A 2 km² area has been proposed for designation as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) under Canada’s Oceans Act. It was announced as an Area of Interest in October, 2002.
The Eastport Peninsula is located in Bonavista Bay on the northeast coast of the province, approximately 300 km from St. John's. The people of the Eastport Peninsula have relied on the rich and productive waters for their subsistence.
The 1992 moratorium on Atlantic cod resulted in more fishing pressure on the lobster stock. To protect the lobster fishery and ensure a sustainable resource, the Eastport Peninsula lobster fish harvesters formed the Eastport Peninsula Lobster Protection Committee (EPLPC) in 1995 to implement a lobster conservation strategy for the Eastport Peninsula.
The EPLPC consulted with fishers from adjacent communities on the protection of the area lobster fishery, and approached DFO to establish a 400 km² lobster management area around the Peninsula – the Eastport Lobster Management Area. The EPLPC also requested DFO close two sites within the management area – Round Island and Duck Islands – to all commercial and recreational fishing.
In 1997, DFO and Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) began studying how lobster stocks responded in the absence of a directed fishery. Scientific evidence suggests that restricting harvesting and protecting habitat has sustained and perhaps enhanced the local lobster fishery.
The EPLPC approached DFO in 1999 to establish a Marine Protected Area (MPA) under the Oceans Act in the Eastport area to complement and further ongoing lobster conservation and protection work.
The Eastport project has provided DFO with an opportunity to test various aspects of the MPA Program, such as mechanisms for working with coastal communities in the conservation and protection of commercial and non-commercial fisheries resources and their habitats.
The MPA creates a refuge for lobster and protects the productive lobster habitat in and around Duck Island and Round Island. The regulations contain a general prohibition against the disturbance, damage, destruction or removal of any living organism or any part of its habitat within the MPA. No commercial or recreational fishing will be permitted. The regulations prohibit activities can potentially harm the MPA. The regulations will permit certain activities that do not compromise the conservation goals.
In 2004, the approach taken in Eastport to conduct lobster conservation research was replicated in five other areas around Newfoundland and Labrador, including the proposed MPA for Leading Tickles, Notre Dame Bay.
