The St. Lawrence Estuary Marine Protected Area project 

Canada’s Oceans Act, which has been in force since 1997, calls for the creation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs): areas with heightened protection for marine species and habitats. The MPA is a flexible concept that can be adapted to local realities. As a result, residents of an area where an MPA is to be established are invited to give their opinion. MPAs are managed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and are intended to be valuable tools for coastal communities that depend on the health and productivity of the oceans.

The St. Lawrence Estuary Marine Protected Area: a new tool for marine mammal protection

High concentrations of prey found in the Estuary, such as krill and capelin, make it a major feeding ground for many marine mammals. A dozen different marine mammal species may be regularly or occasionally observed in the Estuary, most of them on a seasonal basis. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has classified nearly half of these as endangered species. Furthermore, the Estuary is an essential habitat for the beluga whale and the harbour seal, two species that spend their entire lives here. Consequently, the projected MPA territory—with a surface area of approximately 6000 km²—covers the summer range of the beluga whale, most of the sites frequented by the Estuary’s harbour seal population, as well as several major blue whale feeding grounds.

The area set aside coincides with a zone where pressure on marine mammals is greatest in the St. Lawrence. The broad diversity and high density of marine mammal species encountered, combined with the proximity of observation sites and relatively calm seas, make the St. Lawrence Estuary one of the best places in the world to observe marine mammals. Numerous human activities carried out in the Estuary, or further upstream, may represent substantial threats to marine mammals.

The purpose of the MPA is not to abolish recreational and commercial activities. On the contrary, its purpose is to favour the use of the Estuary in a sustainable manner. The MPA will lead to measures being adopted for the protection of marine mammals and encourage research that corresponds to management and protection requirements. Fisheries and Oceans Canada proposes to harmonize its actions with those of the Saguenay—St. Lawrence Marine Park.

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On Fisheries and Oceans Canada website :
The St. Lawrence Estuary Marine Protected Area Project

On Whales Online :
Marine Protected Areas
A Marine Park in Québec

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