Marine conservation area planned in Fundy

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) marine conservation coordinator Ashley Sprague provided an update on the process at the Dec. 14 municipal committee-of-the-whole meeting.

CPAWS is a national non-profit organization with a goal to identify important areas high in conservation value and then work with communities and governments to preserve it, said Sprague.

Marine conservation areas are set up by Parks Canada to balance conservation, preserve habitats and life so it can be sustainable.

When CPAWS heard of Parks Canada’s plan, “We saw this as a great opportunity to try to protect and conserve and promote sustainable use of the ocean and also have benefits to the community such as jobs and eco-tourism,” said Sprague. “We contacted Parks Canada and started a conversation to say the Bay of Fundy is one of the most important eco systems in the world.”

With Parks Canada’s goal of establishing 29 marine conservation areas in Canada, Sprague said, “Somewhere in the Bay of Fundy there will be [one] created in the future.”

Brier Island and surrounding water was one of three candidate sites considered in the 1970s as a marine conservation area, and it could end up on the candidate list again, she noted.

Three marine conservation areas already exist in Canada and three are being proposed, she added.

CPAWS has done research and held local community meetings with fishermen to hear their thoughts and concerns about the fishing industry’s future, jobs and coastal development. “Our overall goal is to provide the community with the proper information so they can make the choice of whether or not this is something they’d like to do,” Sprague said.

Fishermen have also questioned governance and what benefits other areas that have a marine conservation area have seen.

A regional analysis of the Bay of Fundy will start this winter to find candidate sites and will take nine months to a year to complete, she said.

That will be followed by a regional feasibility study along with public consultation and then one of the candidate sites will be chosen.

In the meantime, CPAWS will continue its research, look into governance and the benefits to the fisheries and communities.

Sprague said she would also like to bring fishermen from areas with marine conservation areas to visit Digby to discuss the benefits with local fishermen.