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Pacific north coast integrated management area plan

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

The Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) is one of five national Large Ocean Management Areas identified in Canada’s 2005 Oceans Action Plan. The PNCIMA plan is the product of a collaborative process led through an oceans governance agreement between the federal, provincial and First Nations governments, and contributed to by a diverse group of organizations, stakeholders and interested parties. The plan is high level and strategic, and provides direction on and commitment to integrated, ecosystem-based and adaptive management of marine activities and resources in the planning area as opposed to detailed operational direction for management.

The plan outlines a framework for ecosystembased management (EBM) for PNCIMA that includes assumptions, principles, goals, objectives and strategies. This EBM framework has been developed to be broadly applicable to managers, decision-makers, regulators, community members and resource users alike, as federal, provincial and First Nations governments, along with stakeholders, move together towards a more holistic and integrated approach to ocean use in the planning area.

PNCIMA’s EBM goals are interconnected and cannot be taken as separate from one another. The purpose of the PNCIMA EBM framework is to achieve:

  • integrity of the marine ecosystems in PNCIMA, primarily with respect to their structure, function and resilience
  • human well-being supported through societal, economic, spiritual and cultural connections to marine ecosystems in PNCIMA
  • collaborative, effective, transparent and integrated governance, management and public engagement
  • improved understanding of complex marine ecosystems and changing marine environments

The plan also provides an information base and a number of management tools that can be used by other parties to facilitate the application of EBM at a variety of scales in PNCIMA.

Five priorities are identified for short-term implementation of the plan:

  • governance arrangements for implementation
  • marine protected area network planning
  • monitoring and adaptive management
  • integrated economic opportunities
  • tools to support plan implementation

Implementation is the shared responsibility of all signatories to the planning process and will be undertaken within existing programs and resources, where possible.

To address plan performance monitoring and evaluation, indicators will be developed to monitor and evaluate plan outcomes, and comprehensive reviews will be undertaken to assess progress in achieving the EBM goals and objectives. Findings from the performance evaluation, along with emerging management needs and priorities, will be considered and, where appropriate, incorporated into implementation so that the plan reflects changing circumstances and conditions as they arise.

The PNCIMA data collection phase occurred between 2007-2012. The data, statistics and trends referenced in the document reflect the best information available during that timeframe.

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