Management plan for oceans needs strengthening

The Federal Conservatives have taken the bulk of the blame for the lack of any consistent and workable Management plan for the oceans off the North Coast.

Both representatives of the Living Oceans Society and the David Suzuki Foundation found fault with the attitude of the Conservative government of Stephen Harper and the attention that has not been paid to the eco systems in our area waters.

In a Daily News article, the two groups outlined how they believe the Federal Government has reduced the importance of management of the oceans in any comprehensive fashion.

The findings made for a background piece on their concerns in Monday's paper.

'Oceans stake-holders no longer at table'
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Monday, September 22, 2008
Page one

The David Suzuki Foundation and the Living Oceans Society are calling for the teeth to be put back in the mouth of the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area.

Jennifer Lash, executive director of Living Oceans, said Friday that PNCIMA has weakened since it was initiated by the federal government in 2002 and that it is not meeting.
Lash wants to put North Coast stakeholders back at the table.

"There is no integrated plan for this region," said Lash. "I've talked to a lot of people around the North Coast and what I hear is there are a lot of ideas about the health of the ocean and how it should be conserved."

Lash said that some of the separate fisheries have been attempting to do integrated management, like ground fish fisheries in to a more coordinated plan, but she said that is only a "piece of integrated management."

"What we need to do is look at the ocean as a whole - as an eco system - and look at what it can handle in terms of resource extraction, tourism and development, and how do we best mange that?" said Lash.

In 2002, the ruling Liberal federal government began the process of a management plan for the North Coast. However, since then, both the Suzuki Foundation and the Living Oceans society said nothing has been done to implement it.

Lash blames the Conservative government for letting the plan slip to the floor.

"They have initiated smaller programs where they do one-off marine protected areas but they have steered away from the comprehensive approach which is really disappointing," said Lash.

"The government needs to put the money in place so that a dialogue can be opened up so that we can talk with the people who live here and so that they can be part of building this vision for the future," said Lash.

The PNCIMA covers 88,000 kilometers of the Pacific Ocean coast from the top of Vancouver Island to the southeastern tip of Alaska. There are 32 at-risk species that swim in the waters and much of how the marine ecosystem works, considered to be one of the world's most volatile and sensitive, is unknown.

"Up to 10 times as many juvenile rockfish are found in the Hecate reef as are found in the surrounding areas," said North Coast MLA Coons.

"Obviously, if we want a viable rockfish fishery, if we want to protect these species, we have to protect the reef."

Seeking a plan for British Columbia’s share of the ocean

With a target date of Oceans Day, June 8th a large collection of environmental groups have challenged the Federal Government to develop a marine use and conservation plan for the Pacific Ocean off of British Columbia.

Suggesting that the current management strategy is inefficient and leads to environmental degradation, they are calling on the Federal Government to become more proactive in protecting the marine environment.

And just in case the Federal Government doesn’t quite get the message, they groups have just launched a new website called pncimawatch, designed to track and report on governments’ progress.

Thursday’s Daily News featured their hopes and demands as part of a front page story on the issue.

CLOCK IS TICKING SAY GROUPS WAITING FOR AN OCEAN PLAN

By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Pages one and two

Now that the provincial government has completed land-use planning for the North and Central Coasts, environmental organizations are calling on the federal government to get going on the marine component.

Yesterday, environmental organizations - including the David Suzuki Foundation, the Living Oceans Society, and the Sierra Club of British Columbia - said they want the federal government to commit to establishing a comprehensive marine-use and conservation-planning process for the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA), on Canada's West Coast.

They have set a target date of June 8 - Oceans Day 2008 - for government to demonstrate a commitment to improving oceans management or face increasing pressure from conservation groups, representing tens of thousands of Canadians, who want to stop any degradation of the marine environments.

PNCIMA includes waters of the Central Coast, North Coast, and Haida Gwaii that encompasses approximately 88,000 square kilometers. It includes areas that contain threatened species such as the blue whale, basking shark and northern abalone, as well as natural wonders such as cold water corals, kelp forests and sponge reefs.

Current management is inefficient, too narrowly focused, and contributes to unnecessary environmental degradation, say the groups.

“Currently, salmon stocks are declining, critical habitat is being destroyed, and industrial activities such as shipping are on the increase,” said Bill Wareham, senior conservation specialist with the David Suzuki Foundation. “A comprehensive marine-planning process would enable the people who work and live on the coast to build a vision for sustainable economic development and conservation of the marine environment.”

The conservation groups involved in this initiative delivered digital clocks set to count down the days to June 8, 2008, World Oceans Day, along with a series of steps they expect government to take, including the establishment of a federal/provincial and First nations protocol for marine-use planning; a structure that encourages the participation of coastal residents, a multidisciplinary team to conduct effective research and analysis on critical marine issues; and a marine-planning secretariat to operate the planning process.

Over the next few months, we remain committed to working with government to find a way to launch an effective marine-planning process,” said Jennifer Lash, executive director of the Living Oceans Society.

“However, if government fails to follow the path to success that we have identified, we will take action to ensure that Canadians are made aware of the threats to this spectacular region and the failure of government to implement Canada’s Ocean Strategy and live up to its international commitments.”

The groups also launched http://www.pncimawatch.ca/, a new website designed to track and report on governments’ progress toward establishing the marine-planning process in the PNCIMA region.

The North and Central Coast Land Use planning process for land based activities resulted in one-third of the region being set aside in conservancies (protected areas) as well as the establishment of a $120-million fund for First Nations to build economic opportunities and conduct research in the Great Bear Rainforest.