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.

Signs being erected at Porteau Cove

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.