MPA, 50,000 sq. Kilometres. And it begins. More to come.

[OldBlackDog]

Marine Planning Initiatives Update Pacific Region, September 2018
Initiative
DFO Contact(s)
Area of Engagement
Known or Tentative Dates
1
Offshore Pacific Area of Interest
Joy Hillier (DFO Oceans)
Joy.Hillier@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Offshore Pacific Advisory Committee (OPAC) established to provide a forum for broad engagement for review and development of the proposed MPA.
Bilateral engagement with WCVI and Haida Gwaii Indigenous governments is ongoing
OPAC Mtg #4: Nov 6-7 Previous
OPAC Mtg #3: May 3-4 OPAC Mig #2: Jan 16-17 OPAC Mtg #1: Sept 20, 2017
1-2 additional meetings are planned for Dec. 2018 - March 2019
2
Hecate Strait & Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs MPA
Jacinthe Amyot (DFO Oceans) Jacinthe.Amyot@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Hecate MPA Advisory Committee (HAC) to support the development of a management plan
First HAC meeting on hold; no dates set.
Progress has been made to establish a co-management arrangement with Indigenous governements in the area. A draft workplan indicating stakeholder engagement timeline will be develop this fall. More details to follow.
3
Northern Shelf Network Planning in the Northern Shelf Bioregion
DFO Co-Chair:
Sheila Creighton (DFO Oceans) Sheila.Creighton@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
IOM Manager: Libardo Amaya (DFO Oceans) Libardo.Amaya@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Areas of high ecological and cultural value have emerged from the spatial analysis conducted by the MPA Technical Team (MPATT), the federal-Provincial-First Nations technical working group tasked with development of the MPA Network. After hosting 5 in- person stakeholder advisory committee meetings in May and June, committee members were given 4 weeks to provide additional input on the ecological, cultural and socio-economic features associated with each area, based on their own local knowledge. This input is being considered as MPATT works toward developing a draft
Meetings of the 5 Advisory Committees are anticipated to take place in late fall 2018 to discuss the draft MPA Network Scenario. Stakeholders will be given time over the winter months to review and comment on the scenario in detail.

Initiative
DFO Contact(s)
Area of Engagement
Known or Tentative Dates
Network scenario (map) that will be shared with advisory committee members later this fall.
4
Howe Sound Glass Sponge Reef Conservation Initiative
Aleria Ladwig (DFO Fisheries Management, Sustainable Fisheries Framework Unit) Aleria.Ladwig@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
A Multi-stakeholder workshop was held in July 2018 to consult on proposed mitigation measures to protect nine new glass sponge reefs found in Howe Sound. Significant feedback was received in support of protecting the reefs but there was debate over the size of the buffer zone required to do so. DFO’s technical team is now deliberating over the information they heard and preparing recommendations for the Minister.
The DFO technical team will be making their recommendation on the proposed mitigation measures to the Minister and RDG in the fall of 2018.
5
Rockfish Conservation Area Review
Lead: Jason Dunham (DFO Fisheries Management, Sustainable Fisheries Framework Unit) Jason.Dunham@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Engagement: Neil Ladell (DFO Fisheries Management, Sustainable Fisheries Framework Unit) Neil.Ladell@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Undertaking consultation through existing advisory processes and directed consultation with Indigenous communities
Directed engagement with First Nations began in Summer 2018; initially focusing on Norther Shelf Bioregion
Updates on RCA Review provided via Fishery Advisory Committees in fall/winter 2018-19
CSAS Regional Peer Review Process for risk assessment of permitted activities in winter 2018/19
6
Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area (led by Environment and Climate Change Canada)
Amy Mar
On June 27th, 2018 Scott islands became the first marine National Wildlife Area under Canada’s Wildlife Act.
Fishing within the mNWA will continue to be managed by DFO.
To support the conservation objectives of the Scott Islands mNWA, DFO published a
Uncertain

Initiative
DFO Contact(s)
Area of Engagement
Known or Tentative Dates
Notice of Intent in Canada Gazette I on June 30, 2018 to signal DFO’s intention to develop Fisheries Act regulation to restrict certain fisheries that pose a risk to seabirds.
Under the Fisheries Act, the proposed regulation would:
(1) prohibit fishing of three
key forage fish species that serve as a food source for seabirds in the mNWA (Pacific sand lance, Pacific saury and North Pacific krill);
(2) prohibit groundfish bottom trawling within portions of the area consistent with the existing Variation Order 2018-110; and,
(3) restrict other fishing activities that would be deemed, based on best available science, to pose a risk to the conservation objectives of the PMA.
7
Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area
(led by Parks Canada and the Council of the Haida Nation)
TBD – in interim contact Amy Mar for more info
Hilary Thorpe of Parks Canada
Development of the integrated Land-Sea-People Management Plan underway by the Archipelago Management Board
Draft Marine Zoning Plan was shared as starting point for discussions with various fishing sector groups in early November
Public consultation on the Management Plan to take place early 2018
8
Southern Strait of Georgia NMCA
(led by Parks Canada)
James Gordon, Parks Canada
Lisa Joe, Parks Canada
Feasibility assessment underway
Proposed boundary released 2011
Consultations ongoing

 

[cuttlefish]

Marine Planning Initiatives Update Pacific Region, September 2018
Initiative
DFO Contact(s)
Area of Engagement
Known or Tentative Dates
1
Offshore Pacific Area of Interest
Joy Hillier (DFO Oceans)
Joy.Hillier@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Offshore Pacific Advisory Committee (OPAC) established to provide a forum for broad engagement for review and development of the proposed MPA.
Bilateral engagement with WCVI and Haida Gwaii Indigenous governments is ongoing
OPAC Mtg #4: Nov 6-7 Previous
OPAC Mtg #3: May 3-4 OPAC Mig #2: Jan 16-17 OPAC Mtg #1: Sept 20, 2017
1-2 additional meetings are planned for Dec. 2018 - March 2019
2
Hecate Strait & Queen Charlotte Sound Glass Sponge Reefs MPA
Jacinthe Amyot (DFO Oceans) Jacinthe.Amyot@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Hecate MPA Advisory Committee (HAC) to support the development of a management plan
First HAC meeting on hold; no dates set.
Progress has been made to establish a co-management arrangement with Indigenous governements in the area. A draft workplan indicating stakeholder engagement timeline will be develop this fall. More details to follow.
3
Northern Shelf Network Planning in the Northern Shelf Bioregion
DFO Co-Chair:
Sheila Creighton (DFO Oceans) Sheila.Creighton@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
IOM Manager: Libardo Amaya (DFO Oceans) Libardo.Amaya@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Areas of high ecological and cultural value have emerged from the spatial analysis conducted by the MPA Technical Team (MPATT), the federal-Provincial-First Nations technical working group tasked with development of the MPA Network. After hosting 5 in- person stakeholder advisory committee meetings in May and June, committee members were given 4 weeks to provide additional input on the ecological, cultural and socio-economic features associated with each area, based on their own local knowledge. This input is being considered as MPATT works toward developing a draft
Meetings of the 5 Advisory Committees are anticipated to take place in late fall 2018 to discuss the draft MPA Network Scenario. Stakeholders will be given time over the winter months to review and comment on the scenario in detail.

Initiative
DFO Contact(s)
Area of Engagement
Known or Tentative Dates
Network scenario (map) that will be shared with advisory committee members later this fall.
4
Howe Sound Glass Sponge Reef Conservation Initiative
Aleria Ladwig (DFO Fisheries Management, Sustainable Fisheries Framework Unit) Aleria.Ladwig@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
A Multi-stakeholder workshop was held in July 2018 to consult on proposed mitigation measures to protect nine new glass sponge reefs found in Howe Sound. Significant feedback was received in support of protecting the reefs but there was debate over the size of the buffer zone required to do so. DFO’s technical team is now deliberating over the information they heard and preparing recommendations for the Minister.
The DFO technical team will be making their recommendation on the proposed mitigation measures to the Minister and RDG in the fall of 2018.
5
Rockfish Conservation Area Review
Lead: Jason Dunham (DFO Fisheries Management, Sustainable Fisheries Framework Unit) Jason.Dunham@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Engagement: Neil Ladell (DFO Fisheries Management, Sustainable Fisheries Framework Unit) Neil.Ladell@dfo- mpo.gc.ca
Undertaking consultation through existing advisory processes and directed consultation with Indigenous communities
Directed engagement with First Nations began in Summer 2018; initially focusing on Norther Shelf Bioregion
Updates on RCA Review provided via Fishery Advisory Committees in fall/winter 2018-19
CSAS Regional Peer Review Process for risk assessment of permitted activities in winter 2018/19
6
Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area (led by Environment and Climate Change Canada)
Amy Mar
On June 27th, 2018 Scott islands became the first marine National Wildlife Area under Canada’s Wildlife Act.
Fishing within the mNWA will continue to be managed by DFO.
To support the conservation objectives of the Scott Islands mNWA, DFO published a
Uncertain

Initiative
DFO Contact(s)
Area of Engagement
Known or Tentative Dates
Notice of Intent in Canada Gazette I on June 30, 2018 to signal DFO’s intention to develop Fisheries Act regulation to restrict certain fisheries that pose a risk to seabirds.
Under the Fisheries Act, the proposed regulation would:
(1) prohibit fishing of three
key forage fish species that serve as a food source for seabirds in the mNWA (Pacific sand lance, Pacific saury and North Pacific krill);
(2) prohibit groundfish bottom trawling within portions of the area consistent with the existing Variation Order 2018-110; and,
(3) restrict other fishing activities that would be deemed, based on best available science, to pose a risk to the conservation objectives of the PMA.
7
Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area
(led by Parks Canada and the Council of the Haida Nation)
TBD – in interim contact Amy Mar for more info
Hilary Thorpe of Parks Canada
Development of the integrated Land-Sea-People Management Plan underway by the Archipelago Management Board
Draft Marine Zoning Plan was shared as starting point for discussions with various fishing sector groups in early November
Public consultation on the Management Plan to take place early 2018
8
Southern Strait of Georgia NMCA
(led by Parks Canada)
James Gordon, Parks Canada
Lisa Joe, Parks Canada
Feasibility assessment underway
Proposed boundary released 2011
Consultations ongoing

OBD, is there a link to the source of this information that you could share? Thanks.

 

[OldBlackDog]

OBD, is there a link to the source of this information that you could share? Thanks.

All the chairs of the SFAB have it.

 

[wildmanyeah]

Southern Strait of Georgia NMCA
(led by Parks Canada)
James Gordon, Parks Canada
Lisa Joe, Parks Canada
Feasibility assessment underway
Proposed boundary released 2011
Consultations ongoing

This one has been in the works for awhile now and curiously actually covers over the area where the current Pender SRKW closure is. The parks canada closure actually encompasses more SRKW critical habitat.

"The proposed boundary waters support some endangered or potentially threatened marine species such as southern resident killer whales, abalone, harbour porpoises and gray whales."





SRKW Current closure area

 

[searun]

Questions you need to ask yourself.

Were you or a group asked to go to any of these meetings?

When are the next meetings and how do you get input?

Note that the commercial sector is at all the meetings and is respected.

The commercial sector there is extremely political and will as has done in the past get in the politicians face.

I’m going to a 2 day MPA workshop in November for the SFAB. I hope the SFAB counts? Hope to see you at the MPA meeting in Parksville November 6/7. Also reaching out to Commercial sector to build some common ground. Way more to be gained by building a broader base of support than picking petty fights between fishing sectors.

 

[OldBlackDog]

I’m going to a 2 day MPA workshop in November for the SFAB. I hope the SFAB counts? Hope to see you at the MPA meeting in Parksville November 6/7. Also reaching out to Commercial sector to build some common ground. Way more to be gained by building a broader base of support than picking petty fights between fishing sectors.

Good stuff. Glad to see the SFAB was invited to the meeting and you are going to represent them.
How many seats does the SFAB have at the meeting?
What is the meeting agenda?

Glad you reached out to the commercial sector. No where did I say to pick a fight with them., this was about the east coast meetings.
I said they are much better organized in the east and get to the politicians much better than the sportsfishermen groups do here.

 

[searun]

Just passing along that we are reaching out to Commercial sector and value of our sector forming broader base of support

It’s 2 day session and large agenda to review the MPA up North First session for me to participate in so very curious about the process and issues. I’m just an alternate as the primary rep can’t attend.

SFAB has been involved since the outset tho.

 

[OldBlackDog]

Well, plan to be surprised.

You might give a lot of thought to getting a support group consisting all of the mayors etc. Of ALL the towns that are about to be effected.
They are after all the politicians and can open other doors.
Not all of them are even aware hat is happening.

 

[OldBlackDog]

Canada working toward goal of protecting 10 per cent of ocean and coastal waters by 2020
Paul Withers · CBC · Posted: Oct 16, 2018 2:15 PM AT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

A national advisory panel says no oil and gas development or bottom-trawling fishing activities should be allowed in Canada's marine protected areas.

The panel was created earlier this year by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to recommend standards on what activities should — or should not — be allowed inside marine protected areas, or MPAs.

The panel issued its final report on Tuesday, a month later than expected. The first of its 13 recommendations is a call for greater transparency in the development of MPAs.

Room for improvement
Panel chair Remi Bujold said Ottawa needs to start much sooner and do a much better job consulting with local communities, especially fishing communities, when it identifies areas for protection.

"When you are starting the process you have to start consultations with local communities, involve them in the beginning," Bujold said in an interview.

The report also recommends that First Nations become "full partners" in the development of MPAs. It said Indigenous protected areas, where conservation is Indigenous-led, should be recognized in law and have permanent, long-term funding.

The Indigenous protected areas would count toward Canada's goal of protecting 10 per cent of ocean and coastal waters by 2020.

Banning industrial activity
The development of MPAs has been sensitive in ocean provinces like Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador where Liberal premiers have complained they could hinder economic activity.

The panel recommends Canada adopt the standards and guidelines developed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which prohibits industrial activities in marine protected areas.

In addition to oil and gas and bottom trawling, the IUCN standards also prohibit mining and dumping. The report is silent on lobster fishing in MPAs.

DFO officials have repeatedly said that lobster fishing should not be impacted in areas under MPA consideration. The panel report offers a potential loophole, however, for the fishing and oil and gas industries.

Other ways to meet target
The government has already decided that what it calls "other effective area-based conservation measures," such as Fisheries Act closures, can be counted toward Canada's 10 per cent target.

"When industrial activities are allowed to occur in areas counted as other effective area-based conservation measures, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard must be satisfied through effective legislation or regulation that risks to intended biodiversity outcomes are avoided or mitigated," the report said.

Kris Vascotto, executive director of the Groundfish Enterprise Allocation Council, supports another panel focus — the need to identify areas that deliver the highest quality of protection versus the size of area protected.

Vascotto also welcomed the discretion to allow extractive activities using other effective conservation protections.

"There is the natural loophole that is on the back end of some discretion that is provided if there is confidence of mitigation. We hope that will be applied to all sectors that are participating in the industrial landscape," Vascatto said.

Environmentalist calls for even protection
Louie Porta, an environmentalist from Oceans North, sees it differently.

Porta said other areas protected through other legislative tools like designated marine refuges and Fisheries Act closures should have the same prohibitions and protections as MPAs.

"We are arguing for 10 per cent of our waters to be meaningfully protected and that essentially means 90 per cent remains open for business," Porta said. "We do not feel that is out of balance."

Bujold said there is no loophole.

He said in marine refuges and places closed under the Fisheries Act, the onus is on the minister to protect biodiversity.

"We're telling the minister in all the various tools that you will have, you have to look at them and have the assurance that biodiversity will be protected and you will have to make a decision based on that."

Ottawa to review recommendations
Anna Metaxas, an oceanographer at Dalhousie University, agreed.

Metaxas said by their very nature, those areas — while not marine protected areas — are being set aside for conservation.

"I don't see how you could do that and have them count under the IUCN [International Union for the Conservation of Nature] and still have oil and gas," she said.

Federal Fisheries Minister Jonathan Wilkinson thanked the panel and said the government will review the recommendations.

"Unlike the Harper Conservatives, our government is actively engaging with our partners in the provinces and territories, with Indigenous communities, marine industries and Canadians from coast to coast to coast to increase protections and meet our targets while supporting a healthy oceans economy."

 

[OldBlackDog]

Ban oil, gas, bottom trawling in marine protected areas, panel urges
By Holly Lake. Published on Oct 16, 2018 5:09pm

By Holly Lake. Published on Oct 16, 2018 5:09pm
A panel that has spent the year studying marine protected areas (MPAs) in Canada says no oil and gas development, seabed mining, or bottom-trawling fishing should be allowed within their boundaries.

In its final report released Tuesday, the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards, which was created earlier this year by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, recommended that the federal government adopt International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) standards and guidelines for all MPAs. That would also make dumping off-limits.

Furthermore, the panel said when industrial activities are allowed to occur in areas counted as other effective area-based conservation measures, the fisheries minister must be satisfied, through effective legislation or regulation, that risks to “intended biodiversity outcomes” are avoided or mitigated. It also called for transparent and easily accessible information on the conservation success of MPAs.

Cameron Jefferies, assistant law professor at the University of Alberta and author of Marine Mammal Conservation and the Law of the Sea, said it’s refreshing that the advisory panel is recommending that the standards and guidelines of the IUCN be followed. As the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it, it leads the way in innovative and comprehensive MPA work.

“It is high time that Canada caught up and afforded MPAs the sort of teeth that are needed to actually achieve the desired outcomes,” he said.

Earlier this year, Jefferies told iPolitics that when it comes to protecting the ocean and the creatures that call it home, MPAs are “the star of the conservation puzzle.” But if major disturbances such as boat traffic and fishing are allowed in designated critical habitat, there’s not much point.

At West Coast Environmental Law (WCEL), Stephanie Hewson said they welcome the panel’s recommendations. For those standards to be truly effective, however, the federal government must now establish them in law.

“Oceans are under stress from pollution, overfishing, climate change and more. Marine protected areas can provide a safe haven where sea life can regenerate and restore, but to be effective, they need strong and consistent legal safeguards that prohibit damaging activities,” she said.

Scientists, conservation groups and lawyers have called for a “floor of basic protections” to be build into any national system of marine protected areas, which are considered to be the gold standard for marine protection. The panel heard from experts who said it’s critical that they be “no-take” zones.

“There is strong scientific evidence that full protection works much, much better than partial protection in achieving conservation goals,” Anna Metaxas, an oceanographer from Dalhousie University, said during a consultation in Ottawa in July. “Which means that our MPAs have to have a chunk of space where nobody goes in there and takes anything.”

The advisory panel was also told the inconsistencies among Canada’s three main MPA laws are currently “quite significant.”

READ MORE: Canada’s marine protected area laws need a ‘floor of basic protections’
Right now, each MPA in this country has its own regulations for what’s permitted within its boundaries. There are no standard prohibitions on extraction activities, including seabed mining and seismic testing.

On the East Coast, for instance, within the Laurentian Channel MPA, oil and gas exploration is permitted.

Of all the legislation in Canada that MPAs fall under, the flagship Oceans Act does not outright prohibit extractive activities, the Canada Wildlife Act doesn’t address it head-on, and the Canada National Parks Act only says permitted activities must not threaten the ecological activity of the protected area.

Even when prohibitions are in place, the panel heard there are lists of exemptions to them.

While all have a role in managing MPAs, only the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act has an expressed prohibition of oil and mineral exploration and exploitation, Linda Nowlan, who heads the marine program at WCEL, told the panel.

“That’s a basic floor of protection that should be in all of Canada’s marine protected area laws,” she said.

“Most people take it for granted that you wouldn’t have oil and gas in an MPA. (But) I’ve heard our prime minister express surprise that it would take place.”

Extraction bans are the norm in other jurisdictions. Mexico has banned oil and gas exploration in all MPAs, while Belize banned all oil and gas activity from its waters in 2017. In the United States, many national marine sanctuaries also ban oil and gas extraction. In Hawaii, the U.S.’s largest protected area prohibits commercial fishing outright, although subsistence fishing is allowed. Palau and the Cook Islands also have complete no-take zones in their protected areas.

The panel’s recommendation to follow suit were welcomed by the World Wildlife Fund Canada.

“We hope this recommendation quickly becomes the law to ensure such harmful activities as oil and gas development, bottom trawling and seabed mining are kept out of areas set aside for conservation,” said Sigrid Kuehnemund, vice-president of ocean conservation.

The panel also recommended creating legislation to implement Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs), and to ensure that Indigenous knowledge is meaningfully integrated in all aspects of planning, design, management, and decision-making related to marine protected areas, Indigenous Protected Areas, and other effective area-based conservation measures — something Kuehnemund said WWF Canada “wholeheartedly” supports.

“Coastal Indigenous nations have been governing and caring for the ocean since time immemorial. IPAs are an opportunity to recognize these unique relationships, uphold the inherent authority of Indigenous nations, and better care for the ocean for the benefit of all Canadians,” WECL lawyer Georgia Lloyd-Smith said in a statement.

Canada has committed to protecting 10 per cent of its ocean by 2020 as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Last year, the federal government met the goal of protecting five per cent by 2017.

MPAs aren’t the only type of protection option for ocean waters, however. Known as “other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs),” some have qualified to contribute to Canada’s marine conservation targets.

Among them are marine refuges under the Fisheries Act. They provide refuge to fish, mammals and habitat, but are not subject to the ban recommended by the panel. WCEL is calling on the government to go further by also applying the panel’s recommendation to OECMs, which make up more than half the marine space currently designated for conservation in Canada.

“The harmful effects of industrial activities like oil and gas are well-documented. Allowing these activities to continue in any type of protected area undermines the ability of marine-protection initiatives to help restore health in our oceans,” said Hewson.

WWF Canada said it also remains concerned about whether marine refuges will be protected from oil and gas exploration and development.

“We will continue to work to ensure strong protections for all areas counting towards Canada’s international marine-protection targets,” Kuehnemund noted.

 

[SerengetiGuide]

That makes sense to me

 

[fish brain]

Do we need MPA's to stop bottom trawling? It's just such a stupid way to fish that it should be illegal anywhere.

 

[agentaqua]

Do we need MPA's to stop bottom trawling? It's just such a stupid way to fish that it should be illegal anywhere.

YEP! And the only exceptions to that would be beam shrimp trawlers and midwater trawls assuming bycatch is low - which it can be.

 

[searun]

From what I have read, bottom trawling is very bad indeed. Midwater not so much, and as you mention can be targeted carefully to remove most by-catch. The midwater guys tell me their salmon by-catch is very small. Haven't seen the DFO observer data on that, so for the moment will have to trust what I was told.

We do have to be very careful with midwater trawls when it comes to sea mounts and hanging gear on the bottom etc. Again, I think with careful fishing (staying away from high risk geography) that would make these fisheries pretty eco-friendly from a by-catch and bottom damage perspective.

 

[OldBlackDog]

See what Green Power accomplished!





Two new marine protected areas created on Argentina's southern coasts

The newly declared Makenke Makenke Coastal Marine Park contains one of the largest breeding colonies of red-legged cormorants in Argentina. G. Harris/Wildlife Conservation Society. Credit: G. Harris/Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society applauds the Government of Argentina for creating two enormous marine protected areas in Patagonia, a region filled with majestic shorelines and abundant wildlife.

The new marine parks—Isla Pingüino Coastal Marine Park and Makenke Coastal Marine Park—were recently established by the National Congress in Argentina and will safeguard sea lions, penguins, dolphins, and other marine and coastal species.

"We commend the Government of Argentina for their conservation stewardship in creating this new network of marine protected areas," said Dr. Cristián Samper, President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society. "Isla Pingüino and Makenke Coastal Marine Parks now protect vital wildlife populations for posterity and create new opportunities for Argentina's ecotourism industry."

Stretching some 80 miles south of Puerto Deseado and extending 12 miles out to sea, Isla Pingüino covers nearly 1,800 square kilometers (720 square miles) of ocean and cliff-bordered coastline. The new protected area contains large populations of South American sea lions, red-legged cormorants, and one of the largest colonies of imperial cormorants found anywhere (with more than 8,000 breeding pairs). Isla Pingüino also boasts one of the only colonies of rockhopper penguins on the coast of Patagonia.

Farther south, the Makenke Coastal Marine Park begins at the entrance of the Ría San Julián, covering almost 600 square kilometers (230 square miles) of shore and ocean. The park contains the largest colony of rare red-legged cormorants in the country. It also protects breeding colonies of the dolphin gull, a rare scavenger, and pods of the small but spectacular black and white Commerson's dolphin

Both marine protected areas are steeped in history as well as natural wonders. Charles Darwin traveled to the region now contained in Isla Pingüino in 1833, describing the wildlife he observed there during his seminal voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. Makenke Coastal Marine Park now borders the inlet of San Julian, where in 1520 Ferdinand Magellan executed and marooned a group of mutineers intent on aborting what would become the world's first circumnavigation of the globe.


"We commend the National Congress in Argentina for passing laws to create these new marine parks, which will protect the country's natural heritage given what will likely be an increase in development along the coast in years to come," said Dr. Julie Kunen, Director for WCS's Latin America and Caribbean Program.

Dr. Caleb McClennen, Director of WCS's Marine Program, said: "Isla Pingüino and Makenke Coastal Marine Parks continue a tradition of conservation teamwork, with organizations such as WCS providing support to the government in protecting both coastal breeding areas for mammals and birds and the marine habitats they rely upon."

Isla Pingüino and Makenke Coastal Marine Parks were made possible as a result of work conducted by Dr. Patricia Gandini, President of the National Parks Service, and Dr. Esteban Frere of the Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Both biologists began studying the wildlife of the coast of Santa Cruz with support of WCS in 1985.

Both areas were identified as priority conservation sites by the Patagonia Coastal Zone Management Plan project, carried out by both the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Fundación Patagonia Natural with support from the Global Environmental Facility and the UNDP (United Nations Development Program). Support for the research was also provided by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (Conicet).

WCS has been involved in the conservation of coastal Patagonia since the 1970s, beginning with Dr. Roger Payne's behavioral work on southern right whales, and continues to this day with research by WCS's Global Health Program on new threats to their survival. WCS began a long-running study on Magellanic penguins in the 1980s. That work led to conservation efforts that helped reduce the number of penguin deaths due to oil spills at sea from more than 40,000 a year to fewer than 1,000 annually, and helped move shipping lanes 30 miles offshore to avoid spills affecting seabird colonies.

WCS has also been conducting research on southern elephant seals, South American sea lions, rockhopper penguins, cormorants, gulls, terns, and other species that breed along the shores of Patagonia. These studies informed the region's first atlas of breeding seabirds, a work designed to guide management decisions on fisheries and other natural resource usage. Over the past 40 years WCS has helped Argentina transition from harvesting of coastal wildlife to a burgeoning tourism industry based on its spectacular coastal species. These two new parks are the latest addition to the country's extraordinary marine conservation effort.

WCS's efforts to help protect wildlife on the Argentine coast and sea are generously supported by the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, the Mitsubishi Corporation Foundation for the Americas, the Waitt Foundation, and others

 

[searun]

And we will continue to see more take hold. Rec and Commercial communities haven't been particularly active in getting the message out to the public on the social and economic benefits of our fisheries, and how they can be done in environmentally responsible ways. Lots of trashy news stories out there based on half truths.

 

[OldBlackDog]

Regardless of lots of trashy news stories out there, they are by far controlling the public via the governments.

To win you have to play by their rules.

And we will continue to see more take hold. Rec and Commercial communities haven't been particularly active in getting the message out to the public on the social and economic benefits of our fisheries, and how they can be done in environmentally responsible ways. Lots of trashy news stories out there based on half truths.

 

[searun]

Regardless of lots of trashy news stories out there, they are by far controlling the public via the governments.

To win you have to play by their rules.

Agreed, that is why we have started a social media campaign. Costly, but necessary.