Establishing the Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area

The Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area is the first protected marine area established under the Canada Wildlife Act. Its establishment formally recognizes the importance of this marine area and the conservation needs of seabirds, species at risk, other wildlife species, and their marine habitat.

This new marine national wildlife area covers 11 546 km² around the Scott Islands, located off the northwestern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The five Scott Islands and surrounding marine environment make up one of the most productive and biologically diverse ecosystems on the Canadian Pacific coast, particularly for seabirds. The marine area provides key foraging habitat for the birds that nest on the islands, and it attracts annually an additional 5 to 10 million migratory birds that feed on the abundance of small fish and zooplankton in the area.

The conservation objective of the Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area is to conserve migratory seabirds and species at risk as well as the habitats, ecosystems, and marine resources that support them. The Scott Islands Protected Marine Area Regulations, in conjunction with complementary measures by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada to help mitigate fishing and shipping related concerns in the area, will provide an effective regulatory framework for the management of human activities within the boundaries of the area. An adaptive management plan will also be collaboratively developed.

The five Scott Islands are already protected by the Province of British Columbia. This marine national wildlife area protects the surrounding marine environment and supports the Government of Canada’s commitment to conserve 10 per cent of our marine and coastal areas by 2020 and to significantly increase the amount of nature conservation.

Process to become a marine national wildlife area

The marine area around the Scott Islands was first identified by Environment and Climate Change Canada as a possible candidate site for protection, in 1995. In 2003, the Government of Canada officially announced that Environment and Climate Change Canada would establish a protected marine area in the waters surrounding the Scott Islands.

The Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area proposal was developed in consultation with a steering committee and a stakeholder advisory group, established in 2010. The steering committee includes representatives from other federal departments (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada, and Natural Resources Canada), the Province of British Columbia, the Quatsino First Nation, and the Tlatlasikwala First Nation. The stakeholder advisory group includes representatives from local and regional governments, commercial and recreational fishing, marine transportation and shipping, non-renewable energy, marine conservation not-for-profit, and tourism sectors.

The work of the steering committee and advisory group informed the regulatory strategy for the proposed Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area, which was posted for consultation in March 2013. In December 2016, the proposed regulations and boundaries were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, for a 30-day public comment period.

Management of the Marine National Wildlife Area

The Government of Canada will provide $3.2 million over five years, from 2018 to 2023, to support the adaptive and collaborative management of the Marine National Wildlife Area with partners and experts, including working toward the elimination of introduced predators to seabirds.

The Quatsino First Nation, the Tlatlasikwala First Nation, and the Province of British Columbia have expressed significant interest in participating in the collaborative management of the Marine National Wildlife Area, and discussions are ongoing to develop a management agreement for the area within a year. Fishing and shipping within Marine National Wildlife Area  will continue to be managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada respectively.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is committed to managing fisheries within the Marine National Wildlife Area in a way that is consistent with the area’s conservation objectives. Existing fishing restrictions that support the Marine National Wildlife Area will be maintained over the long term. Fisheries and Oceans Canada also intends to consult on new regulations under the Fisheries Act, which would prohibit fishing for three key forage fish species that serve as a food source for seabirds—Pacific sand lance, Pacific saury, and North Pacific krill—as well as prohibit bottom trawling in portions of the Marine National Wildlife Area, consistent with existing fisherie closures. The regulations could also restrict fishing activities that may be deemed to pose a risk to the conservation objectives of the area, based on the best available science.

Environment and Climate Change Canada will continue to work collaboratively with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to implement voluntary and regulatory measures under the national wildlife area management plan as well as the integrated fisheries management plans to mitigate fishing impacts. This will include measures to improve information on seabird prey habitat impacts and measures to mitigate seabird bycatch as well as initiatives by the existing Environment and Climate Change Canada-Fisheries and Oceans Canada Pacific Seabird Bycatch Working Group.

The Government of Canada is also working on various initiatives under the Oceans Protection Plan, including wildlife emergency response and shipping concerns, which will contribute to the adaptive management and protection of the area.

As part of Canada’s national network of marine protected areas, future management of the area will consider recommendations developed by the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards. Ongoing research and monitoring, in collaboration with partners and stakeholders, will be an important component of the management plan. An advisory committee, with technical and science advisory working groups, will be established to provide advice and input into the development of a management plan for the Marine National Wildlife Area. A final management plan is expected in 2019.