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It’s not going to protect our oceans

“I think from a science perspective, it’s clear that the MPAs we have right now… will not bring what people expect from those MPAs. It’s not going to protect our oceans.”

The scientists want Canada’s Oceans Act amended to include a baseline of protection for all marine protected areas, and for the government to require a scientific assessment of all proposed areas.

Right now, Devillers said, scientists are consulted at the beginning of the process to develop a new protected area. But they have little say in what the end result looks like.

For instance, 80 per cent of a proposed MPA in the Laurentian Channel in the Gulf of St. Lawrence is slated to remain open to oil and gas activity, and the total area will be smaller than what was originally planned.

“We are alarmed by the lack of transparency with which some of these decisions were made,” reads the letter.

Part of the problem, Devillers said, is that there are many different government agencies that play a role in shaping protected areas. While Fisheries and Oceans Canada can control fishing, the department has little control over shipping and other maritime activities.

He also said there’s no mechanism for monitoring the existing areas to know how effective they are at protecting vulnerable species.

In 2010, Canada agreed to protect 10 per cent of its coastal and marine regions by 2020, part of an international commitment. The Liberals campaigned on a promise to protect five per cent of Canada’s oceans by the end of 2017.