Fears are growing about a lack of adequate protection for the ocean that defines sa国际传媒's parks and recreation areas.
While land-based parks are flourishing, on the marine front progress is sluggish and decisions to allow commercial fishing to continue in marine protected areas (MPAs), administered by Fisheries and Oceans, and national marine conservation areas (NMCAs), administered by Parks sa国际传媒, are under fire from scientists and conservation groups.
Philip Dearden, professor of geography at University of Victoria, believes sa国际传媒 is not living up to its international responsibilities, and failure to protect the ocean will eventually be catastrophic for the fishing industry, coastal communities and ecosystems.
"People need to become aware of the state of our oceans. We need to extend the parks into the ocean," Dearden said.
About one per cent of the Pacific Ocean falls under an MPA or NMCA and most protected areas remain open to fishing.
The only hard and fast rules are that NMCAs are off-limits to oil and gas exploration and ocean dumping and, under the Oceans Act, activities in MPAs cannot damage habitat or remove species.
However, exceptions - such as fishing - can be made "as long as activities do not compromise the overall conservation objectives."
The upshot is that only a tiny fraction is truly protected - a far cry from the 10 per cent by 2012 promised by sa国际传媒 under the Convention on Biological Diversity, Dearden said.
"Fishing, which is the main threat, is still run by the fisheries branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which hasn't bought into the [protected area] concept at all," he said.
The newly created Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, which boasts of protection from the mountain tops to the depths of the ocean, has a 3,500-square-kilometre NMCA stretching 10 to 12 kilometres out from the land park boundary.
It sounds impressive, but only three per cent is a nofishing zone, Dearden said.
However, park superintendent Ernie Gladstone said it is a good start and new strategies are likely to emerge over the next five years under the joint management of Parks sa国际传媒, the DFO and the Haida Nation. "We could expand it, but it's too soon to say exactly what will happen," Gladstone said.
A study by the Living Oceans Society found that fishing is allowed in 99 per cent of MPAs on the sa国际传媒 coast.
"Marine protected areas should be safe havens where species can regenerate, but the great majority of our MPAs are really just paper parks that offer almost nothing in the way of ocean conservation or sustainable fisheries," said Kim Wright, Living Oceans campaign manager.
A similar study, commissioned by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), was recently backed by a group of 14 leading marine scientists, who called for sa国际传媒 to make at least 30 per cent of its oceans no-take reserves.
The society's study emphasizes the need for a network of large, interconnected marine parks.
Sabine Jessen, of the CPAWS, said sa国际传媒 has not ensured that a network of MPAs captures all the different habitats.
"I don't think sa国际传媒 has been using the latest science. The science is there and we need to use it," she said.
But Environment Minister Peter Kent said there is increasing federal emphasis on protection of marine areas.
"We came to it late after working on our traditional national parks ... but marine preservation is really important," he said.
When it comes to fishing restrictions, each area has to be considered individually and there are varying opinions about whether a total ban on fishing could be detrimental to ecosystems in some areas, Kent said.
"There's still an awful lot to be learned," he said.
Jessen believes there is no argument about the benefits of banning fishing in protected areas.
"There is clear evidence from around the world," she said.
"Even from economic and social perspectives, if we allow the ocean to create more fish, surely we are all going to benefit."
But battles between stakeholders usually overshadow conservation efforts.
Coming up with the right percentage for a no-take area is an evolution, said Alan Latourelle, chief executive of Parks sa国际传媒.
"The first objective is to establish a marine park ... It's a process of learning together," he said.
The DFO is developing a "strategic plan" for a network of MPAs with the design plan likely to take several years to complete.
Also, a draft of a sa国际传媒sa国际传媒 strategy will shortly be released for comment.
A major problem is the tangle of legislation and multitude of agencies and departments involved in creating protected areas, Dearden said.
"Most countries have one piece of legislation and one agency, and they just do it."
Jennifer Lash, Living Oceans executive director, said many arms of government do not play well together.
She is pinning her hopes for more protection of sa国际传媒's coast on an integrated management plan for the area stretching from Campbell River to the Alaskan border.
First Nations, the federal government and the province are working together to create an ecosystem-based management area known as the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area.
"We have all the stakeholders sitting around the table saying 'where do we put our priorities,' " Lash said.
"It's a real opportunity to set our new gold standard for marine protection in sa国际传媒."
