HEALTHY OCEANS, VIBRANT COASTAL COMMUNITIES: STRENGTHENING THE OCEANS ACT MARINE PROTECTED AREAS’ ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans Bernadette Jordan, Chair JUNE 2018 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION The proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees are hereby made available to provide greater public access. The parliamentary privilege of the House of Commons to control the publication and broadcast of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees is nonetheless reserved. All copyrights therein are also reserved. Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. 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For greater certainty, this permission does not affect the prohibition against impeaching or questioning the proceedings of the House of Commons in courts or otherwise. The House of Commons retains the right and privilege to find users in contempt of Parliament if a reproduction or use is not in accordance with this permission. Also available on the House of Commons website at the following address: www.ourcommons.ca HEALTHY OCEANS, VIBRANT COASTAL COMMUNITIES: STRENGTHENING THE OCEANS ACT MARINE PROTECTED AREAS’ ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS Report of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans Bernadette Jordan Chair JUNE 2018 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION NOTICE TO READER Reports from committee presented to the House of Commons Presenting a report to the House is the way a committee makes public its findings and recommendations on a particular topic. Substantive reports on a subject-matter study usually contain a synopsis of the testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those recommendations. To assist the reader: A glossary of terms used in this report is available on page 63. STANDING COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES AND OCEANS CHAIR Bernadette Jordan VICE-CHAIRS Todd Doherty Fin Donnelly MEMBERS Mel Arnold Ken McDonald Terry Beech* Larry Miller Pat Finnigan Robert J. Morrissey Ken Hardie Churence Rogers OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Vance Badawey Mark Holland Jean-Claude Poissant James Bezan Gord Johns Kim Rudd Sylvie Boucher Robert Kitchen Scott Simms Blaine Calkins Ron Liepert Robert Sopuck Don Davies Alaina Lockhart Wayne Stetski Earl Dreeshen Wayne Long Dave Van Kesteren Julie Dzerowicz Sheila Malcolmson Adam Vaughan Darren Fisher Phil McColeman Marilène Gill Hon. Rob Nicholson * Non-voting member, pursuant to Standing Order 104(5). iii CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Nancy Vohl LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Daniele Lafrance, Analyst Thai Nguyen, Analyst iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES AND OCEANS has the honour to present its FOURTEENTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied The Oceans Act’s Marine Protected Areas and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................. 1 HEALTHY OCEANS, VIBRANT COASTAL COMMUNITIES: STRENGTHENING THE OCEANS ACT MARINE PROTECTED AREAS’ ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS ....................... 7 CONSERVATION OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY ...................................................................... 7 A. International Commitments ............................................................................................ 7 B. Canadian Priorities ............................................................................................................. 8 C. Protected Areas: Definitions and Guidelines ......................................................... 10 D. Oceans Act Marine Protected Areas........................................................................... 12 COMMITTEE’S STUDY ................................................................................................................. 14 CURRENT CRITERIA AND PROCESS USED TO IDENTIFY AND ESTABLISH OCEANS ACT MARINE PROTECTED AREAS ........................................................................ 15 A. Precautionary Approach.............................................................................................. 16 B. Science-Based Decision-Making ............................................................................... 16 1. Selecting Areas of Interest ..................................................................................... 16 2. Community-driven Protection.............................................................................. 17 3. Establishing a Marine Protected Area ............................................................... 17 4. Zones of Protection ................................................................................................... 18 C. Transparency With Regard to Consultations ......................................................... 18 D. Indigenous Considerations ........................................................................................... 19 1. Indigenous Rights and Interests .......................................................................... 19 2. Co-Management ......................................................................................................... 20 E. Plan to Achieve Canada’s Marine Conservation Targets ................................... 20 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS ................................. 21 A. A Precautionary Ocean Management Tool ............................................................. 22 1. Creating Resilience .................................................................................................... 22 2. Lacking Data ................................................................................................................ 24 3. Spill-over Effects ........................................................................................................ 24 vii B. Maximizing Marine Biodiversity Benefits ............................................................... 25 SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS ................................. 25 A. Impacts on the Fishing Industry ................................................................................. 26 1. Means of Assessing Cost.......................................................................................... 28 2. Concentrating Fishing Efforts ............................................................................... 29 B. Impacts on Subsistence Harvesting by Indigenous Peoples ............................ 30 C. Impacts on the Shipping Industry .............................................................................. 31 D. Performance Assessments ............................................................................................ 32 ENHANCING THE OCEANS ACT MARINE PROTECTED AREAS’ ESTABLISHMENT PROCESS ........................................................................................................................................... 35 A. Transparency: Ensuring a Comprehensive Consultation Process................. 35 1. Consultation Capacity .............................................................................................. 36 2. Consultation Inclusiveness and Sharing of Information .......................... 37 2.1 Consultation Length .......................................................................................... 37 2.2 Providing Relevant Information ................................................................... 38 2.3 Marine Conservation Led by Resource Users .......................................... 39 2.4 Terminology and Concurrent Processes ................................................... 40 2.5 Process Improvements ..................................................................................... 41 3. Public Comment Periods and Proposed Regulations .................................. 45 B. Role of Science: Ensuring Science-Based Decision-Making ............................. 46 C. Protection Standards: Ensuring Marine Biodiversity Benefits ....................... 47 D. Recognizing Community and Indigenous Conserved Areas ............................ 50 E. An Integrated Process: Marine Planning ............................................................... 53 1. Planning Frameworks and Partnerships .........................................................