Kitkatla Inlet Area of Interest (AOI)

On this page

• At-a-glance
• Ecological importance
• Cultural importance
• Key objectives and approach
• Publications

At-a-glance

This webpage was co-produced with Gitxaała Nation. The Gitxaała Nation speak the Sm'algyax language. Some Sm'algyax words are used in maps and text on this webpage. Any lack of Sm'algyax should not be interpreted as the word not existing and this website should not be used as a language reference.

AOI governance partners

• Gitxaała Nation
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Location

A marine area is identified as an AOI when it is under consideration for long-term protection as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) under the Oceans Act.

The Kitkatla Inlet AOI consists of 4 separate zones. It is located 60 kilometres south of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Its boundaries range from the northwest sides of Banks Island and McAuley Island to the south and west sides of Porcher Island. The Kitkatla Inlet AOI is named after Kitkatla Inlet, the waters that surround Gitxaała Nation's village of Lach Klan (Kitkatla) on Dolphin Island.

Size

The AOI's 4 zones combine for a total area of approximately 400.4 km².

Northern Shelf Bioregion MPA Network context

The Network Action Plan (NAP) (PDF, 11.9 MB) is the result of many years of planning to design a network of MPAs in the Northern Shelf Bioregion. The NAP was collaboratively developed and endorsed by 15 coastal First Nations, the Province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada on February 5, 2023. It provides a blueprint for multiple marine conservation efforts to operate more cooperatively and effectively than if they were to be undertaken independently.

The term MPA is used in the NAP as an umbrella term for many different marine protection tools, which:

• are available under provincial, federal and Indigenous law
• may be used to protect a range of ecological, cultural and social objectives

In the network planning context, Kitkatla Inlet is identified as an AOI for a potential MPA under Canada's Oceans Act. The NAP includes a preliminary profile of information for the Kitkatla Inlet AOI zones in context of overall network objectives (NAP Appendix 1, p.282). This preliminary information and broader network context will continue to be considered during the Kitkatla Inlet Oceans Act MPA establishment process.

Ecological importance

The Kitkatla Inlet AOI has 4 zones. These zones include a variety of nearshore habitats like estuaries and rocky reefs that are important to species like:

• northern abalone
• herring
• sand lance
• rockfish
• salmon

The northern and western coastlines of Banks Island have extensive giant kelp and bull kelp forests important to juvenile fish. Kitkatla Inlet has estuaries important for salmon migration and shorelines important for Pacific herring spawning. These are just some of the factors that contribute to these ecosystems' high biodiversity and productivity.

The Gitxaała Nation speak the Sm'algyax language. Below are Sm'algyax words for some of the important ecological features of Kitkatla Inlet:

• Eelgrass: gadza k'aw
• Bull kelp: mo'ox
• Giant kelp: gyoós
• Pacific herring: tskah
• Pacific salmon (all species): hoon
• Northern abalone: bilhaa

Learn more about the Sm'algyax language on the Gitxaała Nation website.

More information about these ecological features will be added to this webpage at a later date.

Cultural importance

Kitkatla Inlet AOI has been continuously inhabited by Gitxaała, the People of the Channel, since time immemorial. Laxyuubm Gitxaała, Gitxaała's Traditional Territory, is an abundant environment that sustained several large pre-colonial villages. Gitxaała's contemporary village, Lax Klan, has been continually inhabited formerly as a winter village for over 5,000 years. The larger Gitxaala territory has been inhabited over 13,500 years based off Western Science alone.

The Kitkatla Inlet AOI is a place of significant cultural and ecological importance to Gitxaała Nation, who have provided and continue to provide strong leadership, stewardship and long-term resource management of the marine environment.

The AOI includes a vast array of features critical to Gitxaała, such as:

• travel routes
• fishing camps
• homes of spiritual beings
• teaching areas
• archaeological sites
• harvesting locations that sustain Gitxaała way of life

All biophysical and ecological aspects of the Kitkatla Inlet AOI are important to Gitxaała and provide:

• subsistence
• cultural transmission and teachings
• health and spiritual wellbeing
• aspects of an intact and ancient governance structure

Kitkatla Inlet was identified as an AOI with the intention to protect it for generations to come.

Key objectives and approach

The overarching objective for the Kitkatla Inlet AOI is to conserve and protect important and unique marine habitat features that support the Kitkatla Inlet ecosystem and biodiversity.

Consultation and engagement

The Kitkatla Inlet AOI is currently in the Feasibility Assessment step of the Oceans Act MPA process. This step includes extensive engagement and consultation.

MPA planning requires diverse points of view and sources of information. Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Gitxaała Nation have worked together to establish an AOI advisory committee. This committee will be the primary consultative body throughout the Oceans Act MPA establishment process.

The Kitkatla Inlet AOI Advisory Committee may include representation from:

• First Nations
• the Province of British Columbia
• federal government agencies
• municipal governments and coastal communities
• marine industries including shipping, fishing, tourism, resources and others
• non-government organizations with a mandate in conservation and the environment
• academia
• other interested or affected groups

The advisory committee will seek to represent a wide range of interests. It will provide a forum for information and idea sharing between groups that might not otherwise interact. The members of the advisory committee will provide advice and feedback on:

• the drafted conservation objectives, proposed boundaries and rationale for conserving the area
• the biophysical, socio-economic and natural resource assessment overview documents
• the ecological risk assessment of human activities to the conservation objectives
• the MPA design and draft Regulatory Intent Statement (includes proposed protection measures)

Publications

• The MPA Network Action Plan Northern Shelf Bioregion (Kitkatla Inlet's profile is on page 282)
• DFO's summary of the network action plan
• Assessment of nearshore features against criteria for determining ecologically and biologically significant areas (PDF, 1.5 MB)
• Reassessment of the ecologically and biologically significant areas in the Pacific Northern Shelf Bioregion (PDF, 1.47 MB)