Gilbert Bay Marine Protected Area

Marine protected areas are being established all over the world due to overfishing and habitat destruction. These areas can protect species during vulnerable stages of their life and act as an insurance against poor management techniques. Our first post describes the recently established marine protected area of Gilbert’s Bay, Labrador. A recent paper by Hu & Wroblewski regarding northern Atlantic cod in Gilbert’s Bay was published in 2009. Liuming Hu is a graduate student in the environmental science program at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dr. Joseph Wroblewski is a research at the Ocean Science Centre in St. John’s, NL and is interested in fisheries oceanography, ocean ecosystems and problems in the fishing industry of Atlantic Canada.

In 2005, the marine protected area of Gilbert’s Bay, Labrador was established to conserve the subpopulation of northern cod. This subpopulation of cod is unique in that it is genetically different from other subpopulations along the eastern coast. Having genetic diversity is important as it allows the population to have a greater chance of adapting and surviving to changes in the environment. The Gilbert’s Bay MPA is not a “no-take” reserve, which means it is divided into zones which have different regulations dependent on the zones importance to the cod subpopulation.

 

Figure 1: Gilbert Bay Cod (Golden Cod) from Gilbert’s Bay, Labrador. (www.gilbertbay.com, 2012)

According to Hu & Wrobelewski, there are three main zones, zone 1, 2 and 3. 

Figure 2: Management zones of the marine protected area in Gilbert’s Bay. (Hu & Wroblewski, 2009)

As seen in Figure 2 above, Zone 1 has the highest level of protection due to it being the main spawning ground for cod. Zone 2 has the second highest restriction to human activity as it is a secondary spawning area and also important feeding ground. Zone 3 is the least restricted and is a feeding ground during summer and autumn. Over the winter, the cod then return to Zone 1. The cod cannot be caught directly, but they are still being caught as a by-catch on gill nets when Atlantic salmon and trout are being fished.

The Gilbert’s Bay MPA is an important part of the community. The community was concerned about the decline of Gilbert’s Bay cod and expressed concern to government authorities to request action be taken.

References: 

Hu, L., & Wroblewski, J. (2009). Conserving a subpopulation of the northern Atlantic cod metapopulation with a marine protected area. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems Volume 19, Issue 2 , 178-193.

Welcome: Gilbert Bay Marine Protected Area. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2012, from Gilbert Bay Marine Protected Area: http://gilbertbay.com/intro.htm