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ABOUT THE OFFSHORE PACIFIC BIOREGION

Photo: Shelton Dupreez, DFO

"In 2009, Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat advice (CSAS SAR - 2009/056) identified 13 regions in Canada’s waters that are defined by their attributes and similarities, and which inform marine planning exercises such as MPA network development. These spatial units are known as bioregions.”

- DFO Map of Bioregions

Our work focuses on the Offshore Pacific Bioregion (OPB) which extends outward from the shelf break and includes the Alaska Gyre, the California Gyre and a transition zone. The bioregion includes a wealth of taxonomic diversity and hosts several Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

Pacific offshore bioregion map

THE MARINE PROTECTED AREAS

Tang.ɢwan · ḥačxʷiqak · Tsig̱is Proposed MPA

The proposed Tang.ɢwan · ḥačxʷiqak · Tsig̱is Proposed MPA contains globally rare features such as seamounts and hydrothermal vents with deepwater species that only exist here. Over 70% of all known seamounts and all known hydrothermal vents in Canada are found here.

"Fisheries and Oceans Canada is working in collaboration with First Nations to advance the designation of the proposed Tang.ɢwan · ḥačxʷiqak · Tsig̱is Proposed Marine Protected Area (MPA) to help safeguard this sensitive deepwater marine environment and its unique seafloor features. The establishment of this new MPA will contribute approximately 0.88 per cent to Canada’s goal to conserve 25 per cent of our ocean by 2025, making it the largest MPA off the Pacific West Coast in Canada.

The MPA covers approximately 133,019 square kilometres and is located on average 150 kilometres off the west coast of Vancouver Island (approximately 95 kilometres at its closest from Vancouver Island) and just over 80 kilometres southwest of Haida Gwaii in the southern portion of the Offshore Pacific Bioregion. The site was first identified as an Area of Interest for the Marine Protected Area (MPA) in 2017 and a marine refuge of 88,000 square kilometres was subsequently created within the Area of Interest with prohibitions to prevent select fishing activities that pose a risk to the conservation objectives of the area. The Offshore Pacific marine refuge and its associated protection measures will remain in place and provide interim protection to the area while regulations for the new MPA are developed."

- Fisheries and Oceans Canada

What does Tang.ɢwan · ḥačxʷiqak · Tsig̱is mean?

Tang.ɢwan
A Haida word meaning "deep ocean"

Pronounced Tung-Gwun, where G is a voiced uvular stop

ḥačxʷiqak

A Nuu-chah-nulth and Pacheedaht word meaning "deepest part of the ocean" Pronounced huch/khwi/kuk

Tsig̱is – 

A Quatsino word referring to a "monster of the deep"

Pronounced tsee-geese

Located offshore Xaayda gwaay (Haida Gwaii), the SK̲-B MPA comprises 6,103 km2 including the SG̲áan K̲ínghlas-Bowie, Hodgkins, and Davidson seamounts.  The SG̲áan K̲ínghlas-Bowie Seamount is a colossal underwater mountain that rises from 3,000m depth to just 24m below the surface of the Pacific Oceana, and supports a unique and diverse ecosystem that includes intertidal, shallow coastal species, open ocean, and deep water species. 

SG̲áan K̲ínghlas-Bowie Seamount MPA is cooperatively manage and planned between the Haida Nation, as represented by the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN), and the Government of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed in April 2007. One year later, the area was officially designated as a Marine Protected Area under Canada’s Oceans Act. 

The SG̲áan K̲ínghlas-Bowie Seamount MPA logo was designed by Haida artist Wayne Edenshaw. The SG̲áan K̲ínghlas seamount is a supernatural being in Haida culture. The logo depicts the seamount as a Waaxaas, a giant sea monster that is half wolf and half killer whale and has the ability to move on both land and in the sea. Waaxaas once preyed on Haida villages and are renowned in Haida culture for their ferocity. This supernatural being was selected because of the potential danger and power of the offshore underwater volcano. Kyaanuu (cod) and seaweed fronds represent the biological abundance of the seamount, and the nutrient-rich waters surrounding the seamount are represented by a green backdrop to the Waaxaas.” 

- Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Tang.ɢwan · ḥačxʷiqak · Tsig̱is Proposed MPA

The EHV MPA is located on the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge at a depth of 2,250 m, 250 km southwest of Vancouver Island. The MPA comprises 97 km2 of seafloor containing 5 hydrothermal vent fields. Hydrothermal vents at Endeavour were discovered in 1982, amking them the first vents discovered in Canada. In 2003, the EHV MPA became the first established MPA in Canada. The EHV MPA will be within the limits of the proposed Tang.ɢ̲wan · ḥačxʷiqak · Tsig̱is MPA. 

 

The EHV MPA is part of the first real-time underwater observatory monitoring the geophysical, chemical and biological processes through Ocean Networks Canada’s cable observatory NEPTUNE.

Endeavour hydrothermal vents
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