Question Period Note: Marine Conservation

• Our Government recognizes the important role that our ocean plays in addressing the global biodiversity crisis and mitigating the impacts of climate change.
• This is why we exceeded our 10 per cent marine conservation target in 2019, proudly protecting almost 14 per cent of Canada’s ocean.
• As a further demonstration of our commitment, the Government made a historic investment in marine conservation through Budget 2021, providing almost a billion dollars in funding over five years to reach our new ambitious target of conserving 25 per cent of Canada’s ocean by 2025.
• Our Government will continue to work with provinces and territories, Indigenous communities, and Canadians to increase marine protection to 25 per cent by 2025, working towards 30 per cent by 2030.
Marine Protection Standards
• In 2019, our Government announced two new protection standards, following recommendations from the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards.
• Under the protection standard for future federal marine protected areas, oil and gas exploration and exploitation, mining, dumping and bottom trawling will be prohibited.
• Under the protection standard for other effective area-based conservation measures, including marine refuges, all activities will be assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the risks they may pose are effectively avoided or mitigated.
• These new protection standards safeguard our ocean while providing greater certainty and clarity on how these conservation tools are designed.
Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest
• Our Government recognizes the importance of protecting Canada’s marine and coastal areas, such as the Eastern Shore Islands area, while supporting a healthy oceans economy.
• Next steps for this area include determining a path forward for the future conservation of this Area of Interest, such as through working with the local fishing industry to address issues of common interest.

Marine Conservation Targets
• Under Budget 2021,the Government of Canada has made a historic investment in marine conservation, providing $976.8 million in funding over five years to protect 25 per cent of Canada’s oceans by 2025.
• In 2019, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard was directed in her mandate letter to work with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to develop an ambitious plan (grounded in science, Indigenous knowledge and local perspectives) to conserve 25 per cent of Canada’s ocean by 2025, working towards 30 per cent by 2030. The Minister was also directed to advocate at international gatherings that countries around the world set a goal of 30 per cent conservation by 2030.
• In 2010, Canada agreed to marine conservation targets established under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to conserve 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas through effectively managed networks of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) by 2020. This is commonly referred to as Aichi Target 11. This commitment was reconfirmed in 2015 (United Nations General Assembly’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development under Goal 14). A new Post-2020 Biodiversity Framework is currently being negotiated under the CBD. This will replace the Aichi Targets. It is expected that a 30 per cent by 2030 protection target will be included in the Post-2020 Framework.
• Canada currently conserves 13.81 per cent of marine and coastal areas, including 14 marine protected areas (MPAs) established by Fisheries and Oceans Canada under the Oceans Act and 59 marine refuges (fishing area closures that meet Canada’s OECM guidance). Additional Areas of Interest have been announced as being pursued for Oceans Act MPA designation (e.g., Offshore Pacific, Eastern Shore Islands, Fundian Channel-Browns Bank, and Southampton Island).
• Canada’s 2025 marine conservation target will be advanced within the context of marine spatial planning and a Blue Economy Strategy.
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) Report Card
• On June 22, 2021, CPAWS will release its report card “The Grades are In: A Report Card on Canada’s Progress in Protecting its Land and Ocean.”
• The report card gives the federal government a “B+” for its marine conservation efforts. This grade is based on: achieving the 10 per cent target; support for Indigenous-led conservation; and, effective management of protected areas. In CPAWS’ view, this grade reflects the reliance on the Tuvaijuittuq MPA (5.55 per cent) which only provides interim protection, and 59 marine refuges (4.93 per cent) or OECMs, which CPAWS considers to be the less preferred conservation tool when compared with an MPA. CPAWS’ grade also notes the lack of progress in conservation network planning in marine bioregions.
• The report does accolade the Government for achieving the 10 per cent target and identifying significant resources in Budget 2021 to achieve the 25 per cent target. CPAWS supports the MPA protection standard, but is less favourable towards the flexible, risk-based approach to industrial activities under the OECM protection standard (i.e., the report card cites concern over exploratory oil and gas licences in the Northeast Newfoundland Slope marine refuge). The report card also highlights the creation of the new MPA by Ministerial Order instrument and inclusion of the precautionary approach and ecological integrity in the 2019 amendments to the Oceans Act.
• CPAWS is finalizing its second report card, the “Ocean Report”, focused more directly on the performance of all federal MPAs against a new MPA classification guide being developed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Public release of the CPAWS report and the IUCN’s Guide are expected in July 2021.
Marine Spatial Planning
• The Department has launched marine spatial planning (MSP) across Canada, including initiatives in five major coastal areas, to improve the management and coordination of economic and conservation activities.
• The five areas include: Pacific North Coast; Pacific South Coast; Bay of Fundy/Scotian Shelf; Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence; and, Newfoundland-Labrador Shelves.
• The MSP approach, in collaboration with provinces, territories, and Indigenous Peoples, will be used to co-develop marine spatial plans by 2024.
• Conservation network development is a strategic approach to reaching our biodiversity conservation goals and will be integrated into Canada’s MSP efforts to ensure that our marine ecosystems are sustainably managed and are able to support economic, social, and cultural objectives in addition to conservation objectives.
Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures
• In 2016, Canada developed interim operational guidance for identifying marine OECMs based on recommendations provided through peer-reviewed science advice.
• Based on Canada’s interim guidance, DFO evaluated existing fisheries management measures and species at risk critical habitat. There are currently 59 measures that meet the criteria, representing about 283,394 km2 or 4.93 per cent of conserved marine territory in Canada.
• International voluntary criteria were adopted at the CBD’s Conference of the Parties in November 2018 (COP14). Following this, DFO is currently adjusting its 2016 domestic marine OECM guidance to align with CBD guidance as well as to implement Canada’s 2019 protection standard for OECMs. This updated guidance is anticipated in 2021.
Marine Protection Standards
• In 2019, the Government announced a protection standard for all new federal MPAs. This standard will help safeguard areas of our oceans that need protection from the potentially harmful effects of four key industrial activities: oil and gas exploration and exploitation, mining, dumping, and bottom trawling.
• The Government also announced a protection standard for all federal marine OECMs in which a more flexible/risk-based approach is used to ensure adequate protection and to reinforce Canada’s credibility when reporting sites against domestic and global marine conservation targets. All activities in federal marine OECMs will continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure that potential impacts from human activities to the conservation objectives of the area have been avoided or mitigated effectively.

MPA Establishment by Ministerial Order
• Bill C-55 received Royal Assent on May 27, 2019. It provides a new Ministerial Order power to establish an MPA for up to five years based on initial science and consultation. During this timeframe, additional science and consultation continue with a view to establishing the MPA over the long-term via Governor in Council regulations. The Ministerial Order provides short-term protection using a “freeze the footprint” approach to prohibit the allowance or authorization of new activities not authorized or legally occurring during the one year prior to the Ministerial Order coming into effect.
• The Government’s new protection standard does not apply to MPAs established on an interim basis by Ministerial Order under the Oceans Act.
• DFO established the Tuvaijuittuq (“too-vai-you-wee-tuk”) MPA in the High Arctic Basin using the new Ministerial Order power. Additional efforts are underway with the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and the Government of Nunavut to assess the feasibility of establishing long-term protection measures for the area.
Post-2020 targets and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• In response to mandate commitments, the Department is engaging other departments, partners, and stakeholders to develop an ambitious plan to conserve 25 per cent of Canada’s oceans by 2025, working toward 30 per cent by 2030, and has begun working with other like-minded countries around the world to advocate for 30 per cent marine and terrestrial conservation by 2030.
• These new domestic targets for marine conservation are aligned with new global marine conservation targets that are an expected outcome of post-2020 target negotiations at the CBD in the coming months.
• Since 1992, the CBD has provided Canada with a framework to protect its own biodiversity, supporting Canadian livelihoods and wellbeing, as well as the opportunity to influence global biodiversity policy.
• With 196 States Parties, the CBD is one of the most influential international mechanisms to address biodiversity loss, including marine and coastal biodiversity, through global policy change and action.
• At the upcoming 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the CBD, date TBD, States Parties will adopt a new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, including new biodiversity targets to replace the current 20 Aichi targets (2011-2020) that will guide global biodiversity conservation and sustainable use efforts towards 2030 and beyond to 2050.
• COP15 will provide Canada with the opportunity to influence new international policy on the sustainable use and harvest of marine resources and new ambitious targets for marine conservation.

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