Overview of the Saguenay-St.Lawrence Marine Park

1. Overview of the
Saguenay-St.Lawrence Marine Park
Canadian Wildlife Federation
Learning Institut
August 2010
Parcs Canada / M. Loiselle

2. Visées et objectifs de conservation du parc marin
I. Territory
II. What is an MPA?
III. History
IV. Objectives
Symposium sur les AMP au Québec
V. Management issues
Emilien Pelletier et Nadia Ménard
VI. Research
VII. Discussion

3. Marine conservation: a global issue
(Norse,1993)
• Overexploitation of
species
• Alteration of the
physical and chemical
environnment
• …
The creation of marine protected areas is one of
the best tools to deal with these problems.
(Pauly,2002)

4. •Convergence of Great-
Lakes-St.Lawrence,
Saguenay and Atlantic
waters
•Overlap of distribution
limits of many species
•Ecosystems under the
effect of activities within
the hydrographic bassin

5. •High biodiversity of habitats and
species
•Many complementary protected
areas
•Local communities
•Economic activities

6. The Marine Park: a tribute to an
exceptional territory
•1245 km2
• Three main ecosystems
•Multiple-use marine protected area
•Industrial activities (mining, gas and oil
exploration) prohibited
A meeting place
for humans and
the marine
environment

7. The Saguenay-
St.Lawrence
Marine Park
• Abundance of food resulting
from particular oceanographic
conditions
•Prey attract predators
•Tourism industry based on the
beauty of the landscape and on
marine biodiversity

8. What is a Marine Protected
Area?
‘a clearly defined geographical
space, recognized, dedicated and
managed, through legal or other
effective means, to acheive the
long-term conservation of nature
with associated ecosystem
services and cultural values.’
(International Union for
Conservation of Nature)

9. • Open environment
•Protection level varies amongst
and within types of MPAs

10. Three federal programs
to establish MPAs in
Canada
In 2007, Canada ranked
70th out of 228
countries in
establishment of MPAs.

11. Examples of MPAs for marine mammals
Parc marin du Saguenay-Saint-Laurent
Aire de conservation de la baleine
franche de la Baie de Fundy
Aire marine protégée
Le Gully
Sanctuaire marin de
Stellwagen Bank Aire de conservation de la baleine
franche de Roseway Basin
Baie de Habitat essentiel de la baleine
Cape Cod franche de Great South Channel

12. A long history of human presence
• 8000 years
• Exploitation of marine mammals
• Innu and Malécite communities pursue
subsistance activities

13. Tourism
• Tourism began around 1850 with scenic viewing
• Boom in the 1980’s with whale-watching
• Landscapes and whales are the area’s main
attractions
• Total visitation of the Marine Park and
associated sites reached 1 065 687
visits‐persons en 2006

14. The Marine Park:
a brief history of a long story
• 1977: First analysis of the
potential by Parks Canada
• 1987: Workshop on the
proposed Marine Park lead by
Leone Pippard
• 1988: Coalition for the creation • 1990: Canada – Quebec
of the Marine Park; agreement
International Forum for the
• 1998: Officially created
Survival of the Beluga;
St.Lawrence Action Plan • 2002: Regulations on activities
at Sea in the Saguenay-
St.Lawrence Marine Park

15. The key to the establishment
Community mobilization and
sense of emergency

16. «The purpose of this Act is to increase, for the benefit of the
present and future generations, the level of protection of the
ecosystems of a representative portion of the Saguenay River and
the St.Lawrence estuary for conservation purposes, while
encouraging its use for educational, recreational and scientific
purposes.»
Parcs Canada / L. Falardeau

17. An innovative project and “an experiment”
• First MPA in Quebec, on of the first in Canada
• Co management Canada and Québec in the respect of
jurisdications
• Acts optimise exisiting legal tools and respect mandats
of other agencies
• Participatory management structure...in the DNA of an
MPA!

18. Many activities, many players…
Parcs Canada / M.-J. Normandin
Parcs Canada Parcs Canada / M. Loiselle Parcs Canada / M. Loiselle
Parcs Canada / M. Loiselle Parcs Canada / F. Di Domenico Parcs Canada / M.-J. Normandin
Parcs Canada / J.-L. Provencher Parcs Canada / M.-J. Normandin Parcs Canada / J.-L. Provencher

19. A collective challenge!

20. Challenges over time
through the eyes of a
beluga

21. High use habitats of belugas
Source: Sébastien
Lemieux-Lefebvre
(2009)

22. „Biological prejudice‟
• Intensive hunting
• Eradication program
• Protected as of 1979

23. Population not recovered
Stable at 1000
Sources: Hammill et al., 2007;
Gosselin et al., 2007

24. „Chemical prejudice‟
• Deterioration of
aquatic ecosystems
• Human health
issues
• Awareness of this
environment’s
fragility

25. Depositional
area of POPs
Source:Lebeuf and
Nunes, 2005

26. „Physical prejudice‟
• Underwater noise from
navigation
• Collisions
• Modifcation of
hydrographic circulation
• Climat change

27. Maritime Trafic
All motorized boat types
(data source: GREMM and Parks Canada; map C. Chion)

28. „Ecological prejudice‟
The age of climate change
• Increase in temperature
of water coming from
the Atlantic
• Visible reduction in ice
• Modifcation of
hydrographic
circulation?
• Increase of episodes of
toxic algal blooms?

29. State of the Marine Park : 10 years after its
creation
• Progress significant in terms of governance, visitor
experience and scientific research
• Contaminants still present and increase of human
activities exert pressure on ecosystems
• Added value of the Marine Park is significant (prohibition
of gas and oil exploration and exploitation; management
of activities at sea; access to information)

30. The whale issue !
Parcs Canada / J.-L. Provencher

31. Highlights of the Marine Activities
at sea regulation
• A first in Canada
• Recognition (Phénix de
l’Environnement, 2003)
• Permitting system (max. 59; science;
special activities,...)
• Speed limits (25 kts) througout
Marine Park and on observation sites
(0-10 kts)
• General distance of approach (200m),
adapted to COSEWIC status (400 m)
• Time limits on sites
• Minimal altitude (2000 ft)

32. Before…

33. After…?

34. Threats to whales…
• hunting
• entanglement
• pollution
• Habitat loss
• Disturbance
• …

35. Observation activities at sea
• Whale watching in the
St.Lawrence Estuary is
concentrated in the Saguenay-
St.Lawrence Marine Park
• Has become a major economic
motor for the region
• Is one of the most intensive in the
world with 53 of the 59 permits
issued authorized to offer
commercial whale watching from
motorized vessels on a daily
basis.
• Pleasure craft and kayakers also
practice whale-watching

36. On the international scene…
«One of the best regions in the world to
observe whales is the Saguenay
St.Lawrence Marine Park (SSLMP) and the
adjacent proposed marine protected area
(MPA) in Canada…» (Scarpaci et al., 1998)

37. On the international scene…
«Anthropogenic activities (e.g. shipping,
whalewatching and other tourism and
recreation activities) create intense traffic in
this area, which poses cumulative threats
(collisions of vessels with marine
mammals, disruption of feeding/social
activities, exposure to pollutants, etc) to
marine wildlife that utilize this region»
(Scarpaci et al., 1998)

38. Concerns with regards to activties at sea
• The presence of boats on critical mating, feeding and
resting areas;
• Targeting of specific cetacean communities that are
repeatedly sought out for prolonged, often close up
encounters;
• The intensive whale watching of endangered species
Fin whale St. Lawrence Beluga Blue whale
Special concern Threatened Endangered

39. Striving for the sustainability of
whale watching
• Five criteria developed by WDCS for
defining responsible WW

40. Criterion 1: A prime recreational
and educational experience
• Motivates participants to care about
cetaceans and the sea and to contribute to
marine conservation;

41. Criterion 2: An experience that
seeks to reduce the impact on
whales
This includes :
• respecting relevant regulations or codes of
conduct (distances, time spent);
• ensuring vessels are fit for the purpose;
• approaching the animals with extreme care
and attention;

42. Criterion 3: Opportunities for
researchers
• Gather scientific information and
disseminate findings to managers and the
public;

43. Criterion 4: An experience built
around a naturalist or nature
guide
• To provide accurate information, help to
find the whales and describe their
behaviour, and successfully build the bridge
between the urban participant and the sea;

44. Criterion 5: Active community
involvement
• Enabling communities and regions to have a
financial as well as a personal interest in
whale watching and the conservation of
cetaceans and the sea

45. Key message
• Whale watching offers a privileged
platform to enhance awareness of threats
to marine mammals and to the ocean
• Marine Protected Areas generally have an
educational mandate
• Whale watching in a Marine Protected
Area should lead to way to showcase
responsible ww and allow participants to
learn about the marine environment

46. Educational program
• 6 land-based sites established
by park managers (3 federal, 3
provincial)
• Many regional municipal and
NGO-run sites
• 83 % of visitors in the Marine
Park area participated in at
least one interpretation activity
(2005)
• Initiating collaborations with the
whale-watching industry to
promote on-board education

47. Scientific research : an essential tool at the
Marine Park
Scientific knowledge was essential in the establishment of a
protected area in a marine environment
• Collaboration with scientists from universities,
ministries, namely the Department of Fisheries
and Oceans and Environment Canada, and
from non-governmental organisations allowed
to undergo almost a hundred research projects
in various fields
• Provides essential information in decision-
making with regards to observation activities at
sea and fishing
• Scientific knowledge allows to update
interpretation activities, education programs
and information to communities

48. Priorities for research
• Impact of fishing on
populations and ecosystem
processes
• Understanding ecological
processes that sustain
biodiversity
• Monitoring state of the
Marine Park (ex:
contamination;
oceanographic conditions)
and efficiency of
management

49. Habitat studies and prey monitoring
• Acquisition of hydroacoustic and oceanographic data to study
the distribution and abundance of different prey types and
predators
• Priority for the first 3 years given to habitats for species at
risk

50. Study of the influence of variability of pelagic prey on
the maintenance of marine wildlife biodiversity in the
Marine Park
1) Monitor the abundance and the availability of prey and predators (birds and
marine mammals), on a seasonal and yearly scale, as an indicator of the
state of the Marine Park
2) Determine the caracteristics of prey aggregations at sites of whale
aggregations to understand requirements of critical habitats for species at
risk (beluga, blue whale, fin whale)
3) Document special events regarding changes in the distribution and
abundance of whales
4) Couple these observations with oceanographic conditions and properties of
water masses (e.g. CTD profils)
5) Provide information to the community (e.g. education, interpretation)

51. The technology
• Echosounders : emission of sounds
in the water and listening of the
echos reflected off the seafloor and
living organismes
• Scientific echosounders allow to
mesure the abundance, density, size
and behavior of living organismes
• Used throughout the world to
evaluate stock abundance of marine
resources and to study marine
ecosystems
Image : SIMRAD

52. Overview of preliminary results obtained through the
study of prey undertaken by Parks Canada at the
Saguenay-St.Lawrence Marine Park
Photo Parcs Canada / J.-L. Provencher
Echogram (38 kHz) recorded aboard l’Alliance
at the margin of Tadoussac Bay on August 4th
2009. The three humpback whales
photographed at the time of the passage of
the boat were located in the area of the yellow
and red patch (high density of small fish).
Layer of
} fresh water
Layer of
} saltwater
seafloor } Artefact

53. The creation of the Marine Park provides an opportunity to
examine society‟s traditional ways of treating the
environment, and to enhance our attachment to nature and
to experiment other ways of managing the impact of our
activities