Marine Protected
Areas
For
many years, Canadian conservation groups, including the Vancouver
Aquarium Marine Science Centre, have been arguing for the
creation of a network of marine parks in British Columbia.
While British Columbians are fortunate to enjoy some of the
finest land-based parks in the world, we have been slow to
create sanctuaries for marine life, generally referred to
as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
Locally, there are three areas that, for
all purposes function as marine protected areas: Whytecliffe
Park and Point Atkinson in West Vancouver, and Porteau Cove
Provincial Park, on the Sea-to-Sky Highway. While these areas
have not been officially designated as MPAs, they are all
Fishing Closures, meaning that fishing and shellfish harvesting
are prohibited inside their boundaries.
The Vancouver Aquarium has taken an active
interest in all three of our local Fishing Closures. We were
instrumental in the creation of the Pt. Atkinson Research
Fishing Closure, and have been active in raising public awareness
at Whytecliffe Park and Porteau Cove.
The Point Atkinson Research Fishing
Closure
The Point Atkinson Research Fishing Closure
come into effect in 1997 when the Aquarium was granted permission
by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to set up a small protected
area (100m x 80m) in West Vancouver's Lighthouse Park. While
not permanently protected, the Research Fishing Closure does
currently represent the world's smallest marine protected
area. The Aquarium chose this site in order to transplant
black rockfish collected from Ucluelet, on the west coast
of Vancouver Island. Black rockfish had once been abundant
in the Vancouver area but over the past twenty years, they
had been exploited to the point of local extinction. In addition
to checking on the black rockfish, Vancouver Aquarium divers
continue to survey and catalogue the species of life found
at the Fishing Closure.
Whytecliffe Park and Porteau Cove are both popular
dive sites. Underwater surveys indicate that these sites are
also also popular with poachers looking for lingcod and rockfish.
In Howe Sound, poaching for groundfish is an increasing problem,
especially at shoreline sites. In order to inform the public
that these areas are protected and to warn away poachers,
the Vancouver Aquarium, in partnership with the Pacific Salmon
Foundation, has produced and erected and erected anti-poaching
signs at both sites. These multilingual signs, reflecting
the cultural diversity of the greater Vancouver region, display
"No Fishing" in English, Chinese, Farsi and Vietnamese. The
signs also encourage the public to take an active interest
by reporting possible poaching incidents.
These
funding for these signs came about after the Vancouver Aquarium
and the Pacific Salmon Foundation received funds from Fisheries
and Oceans Canada as part of a court-ordered judgment against
a commercial fisherman. The court judgement designated that
the funds were to be used towards rockfish conservation.
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