E-Newsletter, No. 3 May 2008

The Pacific North Coast Integrated Management
Area (PNCIMA) includes waters of the Central
Coast, North Coast, and Haida Gwaii on the British
Columbia coast. This is an area of high ecological,
social, and economic importance and encompasses
approximately 88,000 km2. Management to date
has not always been effective at addressing all of
the issues in this region, resulting in the
degradation of certain marine environments and
fisheries.

PNCIMAwatch.ca was created to document the progress of the federal government in taking measurable action by Oceans Day, June 8, to launch a marine planning process in the PNCIMA that will establish a network of marine protected areas and maintain ecosystem health and integrity.

This is the third e-newsletter that PNCIMA Watch has sent to provide regular updates on the progress of the government toward showing true leadership in establishing a marine planning process in the PNCIMA, one that will enable the people who work
and live on this coast to create a vision for the future that includes healthy oceans and healthy communities.

International Statements
As a member of the United Nations Working Group
on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction
(BBNJ), a DFO staff member recently made a
statement on Canada’s behalf at the April 28th,
2008 BBNJ meeting in New York. According to this
statement, “In Canada, integrated oceans
management is fostered by having the users and
stakeholders from various sectors around the same
regional table, contribute to the common foundation
of scientific information, and come to agreed
diagnostics, tools, responsibilities and solutions that
they each in turn implement in their sectors of
activity.”

Although we were extremely pleased to
see reference to the importance of integrated
management as an approach to maintain
biodiversity, we were surprised by the language
implying that this kind of implementation is
occurring throughout Canada as a whole. This is
not yet the case in the PNCIMA. Stakeholders have
not collectively been included in discussions and
are not yet sitting at any regional tables. That said,
we do hear that DFO is planning to hold its first
PNCIMA Stakeholder Forum in the fall and are
eager to have stakeholders more involved in the
nuts and bolts of the process.

Progress Tracker
Last month we reported that DFO, Coastal First
Nations, and the Province of British Columbia were
close to signing a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) agreeing to a governance structure for the
PNCIMA process, but as yet we have no progress
to report on these agreements. Time is running out
if the federal government is going to make
measurable progress and meet at least one
successful milestone before June 8, 2008!

For now, the progress tracker remains at zero, with
no milestones or elements completed, but we are
hopeful that this will change in our June enewsletter,
released in the week following Oceans
Day.

Who We Are
The organizations that created PNCIMA Watch
include the Living Oceans Society, the David
Suzuki Foundation, and the Sierra Club, British
Columbia. Together these groups are working to
inform those who are interested in establishing an
integrated management plan for the PNCIMA that
improves ocean management and establishes a
rigorous conservation plan for the region.
Our organizations are committed to protecting and
restoring healthy marine ecosystems in the
PNCIMA. We believe that the best way to achieve
this outcome is through a collaborative marine
planning process that includes bringing together the
people who work and live on the coast. Only in this
way can we decide how best to use the ocean and
its resources sustainably.