Dear Editor,

The Southern Strait of Georgia is in Islanders’ hands!



The Gulf Islands lie among the emerald waters of the Salish Sea/Strait of Georgia, a marine playground bustling with human activity, and home to a wide variety of important marine species, including Canada’s most endangered killer whales.

Islanders have canvassed hard to protect the area through a National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA), a type of marine protected area that is managed and used in an ecologically sustainable manner to meet the needs of the present and future generations. NMCAs are established to represent a unique marine region and to demonstrate how protection and conservation practices can be harmonised with resource use in marine ecosystems for their long term sustainability. They are meant to give special protection to fish nurseries and eel grass beds, for example, so ecology is protected, and sport fishing and tourism ultimately benefit too.

After years in limbo, Parks Canada and the BC government have revived the Salish Sea/Strait of Georgia NMCA process. Islands Trust Council did a lot of advocacy in 2010 to get NMCA back on track, with a successful resolution at the Union of BC Municipalities convention that we were later told was influential in getting the province and federal government re-committed to the NMCA.

Parks Canada is right now soliciting input on the NMCA and how broad its boundaries should be. A feasibility study about the project can be found at www.pc.gc.ca/eng/progs/amnc-nmca/dgs-ssg/index.aspx, and feedback can be given at straitofgeorgianmca@pc.gc.ca.

There is also a coalition of non-governmental groups including the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society who have launched a campaign to allow the public to submit their comments to Parks Canada and key politicians. Keeping this marine environment healthy matters for everyone and your feedback will influence the outcome! 

Islanders can let Parks Canada know why the Southern Strait of Georgia is special to them at www.takeactionsouthernstrait.ca, which is the new environmental non-governmental organisation website designed to promote NMCA and build support.

What Boundary?

1. The southern waters of Gabriola, Mudge and the Flattops ARE included already in the Parks Canada NMCA proposal, since they have the highest ecological values. The Gabriola Local Trust Committee lobbied hard in 2005 to have the area expanded to include these places (previously, it was just close to the US border that was proposed for special marine protection). The map as it is proposed now by Parks Canada can be found at: www.pc.gc.ca/eng/progs/amnc-nmca/dgs-ssg/region-area.aspx.  The Gabriola Official Community Plan supported creating special protection for that area and I’m really glad we were successful having it included in the study area. Thanks to islanders who came out to the Parks Canada meeting on Gabriola and wrote letters at that time.

2. Right now Parks Canada is floating a proposal to start with just Saturna/Mayne/Pender Island waters, and leave everything else (including the southern waters of Gabriola, Mudge and the Flattops) for a later phase. With your input, federal leaders can be encouraged to proceed with the whole study area as shown on the map above.

3. Mid-Island Stewardship and Sustainability Society from Nanaimo is proposing a further expansion of the study area to include all of Gabriola’s coastline and the Nanaimo Estuary (this was described in a long letter in last week’s paper). Islands Trust Council had this as a discussion topic at its March and June meetings, and no trustee has proposed supporting MISSI’s expansion idea yet.

Personally, I think we should stick with the areas now proposed (Dodd Narrows, Gabriola Passage, waters southeast of Gabriola), argue that they should NOW be included in a National Marine Conservation Area and see how it works out; we can include the rest of Gabriola’s coastline if we like how it turns out.

And I am not, personally, going to advocate for action on shorelines within Snuneymuxw First Nation or Nanaimo City Council authority.

I have also heard that if the proposed area keeps expanding, we will have to choose what else gets left out – i.e. Parks Canada isn’t going to create a mega-marine park, and asking for too much, risks what we’ve got already…

I’m proud of all our NMCA advocacy over the past ten years and hope islanders will continue to weigh in on how our shorelines and the Salish Sea can be best protected.