Good news for whales and all of us who love to explore around the Beautiful Bay of Fundy — more sections of this natural treasure could come under federal protection over the next five years!
Maxine Westhead, a Maritime official with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, told CBC Information Morning Fredericton that DFO is meeting with communities and industries groups on the New Brunswick side of the bay to discuss potential new areas for federal protection.
It’s part of the government’s plan to increase protected marine and coastal areas from the current coverage of 1.3 per cent to 5 per cent by 2017 and 10 per cent by 2020.
“The tidal range of the Bay of Fundy is the largest in the world and that drives and shapes the ecosystems you find here,” Westhead said on the radio.
She said federal protections in the bay could be expanded to include areas such as the Quoddy region — an exceptionally productive and diverse area of the bay, home to more than 2,000 species.
As it stands today, only the Musquash Estuary in the Bay of Fundy is designated as a Marine Protected Area. The Conservation Council was a driving force in the decades-long campaign to get the Musquash Estuary protected.
We will do everything we can to ensure more sections of this phenomenal marine environment get the protections they deserve. Westhead told CBC that 15 areas of the bay are being considered and she said anyone who is interested in joining the discussion to contact DFO. We encourage you to contact DFO in support of more MPAs in the Bay of Fundy! Reach Westhead directly at Maxine.Westhead@dfo-mpo.gc.ca.
Here are some more spectacular images of our Bay, taken on the New Brunswick side in the summer of 2015 in a partnership between conservation photographer Nick Hawkins and CCNB.
Help us keep the bay beautiful! We’ve been selected to run a crowdfund campaign through the Small Change Fund and we’re using this opportunity to raise awareness of our work in the Bay of Fundy and improve our capacity to do even more! The deadline to contribute to our campaign has been extended by 23 days. Please support our Marine Conservation program by making a small donation today — $1, $3, $5 — we can make a little bit from you go a long way toward better protections for the Bay of Fundy.