Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers (CCFAM) Report on Canada’s Network of Marine Protected Areas, June 2017

Table of Contents

• Complete Text
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• The Importance of Healthy Oceans
• Benefits of Marine Protected Areas and Marine Protected Area Networks
• Marine Protected Area Network Planning
• Progress in Priority Marine Bioregions
• Marine Conservation Targets: 2017 and 2020
• Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OEABCM)
• Conclusion

Benefits of MPAs and MPA Networks

In general terms, individual MPAs are a part of the marine environment (including the oceanic and Great Lakes bioregions in the Canadian context) that is managed “to achieve long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values”.^{Footnote 10} A carefully selected and well-designed MPA can provide localized, site-specific benefits that may:

• maintain the ecological processes that generate ecosystem services;
• protect marine ecosystem structure, functions and recovery;
• improve ecological resilience through restored structures, increased productivity and increased food web complexity;
• protect specific areas containing important biophysical features and processes;
• protect habitats important for providing refugia (for example, for endangered or depleted species), breeding and nursery grounds, rearing and foraging;
• enhance the ability of nearby areas to recover from disturbances, by exporting larvae and adult organisms to those areas;
• support increased size, abundance and diversity of marine species;
• support economic activities that are compatible with MPA objectives, such as fishing, aquaculture, transport, recreation, tourism and education;
• provide sites for marine research and monitoring; and
• maintain areas with important spiritual or cultural heritage value.

A strategically designed MPA network may enhance the benefits of individual MPAs by scaling benefits up to the bioregional level in order to:

• support coordinated ecosystem-based management of marine resources and activities from different federal, provincial, and territorial government agencies;
• provide larger, more abundant, and diverse species throughout the network area;
• help mitigate climate change impacts by preserving and protecting coastal and marine species, ecosystems and habitats that are most critical for carbon storage;
• protect historical sites and other sites of cultural importance;
• increase quality of life in local communities; and
• provide additional benefits where adjacent national networks of MPAs are linked across borders (for example, Canada/U.S.).

A variety of federal and provincial/territorial MPA designations contribute to MPA networks.^{Footnote 11}