Massive area off B.C. coast one step closer to an official Marine Protected Area

A massive area off the B.C. coast and under the water is now one step closer to being officially protected.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is working in collaboration with First Nations to advance the designation of the proposed Tang.ɢwan – ḥačx^wiqak – Tsig̱is Marine Protected Area (MPA) off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The 133,000 square kilometres of ocean space contains underwater mountains that are rich with deep-sea life.

It also has the only known hydrothermal vents in B.C. waters.

The federal government said on its website that “the establishment of this new MPA will contribute approximately 0.88 per cent to Canada’s goal to conserve 25 per cent of our ocean by 2025, making it the largest MPA off the Pacific West Coast in Canada.”

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The proposal will now go forward to public consultation.

“The key things that have been decided on are that this will be an area that will adhere to the general Marine Protected Area proscriptions,” Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Minister Joyce Murray said Tuesday.

“That means no seabed mining, no oil and gas drilling and no dumping or bottom trawling or bottom contact fishing.”

According to the federal government, First Nations partner organizations have designated, or are in the process of designating, Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas within the proposed MPA, under their respective authorities, including the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council.

In October 2022, the Council of the Haida Nation House of Assembly designated the portion of the proposed Tang.ɢwan – ḥačx^wiqak – Tsig̱is Marine Protected Area lying within Haida Territory as a Haida Heritage Site. The Haida Nation and Canada also co-manage Sgaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount Marine Protected Area, the shallowest seamount on the west coast of Canada.