The federal government wants to create a major marine protected area around the Îles-de-la-Madeleine by 2025, in addition to completing the expansion project for the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park. These two projects are part of the objective of protecting 30% of Canada’s marine environments by the end of the decade.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault on Wednesday unveiled a list of 17 “marine areas considered for conservation” by 2025, to help Canada reach a target of protecting 25% of the country’s marine environments. .
Among these sites, three are in Quebec. The most important is the “marine protected area” (MPA) project that would surround the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. This project is the subject of a “feasibility study” led by the federal and provincial governments, which covers an area of 17,000 square kilometers, the equivalent of 14 times the area of the Saguenay–Saint- Lawrence. If it were to materialize, it would therefore become, by far, the most important marine protected area in the province.
According to the details included in the list published on Wednesday, “the islands represent a unique natural and cultural maritime heritage in Quebec. They are rich in marine resources and the conservation know-how of local fishermen. The Madelinots have a very close relationship with the marine environment. The fisheries and aquaculture sectors apply as far as possible sustainable management measures”.
The rules that govern MPAs in Canada, and which are expected to be tightened, do not prohibit fishing using traps, such as lobster fishing, a very important activity for the economy of the archipelago.
Director General of the Society for Nature and Parks of Quebec, Alain Branchaud welcomed the unveiling of a “roadmap” to achieve the objective of protecting 25% of marine environments by 2025. “However, this objective must not cause us to lose sight of the fact that a great deal of concerted work remains to be done in the Magdalen Islands. The government must now ensure that the necessary resources will be available to fully engage community partners and ensure a fair transition to the establishment of a marine protected area in the Magdalen Islands,” said he added.
Expand the marine park
In addition to the project in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Trudeau government reaffirmed on Wednesday its desire to add marine protection measures in the estuary by focusing on the project to expand the Saguenay-St. The duty reported in November 2022. Ottawa believes that this addition of protected areas would be “complementary and adjacent” to the marine park created in 1998 by the parallel laws of Quebec and Canada and co-managed by Parks Canada and the Société des establishments de plein air du Québec .
“The general conservation objective is to ensure the long-term conservation and protection of marine mammals, their habitat and their food resources,” the document published on Wednesday states. However, “this area is located in the portion of the St. Lawrence where marine mammals are under the most pressure from human activities (disturbance or destruction of their habitat, exposure to toxic chemicals, risk of collision with ships, exposure to noise and interference).
The St. Lawrence Seaway passes through the marine park in particular, and this industrial activity adds to the intensive navigation during the summer, mainly due to the whale watching cruise industry. The noise generated by navigation is considered a harmful element for cetaceans.
The idea of extending the boundaries of the marine park has been raised several times since its creation to ensure the protection of the beluga. You should know that with an area of 1245 km2, it barely covers 40% of the essential summer habitat of this cetacean classified as “endangered” by the federal government. The latter has an obligation to protect the species, under the Species at Risk Act.
The need to expand the boundaries based on critical beluga habitat would mean increasing the area of the park to 2800 km2. The boundaries of the protected area would thus extend to around L’Isle-aux-Coudres, upstream, and Trois-Pistoles, downstream, including the Cacouna sector, considered a beluga nursery. .
However, the Quebec government has not yet decided whether it will support the project to expand the province’s only marine park. It has mandated a “scientific committee” which must make recommendations to it on this subject. According to information published in December by The duty, this committee ruled in favor of the project. According to what emerges from the work of the committee, the expansion of the marine park is presented as being the “preferred tool” for collaboration between Quebec and Ottawa to “enhance the protection of the St. Lawrence”.