Marine Planning in B.C.

A process to develop a marine plan in B.C. has begun for an area called the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA). This marine planning process is being led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). DFO is working to develop a framework for participation in the planning process in collaboration with the provincial government and First Nations in the region.

The Government of Canada is legally obligated to generate the changes needed to protect and manage our oceans, coasts and estuaries. But the government and First Nations cannot, and should not, do it alone. Marine planning needs the input of coastal communities and other stakeholders, as well as First Nation, provincial and federal governments.

Stakeholder engagement leads to better communication between all parties and results in more sensible outcomes. Stakeholder input can include opinions about how to ensure long-term viability of local fishing operations and local knowledge related to species’ distributions and abundance.

In order to engage more stakeholders in the process, we initiated our Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) project in 2007 encouraging fisherman, residents of the coast and other marine resource users to participate.