Beaufort Sea Integrated Management Area

The Beaufort Sea Large Ocean Management Area is one of five priority areas identified for integrated ocean management planning by the Government of Canada. The Beaufort Sea Large Ocean Management Area is approximately 1,107,694 km². It is located in the extreme northwestern corner of Canada, and includes the marine portion of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

A regional governance partnership has been developed to advance integrated ocean management in the Beaufort Sea Integrated Management Area.

The Integrated Ocean Management Plan for the Beaufort Sea (2009) [PDF] - 1.76 Mb is organized around six thematic goals as follows:

1. Governance – To achieve effective governance for the sustainable use of the Beaufort Sea.
2. Economic – To foster sustainable economic opportunities and options for Canadians, northerners and coastal communities.
3. Cultural – To maintain and increase peoples’ sense of place and preserve cultural identity and spiritual connections as they relate to oceans and coastal areas.
4. Social – To improve human capacity, health, quality of life and opportunities as they connect to oceans and coastal areas.
5. Traditional and Local Knowledge – To promote the value, credibility and use of Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Local Knowledge (LK) to current and future generations.
6. Ecosystem – To understand the Beaufort Sea ecosystem, to identify important areas and priority species and to maintain or enhance ecosystem integrity.

The plan includes information about the vision, the twenty-four objectives, the planning process, implementation, and performance evaluation.

Marine Protected Areas Within the Beaufort Sea Integrated Management Area

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are geographically defined areas under the Oceans Act. These areas are established to protect and conserve important fish & marine mammal habitats, endangered marine species, unique features and areas of high biological productivity or biodiversity. One MPA is within the Beaufort Sea Integrated Management Area.

• Tarium Niryutait MPA
• Anguniaqvia niqiqyuam MPA (Ung-u-niak-via Ni-kig-e-um)

Publications

• State of the Ocean Report for the Beaufort Sea Large Ocean Management Area
• The Beaufort Sea Integrated Ocean Management Planning Atlas, 2009 [PDF] - 2.61 Mb
• Beaufort Sea Large Ocean Management Area: Ecosystem Overview and Assessment Report - 2008 [PDF] - 2.81 Mb
• Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas Report [PDF] - 884 kb
• The Ecological Assessment of the Beaufort Sea Beluga Management Plan - Zone 1(a) as a Marine Protected Area of Interest [PDF] - 5.62 Mb