Key Issues

Industrial and economic development can put pressure on biological and physical ecosystem components and can create conflict among users of ocean space. Sustainable use of ocean resources in the Gulf of St. Lawrence requires an understanding of the structure and function of the Gulf of St. Lawrence ecosystem combined with an understanding of the interaction of the wide range of human systems and activities.

The major issues to be addressed at the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence marine ecosystem level are based on current knowledge of major human activities in the area and their related environmental stressors and associated significance at the ecosystem level (i.e. their implications for ecosystem integrity, structure and functioning). Issues dealing with habitat destruction, loss of biodiversity, contamination, eutrophication and climate change have been considered amongst the most relevant issues to the regional and/or local scale.