come to the conclusion that the federal government’s plans for new marine protected areas are not as advertised.
Underwood, a fisherman in Cowichan Bay, sits on the advisory panel for the creation of the marine protected areas and has many concerns about the need for them on the west coast, and their implications for the fisheries.
We are now approaching the year 2020, and after two years of engaging with government and environmental groups, we have seen a draft design of this Marine Protected Area Network, he said.
It is vast, running from central Vancouver Island all the way to Alaska, that will potentially remove thousands of fishermen from these productive and diverse fishing grounds. But the question is, how will it protect Canada’s oceans?
MPAs are parts of the ocean that legally protect a range of species, habitats and features from the impacts of a variety of activities, including many aspects of fishing.
To date, Canada has established 14 MPAs under the Oceans Act, three National Marine Conservation Areas, one marine National Wildlife Area, and 59 marine refuges.
These areas now protect almost 14 per cent of Canada’s marine and coastal areas.
The federal government has been very public with their plans to protect 25 per cent of Canada’s oceans by 2025, and has touted a promise to increase protection above and beyond that 25 per cent in the next decade, Underwood said.
Since this promise was made, the government has been pretty shy about releasing plans to the general public about how they plan to achieve these levels of protection.
Underwood said that when most people ponder the meaning of ocean protection, they think of preventing pollution and oil spills, encouraging habitat restoration, and combating the effects of climate change.
But he said MPAs don’t address any of these major issues and, in fact, the Marine Protected Area Network proposed for the west coast lacks any real conservation objectives that do any real protecting at all.
Most of the world’s seriously depleted fish stocks are not here in western Canada, where we have a sustainable fisheries framework that has been working for many generations, Underwood said.
Most of the fisheries out here in the west are sustainably managed and have zero to little negative environmental impacts. Our fisheries employ thousands of multi-generational fishermen, have a low carbon footprint, and provide much needed food security and income for the people of Canada.
2020, Cowichan Valley Citizen and Black Press Group Ltd.