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Debating the Eastern Shore Islands Marine Protected Area

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 richardbell@easternshorecooperator.ca. Most recent additions: 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 Who's in Charge: Community-Managed MPAs, Eastern Shore Cooperator, February, 201 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.

April 20, 2019

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Parties Working to End Discrimination Against HRM Rural Hospitals

By Richard Bell MLA John Lohr’s question last Thursday in the House of Assembly (about ending the injustice preventing HRM’s three rural hospitals from participating in the federal Student Loan Forgiveness Program for Family Doctors and Nurses) has stirred up interest across the political spectrum.

April 16, 2019

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Cooperator Investigation Reveals Surprise Opening for Recruiting Doctors in Rural HRM

By Richard Bell An investigation by the Cooperator has uncovered a route for making it easier for the three rural hospitals within the boundaries of HRM to recruit doctors and nurses.

April 10, 2019

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A New Path for the Old School

By Karen Bradley The Old School Community Gathering Place in Musquodoboit Harbour has been open for almost ten years now, thanks to a combination of community will, great volunteers, and recently, funding from a number of sources: the federal government, the Province, HRM project grants, and the United Way.

March 28, 2019

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MPA Opponent Rips “Group of Three”

By Richard Bell Opponents of the proposed Eastern Shore Islands Marine Protected Area were out in force again at the latest public meeting of the Association of Eastern Shore Communities Protecting Environment and Historical Access (AESC-PEHA) at the Sheet Harbour Legion on Saturday, March 16.

March 28, 2019

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DFO Director General: No “Imposed” MPAs

By Richard Bell In a recent telephone interview, Jeff MacDonald, the Director General of Oceans Management and Fisheries Policy at DFO in Ottawa, spoke with the Cooperatorabout some of the issues that have come up in the on-going debate over the Eastern Shore Islands Marine Protected Area (ESI MPA).

March 28, 2019

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Surviving Crisis: The Power of Community

The Cooperator is presenting a FREE screening of the powerful documentary, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil on March 2 from 2 pm-3:30 pm at the Musquodoboit Harbour Library. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba lost its supply of cheap oil. Cuban agriculture was based on the familiar system of large farms dependent on oil, pesticides and fertilizers. But without cheap oil, the country was in danger of not being able to feed itself.

March 01, 2019

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Editorial Democracy and Responsiveness

By Richard Bell In any democracy, it’s always a fair question to look at whether the government is being reasonably responsive to requests from the public. Now what is “reasonably responsive” lies in the eye of the beholder—so let’s take a look at whether the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has been “reasonably responsive” in responding to questions about its plans for replacing Eastern Shore District High, which Minister Zack Churchill announced in the spring of 2018.

February 28, 2019

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Who’s in Charge? Community-Managed MPAs

By Richard Bell One of the issues at the heart of the debate over the proposed Eastern Shore Islands MPA (ESIMPA) is who would have the power to change the rules in the future. Under federal law, DFO is in charge of managing MPAs. In its presentations along the Eastern Shore, DFO officials have said that DFO would create an advisory committee with whom DFO would consult closely. But in the end, DFO would be in charge. However, there are alternatives to this top-down model. In fact, among the thousands of MPAs around the world, community-managed MPAs (CM-MPAs) are common. Even a 30-minute Google search of academic research on CM-MPAs shows that not only are CM-MPAs common; within the first two or three paragraphs of research paper after research paper, the scientists note that the stronger community participation is in the management of an MPA, the more likely it is that that MPA will succeed.

February 26, 2019

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Response from the Whale Sanctuary Project

[Editor’s note: In response to the Cooperator’s February 7, 20198 article, “Whales and the MPA?” Whale Sanctuary Project President Lori Marino submitted the following response clarifying questions about the Project’s plans and philosophy.] [For all stories on the MPA, go to Debating the Eastern Shore Islands Marine Protected Area].

February 10, 2019

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