Healthy Oceans | Blogs | David Suzuki Foundation

Canada's ocean protection ripple could become a wave

2017-06-08T00:00:20Z

]]> Twenty-five years after Canada proposed the idea of World Oceans Day to the United Nations, people around the world are still celebrating on June 8. It's also a time to reflect.

]]> This week, a Canadian delegation is joining world leaders  in New York to support the United Nations' goal to conserve and sustainably use the world's oceans, seas and marine resources. Canada borders three oceans and has the world's longest coastline, so marine protection should be central to our international reputation. A World Wildlife Fund poll shows   83 per cent of people in Canada are strongly in favour of protecting marine animals and habitats. Canadians expect their political representatives to keep orcas, belugas, salmon, sea otters, puffins and cod healthy.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to agree. In a 2016 joint statement with then-president Barack Obama, he committed Canada to "substantially surpass" international commitments to protect 10 per cent of our oceans. But our actions have fallen behind our commitments: Canada has protected less than one per cent of its ocean. Recent announcements about proposed protection for Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic waters are welcome signs of progress after decades of stalling.
  
Marine protection opportunities differ for each coast. On the Pacific Coast, natural features such as glass sponge reefs and marine mammal breeding grounds compete for space with an expanding list of human activities, including increasing oil tanker traffic, commercial fishing and eco-tourism operations. Strong provisions for globally significant glass sponge reefs near Haida Gwaii are a good start on the protection front, but proposed regulations for the Scott Islands -- a globally significant seabird area -- offer no new restrictions on fishing, shipping or other activities. Similarly, in the Atlantic, the soon-to-be designated Laurentian Channel marine protected area will prohibit fishing but allow oil and gas exploration. In the Arctic, Lancaster Sound provides protection opportunities. Moving ahead is essential as the effects of climate change in the region are dramatic, with warming ocean temperatures stressing northern ecosystems. Ice-free waters, new fisheries and more shipping traffic is making matters worse.
 
With reconciliation on many minds, Canada is required to engage with Indigenous peoples regarding their territorial waters and ensure free, prior and informed consent. When Indigenous people come together with communities, governments, ocean-based industries and other sectors, biodiversity gains from protection can be balanced with local sustainable development. An integrated management approach that brings together all ocean users to develop management plans for the entire ocean ensures that waters outside  protected areas are also managed sustainably. These negotiations don't always happen on a level playing field, however, as powerful industry lobbyists can pressure government for concessions.
  
Although international marine protection standards prohibit mining, oil and gas development and industrial fisheries in marine protected areas, that's not always the case in Canada. Just as Canadians don't expect to see oil wells in Gros Morne National Park, the WWF poll shows that 90 per cent of Canadians support a ban on bottom trawling, mining and oil and gas development in marine protected areas. We must stop the double standard of accepting far less protection in marine environments than we do for our national parks.

Strong laws are essential to protecting marine life. The science is clear that marine protected areas  require a set of minimum protection standards and effective protection must exclude industrial activities.  The Oceans Act, which governs Canada's oceans and mandates their protection, must be equally clear: activities that compromise protected areas must be prohibited.  
Canada is finally catching up with countries such as Australia and the U.S. by adopting environmental protection goals that support the United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity's targets. We now have an opportunity to lead the world in creating effective marine protected areas. The government deserves kudos for finally committing to meet and exceed its 10 per cent target. However, scientists remind us that we must not sacrifice quality in the race to meet numbers. It's much more than the percentage that matters; it's how well these marine areas are designed, managed and monitored. Setting the bar too low in the push to meet targets and compromising on quality are short-sighted and don't serve Canada in the long term. If Canada wants to meet expectations at home and abroad, it must do more than draw lines on a map. It must protect the full array of marine life and biodiversity in protected areas.
 
Canadians value oceans and support the government taking steps to protect the marine environment. It's now up to the federal government to move forward with a stronger Oceans Act and support for marine protection that provides refuge for ocean creatures, ensures economic opportunities for local communities and respects  the rights of Indigenous peoples. Now that Canada is finally creating marine protected areas, let's work hard to get it right. The world is watching.

If you're in Ottawa, join renowned photographer Cristina Mittermeier of SeaLegacy for Beneath Ocean Waves, a public event on Tuesday, June 13, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Canadian Museum of Nature. To reserve your free ticket, please visit: http://bit.ly/beneathoceanwaves

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE HILL TIMES

Fisheries and Oceans' funding welcomed

2017-06-01T12:00:00Z

(Credit: Jeffery Young)

]]> For more than a decade, scientists and environmental groups called on the federal government to invest in basic operations tasked to the Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Fisheries and Oceans Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced on May 31 that the federal government is reinvesting about $1.35 billion into those operations. This funding will help cover fisheries stock assessment (e.g., counting fish) and enforcement (e.g., hiring fisheries officers to enforce the Fisheries Act). We're still waiting for more details, and a lot of this money will also be allocated to basic infrastructure needs like ships and radar stations, but we were encouraged to hear that essential Fisheries and Oceans functions will be restored.

]]> Without "boots on the ground" (or "boots on the water") we lack the eyes, ears and enforcement necessary to achieve even the most fundamental requirements of fisheries management or environmental protection. For example, sustainable fisheries require that we know how many fish are in the water or on the spawning grounds. As of 2016, these functions were severely underfunded, undermining fisheries management and compromising the ability of Canadian fisheries to achieve sustainability certifications, such as MSC certifications for B.C.'s pink and chum salmon fisheries.

The focus of yesterday's announcement was the Oceans Protection Plan. It's still unclear how this $1.5 billion strategy will support some of the most critical ocean conservation measures such as marine planning and protection. Minister LeBlanc did announce a smaller five-year, $75 million national Coastal Restoration Fund to support marine habitat restoration and address threats to marine species.

We are cautiously optimistic that a $1.35 billion investment in these basic functions, to be approved in the current federal budget, will ensure stock assessment and enforcement capacity are restored to levels necessary to effectively conduct fisheries and conserve marine and freshwater ecosystems and species. We will work with the federal government to see that resources are allocated effectively, but will remain strong advocates to ensure the resources are sufficient where needed and are supported by policies, such as an effectively implemented Pacific Wild Salmon Policy and a modern Fisheries Act. While funding alone can't guarantee that Canada's lakes, rivers, coastlines and oceans are protected, it's a step in the right direction.

Lead your own beach bioblitz!

2017-05-30T10:22:23Z

(Credit: Stephen Morgan)

]]> At a bioblitz, volunteer citizen scientists observe species in a specific location within a limited time. It's a fun way to get outside, discover the wonders of biodiversity and collect valuable data.

Lead your own beach bioblitz! Choose a favourite nearby shoreline. Get family and friends together. Use the free iNaturalist mobile app. You can download it here for iPhone and here for Android.

]]> With iNaturalist you can photograph wildlife and share where and when your sightings take place. iNaturalist scientists and taxonomists will help you identify species and share the data you collect with the scientific community. Don't own a smartphone? Take pictures on a digital camera and upload them to iNaturalist on a computer.

Planning your beach bioblitz

Download iNaturalist and practice. The app is easy to use and makes leading a bioblitz simple.
Set a date, time and location. Pick a time convenient for most people. Choose a nearby beach you like. Identify a good spot for your group to meet. Figure out how long your event will be (one to two hours is reasonable) and choose your walking distance accordingly. It's best to run your bioblitz during low tide. To check tides in your area click here and search for your region.
Create a "project" on iNaturalist. The "projects" tool groups all observations from your event together. Click here for more information.
Invite your friends and family! Send e-mail, create a Facebook event or set up an EventBrite page. (EventBrite e-mails your whole list and monitors attendees.) Tell your citizen scientists to download iNaturalist, create an account and join your project (provide the project name so they can search for it) before the event day. Encourage them to play around with the app in advance to get the hang of it. A group of 10 to 20 citizen scientists is ideal for one leader.
Lead your group of citizen scientists!
1. Gather at your designated meeting spot
2. Run through how to "make an observation" on iNaturalist: http://www.inaturalist.org/pages/video+tutorials
3. Start walking! Encourage people to take in their surroundings and look for organisms. Tell people to keep their phones in their pockets until they're ready to make an observation.
4. Have fun!

Is it time to celebrate plans for largest marine protected area in Canada?

2017-05-25T08:51:41Z

(Credit: John Hillard via flickr)

]]> The federal government deserves a pat on the back for its announcement on May 24 that it plans to protect 140,000 square kilometres of ocean off the west coast of Vancouver Island, stretching out to the western edge of Canada's 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Covering an area twice the size of New Brunswick, this proposed marine protected area would encompass spectacular seamounts (underwater mountains) and hydrothermal vents, which have important ecosystem functions.

]]> The David Suzuki Foundation and other organizations are calling for Canada's government to meet its international commitment to protect a least 10 per cent of its marine area by 2020.

Although this newly proposed large offshore protected area will move Canada toward that goal, it will not protect the most threatened species and marine habitats on the Pacific Coast. With little industrial activity or fishing in the area, it's unlikely that current industrial activities will need to be curtailed. The problem? Protecting a large offshore area that faces few threats could siphon off limited resources urgently needed to protect threatened and at-risk species, such as southern resident killer whales, and their habitat.

First Nations, the provincial government and stakeholders in B.C. are immersed in marine planning and marine protected area network establishment processes that show great promise to protect biodiversity over a broader range of threatened environments on B.C.'s central and north coast, known as the northern bio-shelf region. These planning initiatives need ongoing support and a fair share of the limited capacity government agencies have to establish marine protected areas.

So, kudos to the feds for moving Canada closer to marine protection targets. We hope the next announcement for marine protection will focus on marine plans and broad consultation in areas of the coast threatened by industry, and that new plans will support Indigenous cultural values and interests.

Keeping oceans wild means leaving Wild West approach behind

2017-02-15T13:35:14Z

(Credit: Living Oceans Society)

]]> Glass sponge reefs, gigantic container ships, climate change, humpback whales, rights and title claims, commercial fishing, kayakers, tiny islands with millions of nesting seabirds, recreational fishing lodges, marine mammal breeding grounds, renewable energy sites--these are just a few of the many elements competing for space in Canada's Pacific coastal waters.

]]> The good news is that the Government of Canada announced today that it will work with the Province of B.C. and coastal First Nations to take better care of these precious coastal ecosystems and the communities that depend upon them.

Until now, the federal government has not focused on overall impacts of human activities in coastal waters. Fortunately, when it walked away from the marine planning table in 2012, 18 coastal First Nations and B.C.'s government stepped into the vacuum to create plans on their own.

It's a good thing they did.

Imagine a city where things were built willy-nilly: sewage treatment plants next to hospitals, schools beside shoulderless highways and residential areas without parks or greenspaces.

That pretty much describes what's happened with our coastal waters. Although a wild western ocean is good, a Wild West approach to ocean planning is not!
Good planning may not get headlines, but ensuring that shipping lanes do not endanger feed-and-breed marine wildlife areas and that tourism operators and industrial zones don't get in each other's way is crucial for nurturing healthy coastal ecosystems.

Kudos to the federal government for recognizing that bringing people together might be a lot of work, but our amazing and intricate coastal waters and the communities that live alongside them are well worth the effort.

It's a day to celebrate for oceans.

World leaders in Mexico to protect biodiversity. What will Canada have to say?

2016-12-07T11:05:43Z

(Credit: Center for Whale Research)

]]> By Jay Ritchlin

"We're back." Just over a year ago, freshly elected Justin Trudeau jubilantly broadcast his intention to revive Canada's reputation as a progressive, co-operative and inclusive nation to the international community. But is that how Canada will be represented at the Convention on Biological Diversity's 13th Conference of the Parties (COP 13) in Cancun, Mexico this month?

]]> The prime minister's mandate letter to the fisheries minister made it clear that keeping oceans healthy is a priority, with a specific promise to protect 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas by 2020. But our country has been inconsistent in international negotiations. Now into the mandate's second year, it's time to start matching words with action.

When it comes to living up to its global reputation, things looked promising at last year's climate summit in Paris. There, Canada played a leadership role, pushing for agreement on limiting global warming targets to 1.5 C. After 10 years of blocking co-operation on climate change, Canada received well-deserved kudos for stepping forward in international negotiations. Domestic policy has yet to follow suit.

On the international human rights front, we're seeing a different side to Canada. A joint NGO report, "Canada is back, but still far behind", expresses concern for the ineffectual federal watchdog overseeing Canadian multinational corporations.

Which Canada will show up on the international stage when it comes time to conserving biodiversity? Just weeks away from talks in Cancun, the Trudeau government is still leaving us guessing. Will decisions supported there actually be implemented back home?

The Cancun talks on conserving ocean biodiversity will be critical. Many global fish stocks are collapsing due to overfishing, industrial development and the effects of climate change, including ocean acidification.

On the one hand, Canada is making bold statements on marine protected areas. When meeting with President Obama earlier this year, Prime Minister Trudeau was emphatic that Canada would meet international commitments to protect 10 per cent of marine ecosystems by 2020 and "take concrete steps to achieve and substantially surpass these national goals in the coming years."

On the other hand, at the World Conservation Congress in Hawaii this past September -- part of the lead-up to COP 13 in Cancun -- Canada appeared stuck in a previous era. It advocated for weaker standards before supporting motions on protected areas and abstained from votes on increased marine protection that the vast majority of countries supported.

Back in Ottawa, Department of Fisheries and Oceans staff have been developing standards for marine protection independent of the international community. In draft form, they seem designed to allow Canada to justify sidestepping international standards.

Canada should be applauded for committing publicly to meeting the 10 per cent goal. But if in meeting that goal we create paper parks and count areas that don't protect biodiversity, that commitment means nothing.

Let's make sure our recently reinstated scientists and policy-makers are putting their full energy into making tangible, progressive biodiversity conservation designations, not sugar-coating and creating loopholes.

Watering down international decisions could undermine more than protections here in Canada. It could destabilize global biodiversity protection efforts. That's not Canada making a comeback. That's Canada going backwards.

With the likely rollback of U.S. support for environmentally progressive agreements and policy, it's more important than ever that Canada step forward as a leader in the international arena.

Canada has some of the richest biodiversity in the world and a global responsibility to protect it. Decision-makers should consider effects on endangered species such as southern resident killer whales before expanding oil pipelines and tanker traffic.

Canada's "we're back" direction is important. After losing our 2010 shot at earning a seat on the Security Council because of regressive stances on a variety of international issues, including climate change, it's time to move forward.

Hopes to get back in the game in time for the next UN Security Council election in 2020 perfectly match the timing for meeting international marine biodiversity commitments.

But if Canada continues to say one thing while doing another, it's only a short time until our international colleagues' patience wanes and Trudeau's hopeful proclamation rings hollow.

Reputations take time to rebuild. When the global community meets in Mexico to negotiate desperately needed protection for biodiversity, let's make sure Canada behaves in a way that prompts the world to say, "It's good to have you back."

Jay Ritchlin is the Director-General of Western Canada for the David Suzuki Foundation

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE HILL TIMES

To help protect Canada's oceans, we've made it easy to call your MP.

2016-11-07T16:40:17Z

The federal government's announcement of an "oceans protection plan" has little to do with protecting the ocean. Instead it sets the stage for increased marine shipping and development.

SUGGESTED SPEAKING POINTS

Say who you are (that you live in their riding) and a bit about yourself (e.g., a mother, concerned citizen, scientist, immigrant, Indigenous person, voter, etc.).
Ask why the recent "Coastal Protection Plan" doesn't focus on marine planning and protection, but instead provides funding for infrastructure that facilitates oil tanker traffic.
Explain that even the best oil spill response leaves 80 per cent of spilled oil in the water. Shouldn't we focus on reducing or eliminating transporting oil in coastal areas?
Tell them that increased container and tanker traffic means increased ship strikes on whales and dolphins.
Ask them for a commitment to work in Parliament to stop all new oil and gas infrastructure projects, especially pipelines like Kinder Morgan that will lead to increased tanker traffic.
Leave them your name and phone number and ask them to reply to confirm whether they will commit to fighting for real ocean protection.

TIPS FOR THE CALL

Use a headset or hands-free -- This will give you both hands to take notes about what was said.

Be polite but firm -- MPs are our elected representatives. They will likely be happy to hear from engaged constituents. Be polite and direct. Make sure to ask for a response.

If you have any problems using the tool, please contact: climateaction@davidsuzuki.org