Canada released its draft Ocean Noise Strategy. Now what?

After WWF-Canada raised the alarm on dangerous delays to Canada’s Ocean Noise Strategy at the beginning of the year, more than 11,000 people joined our call for #LessNoise and contacted the government. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) listened, finally releasing the draft Strategy in late August for public consultation.

Here’s what was (and wasn’t) included, details on our submission, and how Canada can protect underwater soundscapes while the final Ocean Noise Strategy is developed.

By Kailee Scott, Marine Conservation and Shipping & Will Bulmer, Government Relations

Rapidly increasing anthropogenic (or human-based) noise in marine waters — from industrial activities such as commercial shipping, natural resource exploration and marine construction, among others — is drowning out the historically quiet soundscapes marine species rely on to survive. Many governments are just beginning to acknowledge the issue of underwater noise pollution, and efforts to tame the increasing cacophony from human activities have not kept pace.

The release of Canada’s draft Ocean Noise Strategy — comprising three objectives and 20 recommendations focused on filling knowledge gaps, promoting innovative technologies and strengthening communication and collaboration — is a welcome step forward.

However, the draft lacks clear direction on how and when Canada intends to take action to measurably reduce underwater noise pollution.

We were hoping for specific details on how Canada would:

• Set noise limits for industrial activities, like shipping
• Set regional noise targets for areas that are historically quiet, but rapidly developing, like the Arctic, and areas that are already excessively loud, like the Salish Sea
• Develop and use regulatory measures to enforce these limits and targets

Unfortunately, the draft Strategy currently does not indicate whether these elements are even priorities.

The draft’s release also kicked off a 60-day public consultation period, allowing Canadians to submit feedback and comments to help DFO revise and strengthen the Strategy into a policy document that delivers meaningful protection for marine species and connected soundscapes.

Thank you to everyone who raised their voice for quieter oceans and submitted feedback. Here’s what we sent them.

Our recommendations

In our submission, we made our priorities clear — for the final Strategy to make a difference, we need to see:

• A commitment to establishing and enforcing noise limits for activities that are known to have a negative effect on soundscapes and wildlife. These noise limits should be based on the biological threshold of impacted species as informed by scientific and Indigenous knowledge.
• A commitment to an area-based approach that sets adaptive noise reduction targets in excessively loud regions, such as B.C.’s south coast and the St. Lawrence Seaway, as well as noise limits in still quiet but rapidly developing areas, such as the Arctic and the north coast of B.C.
• The development and implementation of concrete management and regulatory measures that limit noise generating activities, promote quiet areas, and preserve acoustic habitat for marine protected areas and critical habitat for species at risk.
• Incentives for the development and mass adoption of quieter technologies, while implementing operational measures that effectively reduce noise now, including ship slowdowns across protected and conserved ocean areas.
• Coordinated underwater noise mitigation efforts across government and a commitment to enshrining protections in regulation, including the ability to enforce noise limits and reduction targets.

We also included several recommended actions to achieve the desired outcomes laid out in the draft Strategy, including suggestions to:

• Establish a national inter-agency working group on underwater noise research and partnerships.
• Equip Indigenous Guardian programs and community organizations with funding, technology and support.
• Expand existing and establishing new hydrophone networks and acoustic monitoring programs to provide baseline data and track changes in noise levels over time
• Enhance Canada’s role at intergovernmental fora including the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Arctic Council.

While we recognize the value of more research about the impacts of underwater noise on marine life, it should not be a barrier to implementing urgently needed noise management measures.

That’s why throughout our #LessNoise advocacy campaign, and in our submission, we emphasized the importance of Canada applying the precautionary principle to proactively develop and implement adaptive noise management measures using the knowledge and data we have today.

This could include setting ecosystem-based noise limits and reduction targets based on pre-industrial ambient noise levels or biological thresholds of noise sensitive species and adjusting them as we deepen our understanding of immediate and long-term impacts of chronic noise exposure. While we were encouraged to see the precautionary approach included in the draft’s guiding principles, it is noticeably absent in the rest of the Strategy.

We also made sure to include the recommendations outlined in our recent report, Canada’s Ocean Noise Strategy: Legislation and Policy Analysis. These include immediate actions the federal government can take using existing tools such as setting Marine Environmental Quality (MEQ) standards under the Oceans Act to establish noise limits based on biological thresholds, incorporating underwater noise impacts into Species at Risk Act recovery plans, and creating and enforcing noise management objectives in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) management plans.

What’s next?

It’s not over yet. There is significant opportunity to address underwater noise, both through innovation and conservation. We hope to see the federal government apply recommendations from WWF-Canada, Indigenous governments and communities, and other stakeholders to create a strong and enforceable final Strategy and Action Plan. In the months ahead, we will continue to advocate for urgent action to quiet our oceans for whales and other at-risk marine species.

To see our full submission and other underwater noise resources, click here.