Marine planning brings together the people who work and live on the coast to decide how to use the ocean and its resources. Marine planning sustains our ocean's health and supports the many coastal communities who depend on it.
Now is the time to ensure that our children and grandchildren will have the opportunity to appreciate the incredible abundance of wildlife in B.C.’s waters, to play along unpolluted shores and to fish for a living if they choose.
The Government of Canada could prevent the decline of our oceans’ health by implementing the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Oceans Strategy, a blueprint for sustainable use of the ocean that has already been developed. It is a good strategy that would enable the DFO to manage not just the fish we harvest, but the ocean ecosystem as a whole.
Marine plans should:
- be developed collaboratively and transparently with input from stakeholders
- have measurable and achievable outcomes
- ensure that development and resource use is based on sound conservation principles
- allow for sustainable development that increases communities' long-term health, productivity and economic opportunities.
What is happening with marine planning in B.C.?
The funding for the Oceans Action Plan was made available for two years (April 2005-March 2007), with the notion that in 2007 the federal government would allocate additional funds to keep the work moving. Unfortunately, in the 2007 and 2008 federal budgets, no funds were set aside to continue the work towards Integrated Management.
This is unfortunate for a number of reasons, but mostly because Canada desperately needs to change the way we are managing our oceans and its resources so that we can be sure the B.C. coast can continue to thrive well into the future. Ottawa needs to hear from the people that work and live on the B.C. coast that the ocean and its resources are important to them and that they must be managed sustainably.
Click to find out more about marine planning in B.C. and how you can add your voice to the process.
