TAKE ACTION NOW to protect Marine Protected Areas

Marine Protected Areas are at RISK – TAKE ACTION NOW. The Liberal government is planning to allow oil and gas exploration in 80% of a proposed Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Laurentian Channel —an ecological treasure where the Gulf of St. Lawrence meets the Atlantic Ocean, and a critical migration route for endangered species like the blue whale and leatherback turtle.” Not only does this crass action put this Marine Protected Area at risk, the precedent puts all Marine Protected Areas at risk.”

Worse, if possible it is being done when the possibilities of a discovery are slight: “What’s more, Natural Resources Canada says there’s probably not much oil to find there — which means Big Oil who lobbied for these exploration rights, wants to throw the abundant life of the Channel into jeopardy for scraps.”

“The Laurentian Channel area off the southwest coast of Newfoundland was identified by Fisheries and Oceans Canada as an Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area. The proposed Marine Protection Area (MPA) seeks to replenish depleting fish stocks, and protect critical migration routes for marine mammals, including the endangered Northern wolffish and leatherback sea turtle. Thousands of other species use this rich ecological playground to spawn, nurse, and feed.[5]

The proposal to protect the Laurentian Channel is a welcomed decision — except it comes with a giant, backwards, and risky caveat: up to 80% of the proposed area will be subject to oil and gas exploration.  

Oil and gas exploration poses a huge threat to marine life and should be banned from any protected ocean area.

The Ministry says the proposed oil and gas exploration would be restricted, but oil and gas activities are never compatible with protection. Exploration threatens marine life with noise pollution, habitat disturbance, and physical injury from seismic blasting. [6]

Companies are banned from drilling and exploring in national parks on land — it should be a no-brainer to ban the same activities in our vulnerable ocean areas.[7] Protection should mean protection.”

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