What DOES THE GREAT BEAR SEA MARINE PROTECTED AREA (MPA) NETWORK Mean for Fishermen and Coastal Communities?
A Strong Coast Explainer FOR People Who Work on the Water.
There's a lot of noise out there about Marine Protected Areas. Some of it's honest concern. A lot of it is corporate interests and outside agitators stirring the pot and looking to keep things exactly as they are.
So here's a straight, local explanation of what the Great Bear Sea MPA Network is — and what it isn't — from the point of view of people who actually make a living on this coast.
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STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT MARINE PROTECTED AREA (MPA) NETWORKS
FACT #1
This is not a shutdown of the fishery.
The Great Bear Sea MPA Network does not close 30% of the coast to fishing.
In Canada, MPAs are not blanket no-take zones. Closures are limited, targeted, and based on where protection actually helps rebuild habitat and stocks.
The Great Bear Sea MPA Network provides a mosaic of protection, not a blanket no-take zone.
Key aspects of the design include:
  • Tiered Protection: Zones range from strict no-take (no fishing/harvesting) to areas with limited, sustainable fishing, or even community-use-only areas.
  • Critical Habitat Focus: No-take zones are strategically placed in sensitive areas (like glass sponge reefs) where bottom contact by fishing gear is damaging.
  • High Openness to Fishing: The majority (around 85%) of the network remains open to fishing, with management tailored to protect species like salmon, herring, and whales.
  • Collaboration: Developed with First Nations, industry, and government, the network incorporates input to balance conservation with economic needs, reducing impacts on fisheries.

The mpa network protects critical fisheries habitat so the rest of the coast stays fishable. expect greater abundance, not less.
FACT #2
Fishermen were at the mpa network decision table — and boundaries changed because of it.
Commercial fishermen and local communities were actively involved throughout the design of the network, starting from the very beginning.
Flagged problem sites
Pushed back on boundaries
Forced changes to objectives
Got proposed areas CHANGED
  • Flagged problem sites
  • Pushed back on boundaries
  • Forced changes to objectives
  • Got proposed areas removed or reshaped
That input mattered — and it continues to matter as sites move into implementation.
This wasn't a map drawn in Ottawa and dropped on the coast.
FACT #3
The real risk isn't MPAs — it's stock collapse.
No one on the water needs a lecture about this: stocks across the coast are in trouble.
DFO and peer-reviewed science show long-term declines in species fishermen depend on — including herring, salmon, groundfish, abalone, eulachon, and crab.
Doing nothing doesn't protect access.
Doing nothing ends fisheries.
The MPA network is a defensive move to keep the fishery alive, not a theoretical exercise.
The MPA network is designed to:
  • Protect spawning and nursery habitat
  • Rebuild depleted stocks
  • Keep fish on the coast — and fishermen working — over the long haul
This is about keeping eyes on the prize.
FACT #4
Short-term impacts are limited — and smaller than the alternative.
Government analysis estimates that about 8% of current commercial fishing effort could be affected in the short term.
That matters. No one pretends otherwise.
But compare that to the cost of continued decline: lost seasons, emergency closures, licence devaluation, and communities hollowed out when the fish don't come back.
The choice isn't "MPAs or business as usual."
The real choice face is managed rebuilding — versus unmanaged collapse.
FACT #5
MPAs don't replace fisheries management — they back it up.
Fisheries management works species by species. MPAs protect the places those species depend on.
Safeguard spawning and rearing areas
Protect critical habitat where fish reproduce and young fish grow
Protect forage species and food webs
Maintain the ecosystem foundation that supports commercial species
Reduce pressure where stocks are weakest
Give depleted populations space to recover
That's why MPAs are used alongside fisheries management in places with serious fishing industries — not instead of them.
FACT #6
When habitat recovers, fisheries benefit.
Protected areas are where fish live long enough to grow, reproduce, and spill back into surrounding waters.
That means:
  • More fish
  • Bigger fish
  • More stable catches over time
This isn't theory. It's been observed in working fisheries on coasts with conditions similar to BC's.

Healthy habitat is fishing infrastructure — just like docks, processors, and boats.
FACT #7
This plan was built for this coast, by people who live here.
The Great Bear Sea MPA Network wasn't designed to hit an abstract target.
Sites and protection levels were shaped using:
Direct input from people whose livelihoods are on the line
On-the-water experience
Local and Indigenous knowledge
Regional science
The goal is straightforward: keep coastal communities working, fishing, and viable for the next generation.
Bottom line
This isn't about ideology or politics.
It's about keeping fish in the water and people working on the coast.
The Great Bear Sea MPA Network is one tool — not the only one — to make sure BC's fisheries don't quietly disappear while everyone argues.
Strong Coast supports solutions that protect access, livelihoods, and defending the productivity of our coastal waters.