Updated: April 20, 2019.
Welcome to the Cooperator’s web page on the debate over establishing an Eastern Shore Islands Marine Protected Area. Here you will find all of the Cooperator’s stories about MPAs, plus links to a selection of documents, podcasts, and videos from other sources that we believe are helpful in understanding the debate over the proposed Eastern Shore MPA. If you have a document that you think should be included, please email the link to [email protected].
Most recent additions:
Fish Farm Surprise on Eastern Shore, Eastern Shore Cooperator web, July 16, 2019
DFO's Wilkenson on MPAs: Community Management, No Deadline, Eastern Shore Cooperator web, May 12, 2019
Report on the Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest: a report on a flawed proposed Marine Protected Area, March 11, 2019, Stephen Richardson BSc. author.
MPA Opponent Rips "Group of Three," Eastern Shore Cooperator, April 2019
DFO Director General: No "Imposed" MPAs, Eastern Shore Cooperator, April 2019
Tasmania and Nova Scotia Sign MOU on Aquaculture, Eastern Shore Cooperator, March, 2019
Is DFO Really Listening, Tammy DeWolfe, Letter to the Editor, Eastern Shore Cooperator, March, 2019
Quick Overview: The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced on March 22, 2018 that a 2,000 square km area off the Eastern Shore as a new “Area of Interest” (AOI) under the provisions of the Oceans Act Marine Protected Area (MPA) program. The proposal encompasses the waters around the 30km of islands between Clam Harbour and Mushaboom. Since then, a fierce struggle has emerged, birthing a new society, the Association of Eastern Shore Communities Practicing Environment and Historical Access (AESC-PEHA)that opposes going forward with the current MPA process. AESC-PEHA has held several well-attended meetings, and has plastered Highway 7 with large and small NO-MPA signs.The Eastern Shore Fisherman's Protective Association has also come out against the MPA as proposed by DFO.
Articles from the Eastern Shore Cooperator
July, 2019
Fish Farm Surprise on Eastern Shore, Eastern Shore Cooperator web, July 16, 2019
May, 2019
DFO's Wilkinson on MPA: Community Management, No Deadline, Eastern Shore Cooperator web, May 12, 2019,
April, 2019
DFO Director General: No "Imposed" MPAs, Eastern Shore Cooperator, April 2019
MPA Opponent Rips "Group of Three," Eastern Shore Cooperator, April 2019
March, 2019
Tasmania and Nova Scotia Sign MOU on Aquaculture
February 27, 2019
Who's in Charge? Community-Managed MPAs
February 9, 2019
Response from the Whale Sanctuary Project
February 7, 2019
Whales and the MPA?
December 21, 2018
Global Confusion Over MPAs --New study in Science finds MPAs in Europe offer less protection for biological diversity
December, 2018
MPA Struggle Grows More Intense
November, 2018
MPA Proposal Taking on Water
October, 2018
DFO Advisory Committee Meets Amid Growing Opposition
August, 2018
I feel this is going to take my life away”
May, 2018
No Take Zones Threaten Shore Fisheries
April, 2018
Eastern Shore Waters Selected for Federal Protection
October, 2017
Shore Fishermen Worry About Protected Areas
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Areas of Interest (AOI), and other measures—this page is a page of links to general information on MPAs, AOIs, and other ocean conservation activities. Contains links to publications, consultations, and videos, federal legislation and strategies, backgrounders, and more.
Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest (AOI)—the overview page for the Eastern Shore Islands AOI, which includes the nearshore waters surrounding the dense archipelago on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia. The site stretches from Clam Bay near Jeddore Harbour to Barren Island near Liscomb Point and extends approximately 25 km from mainland in the Scotian Shelf bioregion.
"Proposed marine protected areas concern Nova Scotia fishermen," September 22, 2016, CBC. DFO oceans biologist Marty King tells CBC that DFO has already met at least 75 times with fishermen to discuss possible areas for MPAs and their concerns.
DFO One Pager on the Eastern Shore Island MPA, fall 2018
Socio-Economic Profile (Marine Harvest Activities), Eastern Shore Islands AOI, October 2018. [Note: see critiques of this report below at the blog "Marine Protected Areas-Department of Canadian Fisheries Busted!)
Advisory Committee Members and Meetings, December 5, 2018--DFO has set up an Advisory Committee in addition to established consultation processes for First Nations and the Province of Nova Scotia. "The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to serve as a forum to share information, exchange views, and provide advice on MPA design prior to designation."
December update on the Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest (AOI) for Marine Protected Area (MPA) designation.
Member of Parliament Sean Fraser (Central Nova)
Province of Nova Scotia
"'Concern and confusion': Premier slams logic behind marine protected area choices," May 4, 2018, CBC. Premier Stephen McNeil opposes MPAs on the Eastern Shore at a meeting of the National Advisory Panel on Marine Portected Area Standards in Moncton.
Tasmania and Nova Scotia Sign MOU on Aquaculture, Eastern Shore Cooperator, March, 2019
Grassroots Groups, Blogs, and Facebook Groups
APES was formed in 2012 to fight the expansion of Open Pen Finfish Farms along the Eastern Shore. The organization defeated efforts to locate these fish farms.
Opinion: APES Position on the MPA, November, 2018, Eastern Shore Cooperator
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The Association of Eastern Shore Communities Practicing Environment and Historical Access (AESC-PEHA) is a registered society whose members oppose continuing the current DFO consultation on establishing an Eastern Shore Islands MPA
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ESFPA is a non-profit association representing in-shore fishermen from the Eastern Shore. The organization has been meeting with representatives of DFO about the AOI/MPA proposal for more than a year. On October 23, 2018, ESFPA notified DFO that it supported starting the entire MPA consultation process over again, driven by growing concerns about the potential impact of No Take Zones on in-shore fishing.
ESFPA Does Not Support an MPA on the Eastern Shore--Novermber 17, 2018
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Nova Scotia Nature Trust on the Shore--Fiona Brooks, Nova Scotia Nature Trust’s 100 Wild Islands Project Coordinator
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A blog by Stephen Richardson BSc. Richardson does systematic critiques of DFO documents. He sends questions in to DFO, and includes their answers in his critiques.
Report on the Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest: a report on a flawed proposed Marine Protected Area, March 11, 2019, a 15-page overview in which Richardson presents a number of arguments. He concludes "Based on the review of the data presented by DFO, and readily available information, there appears to be no justifiable reason for an MPA on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia." The report is well-documented.
These two posts are critiques of DFO's Socio-Economic Profile (Marine Harvest Activities), Eastern Shore Islands AOI
LFA 32 Economic Comment December 20, 2018
DFO Suggests AOI is Economically Insignificant... December 20, 2018
Comments
Letter of the Week: MPAs are An Insult to Our Community, Andre Gerrard, Chronicle Herald, April 13, 2019
Is DFO Really Listening, Tammy DeWolfe, Letter to the Editor, Eastern Shore Cooperator, March, 2019
Susanna Fuller on "Preserving Livelihoods and Marine Habitats," February 1, 2019
Keep Our Sovereignty: No MPA--letter to the editor from Kevin Clattenberg
"MPA Chill Factor," Tim Keizer, Letter to the Editor, Chronicle Herald, November 15, 2018
Letter to Editor to the Eastern Shore Cooperator, December, 2018, on the potential benefits of MPAs from Robert Tilden, Tangier.
"MPA Chill Factor," Tim Keizer, Letter to the Editor, Chronicle Herald, November 15, 2018
Background Research
Kelp Forests in Our Backyard, by Dal grad student Arieanna Balbar, published in the December, 2018 Eastern Shore Cooperator
On the Benefits of MPAs, by Dal biology professor Dr. Boris Worm, excerpts from his article, "Water Worlds" that was originally published in the November/December 2018 issue of Canadian Geographic.
"IUCN Members Approve 30%-by-2030 Goal for MPAs — Most Ambitious Target So Far for MPA Coverage," an article from the online news service, MPA News, October 27, 2016. The article goes on to point that that there are already calls for setting aside 50% of the world's oceans as MPAs.
