Oil and gas don’t mix with conservation, WWF-Canada says
ST. JOHN’S, April 11, 2018 — World Wildlife Fund Canada is deeply concerned after the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board’s (C-NLOPB) call for exploration licences in a vast portion of the Northeast Newfoundland Slope, a marine refuge.
The refuge, which bans bottom-contact fisheries, was created four months ago by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and was counted toward Canada’s international marine protection targets. Oil and gas exploration and development would put wildlife at risk in the refuge, as it is a fish-spawning area with fragile, slow-growing corals that provide habitat for juvenile fish.
Megan Leslie, president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund Canada, says:
“Oil and gas exploration and exploitation is not compatible with ocean conservation, and WWF-Canada is concerned about opening up any kind of protected area to these activities. We are struggling to understand why Fisheries and Oceans Canada would create a refuge for wildlife in December 2017, only for the Newfoundland and Labrador offshore board to call for oil and gas project bids there four months later. Closing marine refuges to fishing activity without restricting other industrial activities like oil and gas makes no sense, and jeopardizes conservation goals. The Northeast Newfoundland Slope was declared a marine refuge to protect fish nurseries and cold-water corals and sponges, which would be put at risk by oil and gas activities.”
About the Northeast Newfoundland Slope
- Created in December 2017, the marine refuge is about 46,800 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of Denmark.
- The C-NLOPB has called for bids for oil and gas projects in 35 per cent of the marine refuge’s area (see map).
- The refuge was created to protect slow-growing, fragile cold-water corals and sponges, which form important structures that provide essential habitat for young fish.
- Bottom-contact fisheries were banned in the refuge to protect the corals and sponges. The Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union made a statement condemning oil and gas bids in the refuge.
About World Wildlife Fund Canada
WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. We work in places that are unique and ecologically important, so that nature, wildlife and people thrive together. Because we are all wildlife. For more information, visit wwf.ca.
For further information
Catharine Tunnacliffe, communications specialist
[email protected], +1 647 624 5279