Running head: FEDERAL LEGISLATION AND MARINE LIFE IN BC

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Failure to Properly Administer the Oceans Act, 1996 and The Fisheries Act, 1985 Has Created A
Negative Impact on Marine Life in British Columbia
Capstone Project
Elena Khan
Justice Institute of British Columbia
LAWS-4003-NW005
Bachelor of Law Enforcement

Instructor: Greg Keenan
Advisor: Claire Yeung

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Abstract
The health of coastal waters and its marine life in British Columbia (BC) has been the subject of
concern for many Canadians in recent years. Several researchers have written about how the
government is not overseeing the Oceans Act, 1996 and the Fisheries Act, 1985 to provide
adequate protection for marine life in BC. This research study examined how the government is
overseeing the federal legislation, where is it failing to apply the existing regulations and
policies, and what are the impacts on marine life as a result of it. After reviewing the literature,
four themes were identified as the most fundamental to protecting and safeguarding all marine
life: implementation of marine protected areas, contamination, federal initiatives (recovery
strategy plans), and oceans science. The information gathered was critically evaluated to ensure
the credibility, currency, and validity of the information. After examining the information and
identifying the gaps, several recommendations were made into how the federal government can
improve the health of coastal waters and the life it supports.
Keywords: marine life, coastal waters, legislation, government, accountability, impact,
British Columbia, toxic, noise impact.

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Table of Contents
Background- The Problem ………………………………………………………………………. 4
Research Questions ……………………………………………………………………………….5
Project Rationale ………………………………………………………………………………….5
Literature Search…………………………………………………………………………………..6
Methodology …………………………………………………………………………… 6
JIBC Library EBSCO Search …………………………………………………………… 6
Google Search ……………………………………………………………………………7
Inclusion and Exclusion …………………………………………………………………. 8
Themes ………………………………………………………………………………….. 8
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) …………………………………………………………8
Contamination and Noise Disturbance …………………………………………………. 9
Federal Initiatives (Recovery Strategy Systems and Action Plans) ………………………9
Ocean/ Marine Science ………………………………………………………………… 10
Critical Appraisal ………………………………………………………………………………..10
Implementation of Marine Protected Areas …………………………………………… 10
Contamination and Noise Disturbance ………………………………………………….11
Ocean/ Marine Science ………………………………………………………………….13
Federal Initiatives (Recovery Strategies and Action Plans) …………………………….15
Discussion ……………………………………………………………………………………….16
Recommendations ……………………………………………………………………………….20
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………21
References ……………………………………………………………………………………….22

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Background – The Problem
Canada borders three oceans and has the longest coastline. Marine life is what defines
Canada and especially the Province of British Columbia (BC). However, threats from oil,
shipping traffic, and underwater noise has created a negative impact on marine life in recent
years (Fisheries & Oceans, 2017). The Oceans Act, 1996 and the Fisheries Act, 1985 provide
policies and regulations to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all marine life. However, different
researchers have been questioning the application of the legislation by the federal government as
to whether the government is overseeing that legislation enough to provide adequate protection
for BC marine life (Bailey et al. 2016). British Columbia has an internationally important role in
conservation, because many of the species and ecosystems are found nowhere else in Canada,
and in some cases, nowhere else in the world (British Columbia Ministry of Environment [BC
Environment], 2019). An expert panel investigating the state of Canadian marine biodiversity has
stated, that the government is failing to protect the country’s oceans, leaving marine life
threatened, and the nation’s ocean species at risk (Bangs, 2012).
The Oceans Act provides the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans with a leadership role for
coordinating, developing and implementing the federal network of marine protected areas. The
responsibility for the network is shared between three federal departments: The Fisheries and
Oceans Canada, Parks Canada and the Environment Canada with mandated responsibilities to
establish and manage marine protected areas. Canada’s federal marine protected area network is
comprised of three core programs including: The Oceans Act Marine Protected Areas,
established by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada to protect and conserve important fish and
marine mammal habitat, endangered marine species, unique features and areas of high biological
productivity or biodiversity. Marine Wildlife Areas established by Environment Canada to

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protect and conserve endangered species, and the National Marine Conservation Areas,
established by Parks Canada to protect and conserve representatives of Canada’s cultural marine
species, such as whales (BC Environment, 2019).
Research Question
This research addresses the negative impacts on marine life in British Columbia and how
the federal government applies the legislation when it comes to protecting marine life. The
research statement is “How the Canadian government’s failure to administer the Oceans Act and
the Fisheries Act has created a negative impact on marine life in BC. The subset questions are:
1) Where the government is failing to apply the existing regulations and policies to
provide adequate protection for marine life in BC?
2) What are the impacts on marine life as a result of the government’s actions or
inactions?
Project Rationale
Canada has reasonably adequate legislation for protecting marine life. The Canadian
government has committed to protecting ten percent of its oceans back in 2015 under the United
Nations Agreement (the UN); however, as of today, it has only protected 0.9 percent.
Inconsistent and poor management by regulators is causing lengthy delays in implementing
protective measures. It takes a long time, nothing happens, and within that time, species further
decline. Canada has a legal framework for protecting marine life spelled out in the Oceans Act.
Problems stem from slow action and incomplete recovery measures (Wysong, 2015).
The aim of this research paper is to review how the government administers the
legislation to protect marine life, what the impacts have been so far, and where are the gaps in
terms of connecting the legislation and the current state of marine life. On one hand, the

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Canadian government states that the health of coastal waters and its habitants are fundamental
not only to marine life itself, but also for present and future generations to come. On the other
hand, the government is lacking commitment to adequately safeguard the oceans and its marine
life and is slow in administering the regulations under the Oceans Act and the Fisheries Act. For
the purpose of this project, the federal legislation responsible for protecting marine life had been
reviewed prior to the start of this research, and as a result, it is assumed that the legislation itself
is reasonably adequate. For this reason, the government’s initiatives and commitments to protect
marine life were judged and assessed. The impacts as a result of the government’s actions or
inactions were also evaluated. The scope of this project includes the following:
1. Identify the areas of protection that are covered under the Oceans Act and the Fisheries
Act and where the government is lacking accountability and enforcement;
2. Critically appraise the findings;
3) Determine the gaps in the research;
4) Make recommendations based on the findings.
Literature Search
Search Methodology
This research used the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC) Library EBSCO
Discovery Service (EDS) to collect most academic peer- reviewed articles and Google search
engine to collect newspaper articles for additional information. The JIBC Library EDS was a
good option because it has an advanced search alternative and is simple to use.
JIBC Library EBSCO Search Methodology
To conduct the initial search using JIBC EDS the following keywords were used:
(Marine or Mammal) AND (Legislation or Regulations or Acts or Statutes) AND British

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Columbia AND (Protection or Enforcement or Government Policy). Using these keywords
produced 4,218 hits, which consisted of news articles, peer- reviewed articles, journals, e-books,
and magazines. In order to narrow down the number of hits and get more relevant data, the
search engine was adjusted to search only for scholarly (peer- reviewed) journals with a
publication date set from 2010 to 2019, which resulted in 1,304 hits. The rationale for using time
period selected (2010- 2019) was essential to ensure currency to the research.
The initial selection of the articles was based on their titles, if the title was relevant to the
research topic, it was selected and saved for abstract review. Total of 15 articles were selected.
After reading the abstract and quickly glancing at the content, it was clear that not all articles
were relevant to the research or they appeared to be too biased. As a result, only eight (8) articles
were selected for final review. The rationale was based on the credibility of authors, relevance to
themes, currency and issues addressed. For instance: article with references written by a retired
director general of National Parks Canada would probably be reliable and have credible
information due to the expertise and the author’s status.
Google Search Methodology
To support the research and get more information on the research topic, the Google
search engine was used to locate newspaper articles and reports. The rationale for using this
search engine was because, it was the easiest way to locate the most recent newspaper articles
related to the research topic. The initial search started with the following keyword phrases: the
current state of BC marine life, which produced 24,000 hits. However, even with the 24,000 hits,
it was easy to select the articles worth reviewing, three articles were picked for review. The
second search used the keyword phrases: Canada’s international commitment to MPAs (marine
protected areas), which produced 1,190 hits, by quickly glancing at the titles, two articles were

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selected for review. In the end, a total of five newspaper articles were selected for full review.
Similar to the previous selection tactic, the rationale was based on relevance, currency and issues
addressed.
Inclusion and Exclusion
The JIBC Library EDS search results showed many interesting articles related to BC
marine life, such as the impact of the oil industry or the implications of marine protected areas on
first nations territories. However, these topics are too large and require separate studies, therefore
they were excluded from this research. On the other hand, a case study on contamination was
included for final review, because it addressed issues related to marine life in BC and the content
appeared to be well balanced and not too biased. It also provided evidence and references.
The Google search engine also revealed interesting articles related to legislation and
negative impacts on marine life. However, many of those articles were written by an unknown to
the researcher organizations with biased views and no references, therefore they were excluded
from this research. The articles selected for review were based on the source, its reputation,
relevance, and currency. In order to ensure this research provided the most available up-to-date
findings, it was essential to include data from the newspaper articles, because they have different
objectives and points of view that can supplement the academics, and there is only limited
amount of recent academic sources that would be relevant to the research.
Themes
After reviewing the existing literature relating to the application of the federal legislation
(Oceans Act and Fisheries Act) by the government of Canada, and the impacts it has created on
BC marine life, a number of themes became apparent. The first theme, is the implementation of
marine protected areas (the MPAs) under the Oceans Act. Lopoukhne (2013) has discussed how

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Canada’s international commitment to protect ten percent (10%) of marine life has been lagging
behind, with only 0.9 percent protected as of 2017, thus leaving some endangered species at risk
of extinction. Lopoukhine (2013) further stated that the government should designate a budget
for marine protected areas. Similarly, the Office of the Auditor General of Canada conducted an
annual audit for 2018 and in their audit report, they disclosed how the government had failed to
meet the milestones that were supposed to be met by the end of 2018. For example, the
government had failed to meet the objectives to reduce the toxic substances that are being
discharged by commercial industries into the waters of BC (The Audit Report, 2018).
The second theme, that presented itself, is the issue of contaminants and noise
disturbance. According to Morales- Caselles et al. (2017), a recent study conducted in BC
showed how the government is failing to address the current contamination level in coastal
waters of BC, pursuant to section 41 of the Fisheries Act. There are clear provisions in the
legislation that spell out the regulations that address these issues, and fines to be administered in
cases of violations, however, the government is too lenient on those who violate and is slow to
address the current contaminated sites.
The third theme that emerged from this research is the issue of lack of recovery strategies
and action plans. Lopoukhine (2013) discussed how up-to-date science on the health of Canada’s
oceans is important to establish a clear and accountable baseline for planning and implementing
industrial development and conservation. Due to the lack of ocean science, which is another
theme in this research, it is hard to create any effective recovery strategies or action plans and
ensure its effectiveness. Lopoukhine further stated that without science and relevant studies it is
impossible to initiate and establish any course of action to successfully repair the damage caused
so far.

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And finally, Lopouknine (2013), Shore (2015) and Striegler (2018) have discussed the
issue of lack of ocean science in Canada. They have emphasized how ocean science plays an
integral role in marine life and its wellbeing. Marine science should contribute to knowledge and
provide evidence to decision makers to inform good public policy. Unfortunately, two very real
threats to these functions have materialized in Canada in the past decade. Their research showed
how the government undermines the ocean science and has been neglecting it in recent years
directly by cutting the resources (budget cuts, ocean science libraries) and limiting the scientists
to conduct studies beneficial for protection of marine life.
Critical Appraisal
Implementation of Marine Protected Areas (the MPAs)
According to section 34 of the Oceans Act, the Minister is responsible for developing,
implementing, coordinating and leading the national system of marine protected areas. The key
to the marine protected areas is that it sets out clearly that the overall objective of the MPA is to
conserve nature as a priority, be it marine or terrestrial. The objective must apply to at least 75%
of the MPA, or at the zone within an MPA that is clearly mapped and recognized by legal or
other effective means and have distinct and unambiguous management aims that can be assigned
to a particular protected area category (Oceans Act, 1996).
According to Lopoukhine (2013), there is just not enough information to establish proper
MPAs that would prove to be beneficial to marine life, and the ones that have been established in
the past are in the wrong areas, as they have little effect on marine life protection (Lopoukhine,
2013). MPA is part of the ocean that is legally protected and managed to achieve the long-term
conservation of nature and marine life, however, if those marine protected areas are not

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established in proper areas, it simply makes no sense to create them, if they do not serve as
conservation areas.
The initial purpose of creating MPAs was to improve the population of marine life, such
as whales and provide refuge and protection (Lopoukhine 2013), but if those marine refuges are
located in the areas where whales are not frequented, then it defeats the whole purpose of
creating the MPAs. This raises the question as to whether the government is simply designating
protected areas just because they have committed to it and their goal is to reach that ten percent
by 2020, but what about the quality and management of those protected areas, are they being
managed properly? and do they have proper enforcement support?
Another article by Lake (2018) has reported how the federal government designated one
of the largest areas for marine protected areas under the Fisheries Act in 2017. The protected
areas prohibited all bottom contact fishing and other human activities such as tourism. However,
in 2018 the federal government leased the portion of the protected areas to oil and gas
companies, permitting a 100% offshore drilling, saying that it was perfectly reasonable to drill
for oil in the protected areas. Scientists disagree, saying, what is the point of designating marine
protected areas, then, un-protect them, simply because there is profit to be made. It appears that
politics and profit play a huge part when it comes to the oil industry.
On one hand, Canada’s economy depends on the oil industry, it brings billions of dollars
in revenue to provinces such as Alberta and British Columbia, as well as contributes to
employing over 450,000 people (Lake, 2018). On the other hand, the balance between
maintaining a healthy environment and preventing damage caused by the oil industry is very
hard to achieve. Even if the government keeps the area as marine protected area and prohibits
commercial fishing, boating, and tourism, but allows offshore drilling, it still does not meet even

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the minimum requirement to be considered a marine protected area that is beneficial for
conservation of marine life and especially when it comes to protecting whales, which is one of
the reasons marine protected areas are designated in the first place in BC.
Similar to Forrest (2018) who reported on “double standards” with respect to ocean
science, Lake (2018) also stated that there are clear “double standards” when it comes to abiding
by marine protected area boundaries. For example, the fishery industry was prohibited from
fishing in those protected areas, but the oil industry is allowed to drill. Essentially, the
government will not allow the harvesters to put a hook in the water, but allow seismic testing and
drilling, which has a very negative impact on marine life. As previously stated, seismic testing
produces a very loud underwater noise that affects marine mammal’s navigation routes,
communication, and even deafness. Marine mammals rely on sound to find food and detect
danger and if this important element is interrupted by the noise it can be detrimental to their
survival.
It is understandable that energy makes a vital contribution to people’s quality of life, to
society and to human progress. Finding a balance between economic and environmental
sustainability is not an easy task to manage. Environmental sustainability is the backbone of
wellbeing not only to all of the wildlife including marine life, but also to all of humanity.
Economic sustainability serves pretty much the same goal. It produces goods and services
required for a comfortable standard of living, and thus comes attached with an environmental
cost.
Marine science is fundamental to carry out investigations and collect data for the purpose
of understanding oceans and their living resources and without this, it is impossible to know
where the MPAs would be beneficial. The literature shows how the government beginning in

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2012 had closed the federal science libraries across Canada, and their collections “thrown in the
trash”. Seven of eleven Fisheries and Oceans Canada libraries were closed, according to Duck
(2015, para.2).
If this is the case, it seems as though the government does not prioritize ocean science
and ignores the fact that it is essential for creating environmental programs that are beneficial not
only to marine life, but also to humans. By closing the libraries, scientists do not have the
necessary resources to create future programs. All that intellectual capital is gone now. On the
other hand, according to Miller (2014, March 18) the decision to close the libraries was based on
the value for taxpayers and it was estimated that only five to twelve percent of users were using
those libraries. Miller further added that it is not fair to taxpayers to make them pay for libraries
that so few people actually used (2014, March 18).
From one perspective, one could understand that making taxpayers pay to sustain
something that is not being used to its full potential is not fair, but from another perspective, the
government should have come up with a different solution rather than closing the fundamental
resources that are beneficial to the environment. It is hard to come up with a recommendation at
this point, however, it seems like burning the scientific publications and destroying valuable
information was not a rational solution either.
Contaminants and Disturbance
According to section 34 of the Fisheries Act, the government is responsible for
preventing pollution, including depositing any substance that, if added to any water, would
degrade, alter or form part of a process of degradation and is likely to cause harm to any marine
life or humans. Currently, there are over 14,000 sites in the province of BC that became

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contaminated during the past industrial or commercial activities, which resulted in chemicals or
toxic materials being spilled or deposited on grounds and water (BC Environment, 2019).
The example of the Elk Valley selenium contamination, which was identified in 2014
emphasizes the issue. For decades now, the government of BC has failed to address this selenium
pollution, which affects not only marine life, but also drinking water for humans in that area.
This article is of particular interest because it shows how toxic spills happen and if the
government does not respond in a timely manner, over time, it reaches the point where the
damage is so immense, that no one will know how to fix it (Linnitt, 2018).
Having the recovery strategy plans in place so that when similar incidents occur, the
government can respond and minimize the damage is essential in situations like this. However,
this ties to the lack of oceans science and lack of oceans science resources, such as those libraries
mentioned earlier. Without the libraries, the scientists are limited in what they can do in terms of
creating the recovery strategies and actions plans for incidents like selenium contamination.
Another example is an oil spill off Vancouver’s English Bay in 2015. Presently, the
experts say that the oil spill may be mostly contained; however, a fisheries expert warned the
economic and environmental consequences may be more far- reaching than expected. After the
English Bay oil spill, Pynn (2015) stated that this incident should be a wake-up call for the
government to prioritize the principle of oil spill response, prevention and recovery systems.
Threats of toxic spills happen not only domestically, but also internationally, which can
negatively impact marine life in the coastal waters of BC.
For example, a recent oil spill in Balikpapan Bay in Indonesia, which happened in 2018
can still create devastating impacts on marine life in BC, regardless of the fact that it happened
so far away from Canada. Burning fossil fuels spills create massive volumes of toxins that travels

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across and cause damage around it. The toxins change the CO 2 level in the water, which in turn
alters the seawater chemistry (Hanington, 2018). All marine life including marine plants, marine
mammals and even the smallest of microbes are bathed in that seawater, and if that seawater
does not have the right chemistry level it can have big impacts on all marine life. For example, it
kills oysters and crabs on which the larger mammals depend on for survival (Hanington, 2018).
The issue of noise disturbance has been the subject of concern for many Canadians as
well, as it negatively impacts BC marine life. According to the World Wildlife Fund Canada
[WWF], (2018), underwater noise pollution from shipping traffic is now a persistent issue in the
ports of Vancouver, thus creating an increasing threat to marine mammals that depend on that
area for survival. Currently, there are no comprehensive federal laws or standards to regulate
ocean noise in Canada; however, through the Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Department
of National Defence, Canada has specific guidelines for mitigating ocean noise impacts produced
by underwater seismic surveys and sonar (WWF, 2018).
Marine species use sound to find prey and communicate, sometimes over distances of
hundreds of miles or more, however increasing levels of noise from shipping, oil and gas
exploration, naval solar training, construction, and other activities have begun to drown out the
oceans natural sound. For marine mammals, it results in stress, deafness, avoidance behaviours
that have diminished feeding opportunities, and even death (Shore 2015).
The issue here is the action initiative from the government, there are regulations in place
and it is evident that noise pollution is only increasing in coastal waters of BC, which is
destructive for marine life. However, the government has been slow at addressing these issues
(Shore, 2015). On the other hand, Pynn (2015) stated that the federal government is planning on
focusing on reducing the underwater vessel noise and monitor the population of marine

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mammals. The fact that the government is realizing that this has to be addressed brings a positive
hope, but in actuality, the problem is that it takes a long time to create action plans and execute
them, this is not a matter of months, but rather years, which can be detrimental to certain marine
species.
The Ocean Science
According to section 42 of the Oceans Act, the minister of the Department of Fisheries
and Oceans is responsible to carry out marine scientific studies related to marine life, including
marine mammals. Currently, due to insufficient funds and lack of science libraries, marine
scientists are limited in their abilities to do research, advise and help create programs that would
help reduce the negative impacts on marine life. As discussed earlier, ocean science plays a huge
part in protecting marine life and it appears that the government is overlooking the importance of
it. The gap in science has to be addressed first, which could explain why the making of recovery
strategies and action plans are often years behind or non- existent (Jamieson & Levings, 2001).
Even the Government of Canada, Oceans Research in Canada Alliance [ORCA], (2018)
reported the reasons the ocean science is lagging behind is because there are numerous gaps that
have to be addressed. For example, the vision gap, in contrast to other countries, or other
disciplines in Canada, no comprehensive national strategies or vision currently exist for ocean
science in Canada. The coordination gap, addressing the increasingly complex issues of ocean
science requires enhanced collaboration at the local, regional, national, and international levels,
and across disciplines and sectors.
Despite the many instances of successful collaboration in Canada, coordination in key
areas, such as ocean observation, is lacking. More generally, there is no effective national level
mechanism to coordinate resources and facilitate the sharing of infrastructure and knowledge

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among ocean scientists. The information gap, limitations in access to, and availability and
compatibility of, information made it difficult to assess several categories of ocean science
capacity, for example, the number of active researchers, comprehensive data on research
spending, or inventories of large instruments relevant to ocean science (ORCA, 2018). It appears
the government is well aware of the fact that ocean science has not been properly regulated due
to numerous pitfalls between the legislation, marine science communities, and the right tools to
conduct studies.
Another problem adding to the lack of ocean science is the lack of available resources
such as vessels. Canada has a substantial but aging research fleet, which is fundamental for
successful ocean science. The coast guard operates the Canadian research fleet, which includes
several large oceanographic vessels and a dedicated research icebreaker. Half of these vessels
were built over 25 years ago, and older vessels lead to more breakdowns, higher costs, and
operational days lost to maintenance. Canada also has several world-class systems for ocean
observation and monitoring, but again, challenges exist in achieving geographical coverage and
integration of data management. The importance of having good working research vessels are
essential to marine science, without them, marine science is simply at a standstill. The interesting
fact is that Canada used to be among the top countries in output and impact of ocean science
papers, but in recent years, it has not been the case (Strangway, 2013).
Forrest (2017) also reported how Canada is doing less and less to protect its waters.
Scientists from across Canada are alarmed and concerned about the federal government’s
approach to ocean science and marine life protection. Forrest reported that there is a “double
standard” in the way Canada approaches protected areas, where national parks are off limits to
most human activities, marine protected areas rarely are. Forrest further stated how some

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scientists recommend amending provisions of the Oceans Act to restrict all human activities in
marine protected areas. The government is not properly applying the current regulations and
policies to provide protection, suggesting to amend the legislation does not seem like a feasible
solution to make changes.
Federal Initiatives: Recovery Strategies and Action Plans
According to the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (2018) who is the lead organization
mandated to protect marine mammals in waters under the jurisdiction of Canada pursuant to the
Fisheries Act and the Marine Mammal Regulations. The department is responsible for
developing and implementing policies and programs that are beneficial for the protection of
marine life, including marine mammals. The department has a leadership role in Ocean
Management as outlined in the Oceans Act, which includes the management of species at risk.
According to the Audit Report (2018) conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of
Canada in 2018, the department of fisheries could not demonstrate whether it had implemented
any specific management measures to reduce threats posed by commercial fishing and marine
vessels. The audit report also described how the department of fisheries failed to create recovery
strategies and actions plans for endangered species that are currently listed in the species at risk
list, eleven species have been listed for over a decade.
Chung (2017) reported how Canadian laws like the Oceans Act and the Fisheries Act are
designed to protect marine life and rebuilt their populations are being improperly implemented
by the federal government and therefore the current number of certain species such orcas are
disappearing faster than ever. She further reported how having a piece of legislation does not
mean that the government is going to have an action on the ground and in the water and that is
what ultimately matters.

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ORCA (2018) disclosed a recovery strategy proposition made in 2018 by the Fisheries
and Oceans Canada. The proposed strategy aims to address the key elements such as dietary
requirements, noise traffic, and environmental contaminants. One or more action plans to
implement this recovery strategy plan will be completed within five years of the posting of the
final recovery strategy. This proposition is of particular importance as it shows that the federal
government is making efforts to address the issues, however, the timeline of five years on top of
already delayed progress, seems like a slow process.
Discussion
As evidenced throughout this paper, there are a number of issues that have been
addressed by different researchers related to the federal government and their administration of
the Oceans Act and the Fisheries Act. The following section of this paper discusses the identified
issues in the context of current legislation and the government’s position when it comes to
addressing those issues.
Discussing the research on how implementing marine protected areas may be of benefit
for protecting marine life in the coastal waters of BC; however, there are few factors to consider.
Jamieson and Levings (2001) stated that implementing marine protected areas could be
beneficial for marine life, but there is not enough data currently in BC to positively determine its
success rate. They further stated that the implications of marine protected areas for marine
conservation are both complementary and contradictory.
Renewable resource conservation through protected areas may imply some probable
restriction of human fishing activity but is likely to enhance achievable yields in adjacent
exploited areas. The relative geographic scales of reserves in comparison with exploited areas

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and the nature of the protection provided become important and should be related to the
objectives that are defined with the establishment of each marine protected area.
The same view on MPAs was shared by the BC Marine Protected Area Network Strategy
(2014) implemented in 2014. This report described how marine protected strategy is beneficial
not only for the protection of marine life, but also for social, community and economic certainty
and stability. MPA networks could also contribute to the certainty of access and stability to those
who rely on marine resources for social, cultural, or economic reasons.
The proposed 2014 BC MPA network planning was supposed to play an important role in
fulfilling government mandates that include conservation and protection of natural, historical and
cultural values, sustainable resource management, creating and maintaining opportunities for
commerce, and enhancing economic and social wellness. The government’s key commitments
included: MPAs on an international level, commitment to improve the status of biodiversity by
safeguarding ecosystems and marine species (BC Marine Protected Area Network Strategy,
2014).
On a national level, Canada’s Oceans Act directs multi- agency collaboration and
coordination on broad oceans management. Canada’s Oceans Strategy provides the overall
strategic framework for Canada’s oceans- related programs and policies and commits federal
governments with complementary protected area mandates to identify areas of interest for MPAs
(BC Marine Protected Area Network Strategy, 2014).
Unfortunately, according to the Audit Report conducted by the Office of the Auditor
General of Canada (2018), the federal government failed to properly implement those marine
protected areas. The Audit Report revealed that the government did not consider specifically
marine mammals when establishing the protected areas, in other words, the established areas do

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not provide benefits for marine mammals, such as breeding grounds, feeding grounds or resting.
And finally, implementing marine protected areas is only the first step to improve the quality of
water and marine life, but it is ultimately the location and management of those protected areas
that are essential and imperative to achieve successful results. Additionally, meeting
international standards for MPAs is another threshold that Canada is failing to meet. The United
Nations guided the global marine protected area process by establishing a framework that, if
properly implemented, can help align marine life conservation objectives through consistent,
long term and meaningful protection standards.
The second issue to be discussed is that of toxic contaminants and noise disturbance.
According to the Research Oceans Organization (2019) who is sponsored by the Fisheries and
Oceans Canada, coastal BC is home to the world’s most contaminated marine mammals and
despite this, there has been no integrated coast-wide monitoring of marine pollution in BC. In
recent years the government has implemented new regulations to protect marine mammals and
works to ensure more officers and patrol vessels are available to enforce the rules. However, the
regulations up to now have only been voluntary guidelines, which means they are not
legislatively required commitments, but rather act as stimulants to encourage positive change
(Canada. Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Office of Consumer Affairs, [OCA],
2019).
Another important issue to be discussed is the recovery strategy system. Fisheries and
Oceans Canada is responsible for preparing recovery action plans for marine mammals,
especially the endangered ones like orcas, but it appears that it has not been on a priority list for
the government, in recent years. Although Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for
creating these recovery strategy systems, it is ultimately the government’s responsibility to

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22

ensure that the department has enough funds to initiate and develop those plans. According to
Neil and Hoekstra (2013) as of 2012, there have been significant budget cuts ($100 million in
three years) to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, which could explain why they do not have enough
resources (manpower, equipment, finance) to fulfill their mandated roles as required.
Lastly, the issue of marine science pursuant to section 42 of the Oceans Act. Currently,
despite the fact that many marine science libraries have closed as mentioned earlier, funding for
ocean science in Canadian universities have increased. However, trends in total funding are
unclear due to insufficient data. Total spending by funding agencies in Canada increased from
2002 to 2011, but direct funding for individual research projects has declined since 2008.
Overall, data on ocean science expenditures on government organizations and the private sector
were insufficient to estimate national trends in funding for ocean science (Strangway, 2013).
On the other hand, in 2018, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada released a report
stating that the government has supported the United Nations Sustainable Development
commencing in 2021 by planning to invest $9.5 million to advance the ocean science (Fisheries
and Oceans Canada, 2018). The success of the government’s commitment to support the UN
Sustainable Development will depend on the contributions of many partners, including
Indigenous Peoples and small island developing states in its efforts to strengthen ocean planning
and conservation of marine life (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2018).
After analyzing the significant points in each article and identifying interconnections, it
seems that further research is needed to uncover more on how the government administers laws
and regulations to safeguard marine life and why some areas of discipline are lagging behind.
Academic peer- reviewed articles collected for this research indicate that the government is not
properly addressing certain regulations of the Oceans Act and the Fisheries Act either directly by

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23

undermining the regulations and its effects on marine life, or indirectly by cutting the resources
that are fundamental to safeguard marine environment and its habitants.
The review of newspaper articles indicated the same view, however, they tend to be more
biased in their reporting, as some of them were written or consulted by environmental groups. It
is evident, though, that academic researchers and newspaper journalists do seem to be concerned
about the same issues, such as not enough marine protected areas or lack of recovery strategy
systems or government is not being fully committed to protect and safeguard the coastal waters
of BC and its marine life.
Recommendations
After reviewing and evaluating the literature, and comparing this information to the
current state of marine life in BC and its protection, there are a number of recommendations that
can be made. The following are the proposed recommendations:
1)

Canada should work towards implementing Protected Area Management and Governance

Strategies to build a proper MPA system. These MPAs must meet the standards of protected
areas and should be established in proper areas with the aim to manage and protect. As
previously stated, current MPAs are established in wrong areas where it provides little to no
positive impact. With the proper scientific studies, it should be more evident where the MPAs
should be established to provide maximum protection.
2)

Canada must annually report its achievements and its contribution towards meeting the

global commitment of protecting ten percent of its marine life. If Canada acknowledges the
importance of protecting the coastal waters and life it supports it should be held accountable via
audits and progress reports.

FEDERAL LEGISLATION AND MARINE LIFE IN BC
3)

24

Canada should bring other governments and communities (First Nations) to work towards

an agreement with the objective of protecting and preserving the environment and marine
biodiversity. First Nations people are a huge stakeholder when it comes to the environment and
protected areas. Some rely on hunting and fishing as their livelihood, so it is essential to include
them in decision making, planning and executing actions related to marine protection.
4)

The Canadian government should establish a proper budget and encourage scientists and

policy makers to learn through travels abroad and exchanges with their international colleagues
as a means of building a strong MPA system in Canada. It is evident from the research that
science and research studies play a huge part in creating appropriate programs to safeguard the
coastal waters, however, it is also evident that there is not enough budget for the scientists to
conduct studies.
5)

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, including the Canadian Coast Guard, in collaboration with

Transport Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, should all work together and
implement measures that will protect marine mammals from threats posed by marine vessels.
The departments also should periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the measures.
Conclusion
The research showed that Canada has an elaborate legislation in place to protect its
oceans and marine life. The findings also indicate that it is not that easy when it comes to
safeguarding marine life and their environment. The balance between the needs of humans and
the implementation of protected areas and restriction of human activities is not an easy task to
manage. There are multiple factors that come to play when it comes to protecting marine life.
The federal government has many organizations to manage to ensure each fulfills their duties,
however, at the same time, it is the federal government’s responsibility to ensure those

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25

organizations and agencies have the right tools, equipment and resources to perform the job the
best they can. The legislation has been amended a number of times to better protect marine life,
but lack of enforcement due to budget constraints results in the failed application of legislation
on the part of the government.

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26

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