West Isles Marine Park Phase 1 Report

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THE WEST ISLES FEASIBILITY STUDY

A Study to Assess the Fea s i b i l i t yo f Estab l i sh ing a Nat iona l Marine Parkin the West I s l e s Area of the Bay o f Fundy,

New Brunswick

PHASE I REPORT

PARKS CANADA/TOURISM NEW BRUNSWICKDecember, 1985


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FOREWORDThe west I s l e s F e a s i b i l it y Study was i n i t i a t e d by the fede ra l Minis te r o f the Environment r espons ib le for Parks Canada and the New Brunswick M in i st e r o f Tourism in November, 1983. The purpose of the s tudy i s to asses s the f e a s i b i l i t y of es tab l i sh ing a nat ional marine park in the west I s l e s area o f the Bay o f Fundy.The West I s le s F e a s i b il it y Study i s being conducted in t h ree phases . Phase I i s an assessment of the t echnica l f eas i -b i l i t y o f es tab l i sh ing a nat ional marine park in the west I s l e s area , from the perspec t ive o f Parks Canada and TourismNew Brunswick. I f Minis te r s dec ide to proceed with thes tudy , Phase I I would involve ex t ens iv e p u b l ic consu l t a t ion to provide the loca l pub l ic with the o p p o r tu n i ty t o becomed i r e c t l y involved in t h e p ro ce s s to decide whether or not the West I s l e s proposa l i s f eas i b l e . The purpose ofPhase I I I would be to a n al ys e t h e r e su l t s o f the twopreceed ing phases , and to prepare a f i na l repor t based onthe f ind ings , with recommendations for a fu tu re course o f ac t ion . This r e p o r t p re se n ts the f indings o f Phase I o f the s tudy. In the process o f complet ing Phase I , nine ind iv idua l s tud i e s were conducted to i n v e s ti g a te s p e c i f ic a s p ec t s o f the f e a s ib i l i t y assessment , a l l o f which are summarized in the Phase I repor t . These nine s tudies i nc lu d e t he fo l lowing:

1. Recommended Resource Management Guide l ines 2. I n s t i t u t i o n a l and Adminis t ra t ive Arrangements3. Optional V i s i t o r Use Concepts 4. Transpor ta t ion Analys i s 5. Tour ism Development Plan 6. Socio-Economic Impact Study7. His to r i ca l /Archaeo log ica l Concerns and

Oppo r tun i ti e s 8. Land Ownership Inventory 9. Analys i s and Summary o f P u b li c Comments

Copies of the above r e p o r t s are ava i lab le upon r eques t fromthe fol lowing addresses : Department of Tourism, Parks Canada

Recrea t ion and Heri tage* 10 Well ing ton S t r e e t P.O. Box 12345 Hul l , QuebecFreder i c ton , New Brunswick K A GE3B 5C3 Phone: (819) 994-2696Phone: ( 506) 453 -2624* Throughout t h i s repor t the former titl Tourism New B ru nswic k h as b ee n used. The c or r e c t t i t l e i s now the Department of Tourism, Recrea t ion and Heri tage .


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

a INTRODUCTION. . . . . 1 1.1 The National Marine Parks In i t i a t i ve

in Canada 11.2 The Role of a National Marine P ark in th e

West s l e s 2

2.0 THE WEST ISLES FEASIBILITY STUDY: ITS ORIGINND PURPOSE 62.1 The Orig ina l p i l o t Study . . 62.2 Study Methodology . . 8

3.0 THE WEST ISLES STUDY AREA AND PROPOSED PARKBOUNDARY OPT IONS . . 10 3.1 The Reg iona l Context 10 3.2 The Natural Marine Heri tage 12

3.2 .1 Speci f i c Resource Features Recommended for Inclus ion Within the Proposed Park 19

3.3 The Cultural Marine e r i t a g ~ 213.4 Proposed Park Boundar ies 27

4.0 A SUMMARY OF PUBLIC COMMENTS . . . . 314.1 Major I s sues and Concerns 32

5.0 RESOURCE PROTECTION AND CONSERVATION 375.1 Commercial Resource Harves t ing 37

5.1 .1 General Pr inc ip le s . 38 5 .1 .2 The Herring Fishery 39 5 .1 .3 The Groundfish Fishery 43

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5 .1 .4 The Sca l lop Fishery .................5 .1 .5 The Lobs ter Fishery .......... .......5 .1 .6 The Clam Fi s h e ry .5 .1 .7 Aquacul ture .5 .1 .8 Po t en t i a l New Fisher ies

5 .2 Water Quality .5.3 Local Non-Commercial Resource Harvest ing . 5 .4 -Commercial Shipp ing 5.5 Sport Hunting ................

6.0 VISITOR UNDERSTANDING, APPRECIATION ANDENJOYMENT6.1 V is i to r Use and Park Development Options

Option 1 ..................................Option 2 . Option 3 .

6.2 Approximate Costs of Park Development,Opera t ions and 'Maintenance

6.3 Estimated Numbers of Park V is i to r s 6.4 Management of Park V is i to r A c t iv i t i e s

6.4 .1 Recrea t ional Boating 6 .4 .2 Recrea t ional SCUBA Diving 6 .4 .3 Recrea t ional Fish ing 6 .4 .4 Placement of Park Fa c i l i t i e s 6 .4 .5 Marine Mammal Observat ion

7.0 COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT 7.1 The Need for Cooperat ive Management ........7.2 The Iden t i f i c a t i on and Role o f Lead

genc s .7.3 Impact on the Exis t ing Admin i s t r a t ive

Reg im

Page

44 46 47 48 50 50 53 54 55

57 57 59 6164

66 66 76 76 79 8182 83

85 85

86

89

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7.4 Alte rna t ive Approaches to Cooperat ive anagement 907.5 A Proposed Cooperat ive Management System 92

8.0 REGION L INTEGRATION 998.1 Economic Impacts . 100 8.2 Social Impacts 108 8.3 Impacts on Transpor t a t ion 115

8.3.1 Letete /Deer I s l and Ferry System . 116 8.3 .2 Road System in the west I s l e s A r e a . . 117 8.3 .3 Is land Bridge Option 118

9.0 REGION L TOURISM DEVELOPMENT 120 9.1 Goal s or Tourism Development 1219.2 The Tourism Development Plan 122

9 .2 .1 T ou ris t Att rac t ions and Services 124 9.2 .1 .1 Proposed Att rac t ions 124 9 . 2 . 1 . 2 Support Services and

In f r a s t ruc tu re 129 9 . 2 . 1 . 3 Educat ion and Train ing

Requirements 135

10.0 ASSESSMENT OF FEASIBILITy . 137 10.1 Assessment of Feas ib i l i t y Cri te r i a 137

11.0 CONCLUSION ND RECOMMEND TIONS 154

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 156

APPENDIX 1: Proposed Park Purpose and Object ives 162 APPENDIX 2: A Def in i t ion of Conservat ion 166 APPENDIX 3: Federal and Provinc ia l Legis la t ion

Per t i nen t to the Adminis t ra t ion andManagement of National Marine Parks 168

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Li s t o f Figures

Page1 Marine Natura l Areas o f Canadian Sign i f icance

(NACS) in the Bay of Fundy area . . 72 Reg ional ontext 113 West I s l e s Study Area . . . . . 134 Oceanography 155 Marine and s h or ebi rd n e s ti n g and feeding a reas . 176 arine m mm ls 18 7 Si t e s of cu l t u ra l and h i s to r i c i n te r e s t 238 Proposed nat ional marine park boundary 289 Vi s i t o r Use - Option 1 . . 60

10 Vi s i t o r Use - Option 2 6211 Vi s i t o r Use - Option 3 . . 6512 Optional organ iza t iona l s t ruc t u res for

coopera t ive management . 96

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 The National Marine Parks I n i t i a t i v e in Canada

The West I s l e s Feas ib i l i t y Study i s the f i r s t s tudy o f i t skind conducted in Canada with the prime objec t ive ofdetermining the f e a s ib i l i t y of es tab l i sh ing a na t iona lmarine park . The West I s l e s area of the Bay of Fundy in NewBrunswick was se lec ted in 1983 by the governments of Canadaand New Brunswick as the f i r s t proposal under Parks Canada snew i n i t i a t i ve to es t ab l i sh a system of na t iona l marineparks represent ing the marine na tu ra l regions o f Canada.Accordingly, t h i s s tudy i s being conducted in conjunct ionwith the formulat ion of the d ra f t Nat ional Marine ParksPol icy to provide the prac t i ca l exper ience necessary toa s s i s t in the development of sound and r e a l i s t i c po l i cyguidel ines .

This repor t p resen t s the f indings o f Phase I. o f the WestI s l e s F e a s i b i l i t y Study, the j o in t assessment by ParksCanada and Tourism New Brunswick of a l l the in format ioncons idered necessary to determine the t echnica l f ea s i b i l i t yo f the West I s l e s proposal from the perspec t ive o f bothgovernments . The u l t ima te assessment of f e a s i b i l i t yhowever, can only be determined through consul ta t ion withthe publ ic pa r t i cu l a r ly those in the West I s l e s andnegot ia t ion with o ther concerned government agenc ies . Theinformat ion and recommendations conta ined in t h i s r e por twould form the bas i s fo r any fur the r pub l ic consul ta t ion .


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1.2 The Role of a National Marine Park in the west I s l e s

The West I s l e s area has an ext remely d iverse and uniqueassemblage of na tu ra l and cu l t u ra l marine resource fea tu resand va lues tha t warrant protec t ion and conserva t ion . Thisf i r s t phase of the s tudy has determined t ha t thees tab l i shment o f a nat ional marine park in the West I s l e s isf e a s ib l e from a t echnica l p oin t of view and could besuccess fu l ly managed to achieve i t s purpose of p ro tec t ingand conserving t h i s marine environment for a l l t ime and forthe unders tanding apprec ia t ion and enjoyment by present andfu tu re Canadians and othe r v i s i t o r s .

The f ac t t ha t the West I s l e s st ll has a high l eve l ofenvi ronmenta l qua l i t y i s a tes tament to the ca re fu l use byr e s i den t s . The fu ture w i l l bring changes and nowhere i st h i s change l i ke ly to happen more quickly than in thecoas ta l and marine environments . Pas t i nve s t i ga t ion o f thet i d a l power po te n t i a l in Passamaquoddy Bay and the morerecen t proposals to develop an o i l r e f ine ry or a coal f i r edgenera t ing s t a t ion in Eas tpor t are ind ica t ive o f the kindso f major changes which could conceivably occur in years tocorne.

Pro tec ted s t a tus as a nat ional marine park under theNat ional Parks Act would prec lude the e x t r a c t ion of non-renewable resources . Recogni t ion o f the West I s l e s as amarine Natura l Area of Canadian Signi f icance has al readyplayed a ro le in inf luencing the dec i s ion not to proceedwith the Eas tpor t o i l r e f ine ry proposal . Once an area hassuch pro t e c t ion ongoing and comprehensive management i sr equ i red to ensure the long term conservat ion of thosel i v ing and renewable resources within park boundar ies . In


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the context o f marine park management, conservat ion can bedef ined as the management of human use of renewable na tura lresources so tha t they may cont inue to yie ld the grea t e s tsus ta inable bene f i t to present genera t ions whi le main ta in ingt h e i r po t en t i a l to meet the needs and a s p i r a t i ons of fu turegenera t ions see Appendix 2 for a more complete d e f i n i t i o n ) .Such human use could include commercial f i s h ing , s c i e n t i f i cresea rch and rec rea t iona l ac t iv i ty .

The commercial f i she r i e s in Canada are c ur r e n t ly managed inaccordance with t h i s conservat ion pr inc ip le and arethe re fore cons idered a compatable a c t i v i t y with in na t iona lmarine parks , provided t ha t the purpose and objec t ives o fthe park could be achieved. The proposal for a na t iona lmarine park in the West I s l e s , descr ibed here in , recognizesthe cu l t u ra l and economic value o f the commercial f i s he ry .The f i she ry would cont inue in a na t iona l marine park andwould cont inue to be managed by the Department of Fishe r ie sand Oceans DFO). The Province of New Brunswick hasmaintained the pos i t i on throughout t h i s s tudy t ha t thees tab l i shment of a na t iona l marine park would not have anegat ive impact on the commercial f i she ry . The recommendedresource management gu ide l ines and the op t iona l v i s i t o r useconcepts descr ibed in t h i s repor t have been prepared in sucha way as to e l imina te or minimize any poten t i a l in te r fe rencewith the commercial f i she ry .

The f ea s i b i l i t y s tudy has also proposed a coopera t iveapproach to marine park management. This would be necessaryto coordinate e f f ec t ive ly the management e f f o r t s o f FO andthe federa l Department of Transport DOT) with those ofParks Canada and o ther government agencies . This proposala l s o incorpora tes a consu l t a t ion committee to enabler e p re s e n ta t i ve s o f the loca l publ ic to a c t ive ly pa r t i c ipa t ein the park planning and management process .


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Accordingly, the s ix pr imary ob jec t ives for a nat ionalmarine park in the west I s l e s would be:

1. To pro t ec t and conserve the product ive and diversemarine ecosystem of the West I s l e s ar e p re s e n ta t i ve example o f the Bay o f Fundy MarineRegion, recognizing t ha t the area suppor ts a v iab lecommercial f i she ry of s i gn i f i can t importance to theloca l and prov inc ia l economies and which wouldcont inue to opera te wi th in the proposed na t iona lmarine park .

2. To pro tec t and conserve the reg iona l ly s i gn i f i can tcu l t u ra l her i tage resources assoc ia t ed with theoccupat ion by preh i s t o r i c and h i s to r i c peoples andfea tures represent ing ea r ly European t r a d ingf i sh i ng navigat ion and sh ipbu i ld ing ac t i v i t i e s .

3. To provide oppor tuni t i e s for the unders tandingapprec ia t ion and enjoyment of the na tu ra l andcu l tu ra l her i tage resources and processesassoc ia t ed with the unique na tu ra l and cu l t u ra lmosaic of the West I s l e s .

4. To in tegra te and coordinate the protec t ion andmanagement of the proposed na t iona l marine park inthe west I s l e s with the surrounding region in amanner tha t provides pos i t i ve soc ia l economic, andenvironmental bene f i t s .

5. To provide oppor tuni t i e s for the pub l ic o f the WestI s l e s area to be involved in the planning andmanagement of the proposed na t iona l marine park .


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2.0 WEST ISLES FEASIBILITY STUDY: ITS ORIGIN ND PURPOSE

2.1 The Orig ina l p i l o t Study

In 1975, the Marine Studies Sect ion o f the Nat iona l ParksSystems Divis ion , Parks Canada, ca r r ied ou t a pre l iminarysurvey of the Bay o f Fundy Marine Region to iden t i fy areaso f i n t e r e s t tha t may have poten t i a l for nat ional marine parks t a t u s . This s tudy iden t i f i ed four marine Natura l Areas ofCanadian Sign i f i cance , the West I s l e s and the Grand Mananarch ipe lagos in New Brunswick, and B r i e r Is land andEvangel ine Beach in Nova Scot ia Figure 1 . Fur ther s tudiesconducted from 1976 to 1978 dete rmined, through comparat iveanalyses of the marine and coas ta l resources o f these a reas ,t ha t the West I s l e s had the highest overa l l po t en t i a l forna t iona l marine park s t a t u s .

Consequent ly , in 1978 Parks Canada approached Tourism NewBrunswick to cons ider the p o s s i b i l i t y of using the WestI s l e s area in order to fu r the r develop the na t iona l parkconcept . A s tudy team cons i s t ing o f of f i c i a l s from bothgovernments was e s t a b l i s he d . The team compiled a resourcea t l a s of the a rea , analysed the resource informat ion todetermine conservat ion and rec rea t ion po ten t i a l , anddeveloped one poss ib le concept to i l l u s t r a t e how a nat ionalmarine park could conceivab ly be es tab l i shed in the WestI s l e s .

The s tudy, e n t i t l e d A National Marine Park Concept westI s l e s , New Brunswick P i lo t Study Hardie and Jennings ,1981) , was completed in 1981 and re l eased to the publ ic inMarch, 1983. The s tudy recommended t ha t cons ide ra t ion begiven to the pur s u i t of a comprehensive f e a s ib i l i t y s tudy,and t ha t the following i s sues be c l ea r l y addressed:


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1 Pol i c i e s for the sound management of marine resourceswi th in na t iona l marine parks .

2 The l eve l o f i n t e r e s t by loca l r e s ide n t s in the fu turees tab l i shment o f a nat ional marine park in the westI s l e s area .

~ f e a s ib i l i t y s tudy was announced by a j o in t press re leaseissued by the federa l Minis ter of the Environment and theew Brunswick Minis ter o f Tourism in November, 1983.

2.2 Study Methodology

The f e a s ib i l i t y assessment i s being ca r r ied out in th reemain phases . Each phase bu i lds upon the one proceeding tand recommends a fu ture course o f ac t ion . The Feas ib i l i t yC r i t e r i a are a measure of f e a s ib i l i t y aga ins t which ther e s u l t s o f the s tudy could be assessed pa r t i cu l a r ly in thef i r s t phase.

Phase I the sub jec t of t h i s r epor t i s in e f f e c t afol low-up to and a fu r the r ref inement of the work conductedin the or i g i na l Pi lo t Study, wi th an emphasis on assess ingwhether t is t echnica l ly feas ib le to es t ab l i sh a nat ionalmarine park in the West I s l e s area . This assessment hasrequired an in-depth review o f the P i l o t Study, i t ssuppor t ing in format ion and a cons iderable amount of newresource information t ha t has become ava i lab le s ince theP i lo t Study was completed. Many discuss ions have a l so takenplace with o ther f edera l and prov inc ia l government agencieswhich have an i n t e r e s t in the management of the West I s l e senvironment , in pa r t i cu l a r the federa l departments o fFi s he r i e s and Oceans and Transpor t .


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I n i t i a l consu l t a t ions have a l so been held wi th the l oca lpubl ic to de te rmine the i s sues and concerns from t h e i rperspec t ive . A se r i e s of open houses and a publ ic meetingwere helq in the West I s l e s area in June 1984. A summaryo f the i ssues and concerns ra i sed i s found in Sect ion 4 .0 .

I t has also been pa r t i cu l a r ly important to as ses s thep ra c t i c a l i t y and l i ke ly success of applying the d r a f tNat ional Marine Parks Pol icy wi th in the s tudy a rea . Ina dd i t i on the assessment of f e a s ib i l i t y has a l so been basedon the p h y s i c a l f inanc ia l and opera t iona l r e a l i t i e s o f theproposed v i s i t o r use op t ions and resource managementgu ide l ines developed for poss ib le park development andmanagement. The complet ion of Phase I i s a pre requ i s i t e tothe presenta t ion of these proposed op t ions and gu ide l ines tothe publ ic pa r t i cu l a r ly in the l oca l a rea fo r t he i rcomments and sugges t ions .

Th i s Phase I r e por t i s being submi t t ed to the federa lMinis te r o f the Environment and the New Brunswick Minis te ro f Tourism for a dec i s ion on whether to proceed withPhase I I publ ic consul ta t ion . This second phase wouldprovide the publ ic with the oppor tun i ty to become d i r e c t l yinvolved in the decis ion making process as to whether or notthe proposal for a na t iona l marine park in the West I s l e sa rea is f eas i b l e .


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3.0 THE WEST ISLES STUDY AREA AND PROPOSED PARK BOUNDARYOPTIONS

3.1 The Regional ContextThe area known as the West I s l e s l i e s a t the mouth ofPassamaquoddy Bay in southwestern New Brunswick near theen t rance to the Bay of Fundy (Figure 2) . The West I s l e s areloca ted in Char lo t t e County which suppor ts approximately 4of the provinc ia l popu la t ion . On the New Brunswickmainland, the towns o f St . George, St . Andrews, andSt . Stephen are the l a rges t communities in the region with acombined popula t ion o f approximately 8,500 people . Numeroussmal l v i l l ages are d i s t r i bu t ed along the mainland coast andon Deer and Campobello I s l a nds . Approximately 2500 people(1981 Census) l i ve in the West I s l e s a rea , Campobello Is landand the loca l mainland coas t . The major i ty l i ve on Deer andCampobello I s l ands in severa l smal l communities inc ludingLord s Cove, Richardson, Leonardvi l le and Fai rhaven on DeerIs land and in Wilsons Beach and Welshpool on Campobello.The smal l communities o f Back Bay, Lete te and Green Pointl i e adjacent to the west I s l e s on the New Brunswickmainland.

Road access to the s tudy area from the New Brunswickmainland i s via Prov inc ia l Road 772 from St . George.Passenger car fe r r i e s provide access from Lete te to DeerIs land on a year-round bas i s , and between Deer I s l and ,Campobello Is land and Eas tpor t , Maine during the summermonths. Campobello I s l and is connected to the U.S.mainland via a br idge to the town of Lubec, with road accessto Maine 's coas ta l Highway 1. Road networks ex i s t on bothDeer and Campbello I s l a nds .


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Figure 2 REGIONAL CONTEXTQ U E E C

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The s tudy area cons idered for i t s na t iona l marine parkpo t en t i a l i s comprised pr imar i ly o f the marine waterslocated between Deer I s l and and Campobello Is land

Figure 3 . From with in t h i s area of approximately110 square ki lometers , boundaries for a nat ional marine parkin the West I s l e s have been proposed and have beendetermined pr imar i ly on the bas i s of na tu ra l resourcefea tu res and values cons idered essen t i a l or des i rab le fori nc lus ion with in the park . Sect ion 3 .3 i d e n t i f i e s thosespec i f i c fea tu res and Sec t ion 3 .4 ou t l i nes the proposedpark boundaries which comprise an area of approximately 55square ki lometres , or ha l f o f the s tudy area .

3.2 The Natura l Marine Heri tage

The West I s l e s encompasses over for ty i s l a nds , inc ludingnumerous i s l e t s , rocky l edges and shoals . The i s l andsde l imi t the sou thwes tern ex ten t o f Passamaquoddy Bay andsepara te t h i s bay from the Bay of Fundy, forming twopassages between them, Lete te Passage to the nor th of DeerI s land and Western Passage to the south . While some of thel a rge r i s l ands e xh ib i t a rugged charac te r , where c l i f fheights can reach 90 meters , most of the smal le r i s l andshave e leva t ions not higher than 15-45 metres . The i r r egu l a rrocky shore l ine in t e rspe rsed with she l te red coves provides avar ied and a t t r a c t i v e seascape .

Subt ida l topography i s also rugged with char ted depthsreaching 125 meters where subt ida l c l i f f s are common amongthe i s l ands . The genera l compactness o f the archipelago,toge the r with the rugged charac te r o f the sea f loo r andextreme va r i a t i ons in depth and high t i de s , r e su l t s inoceanographic cond i t ions t ha t produce a wide var i e t y of


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marine hab i t a t s with the highest l e ve l s of species d i v e r s i t yand abundance found in the Bay of Fundy.

Large volumes of water pass through the archipelago twiceda i l y forming some of the highest t ides in the world. Thewaters are sub jec t to cons tant mixing and tu rbu lence , withsuch fea tu res as surge channels , shear zones, s l i cks andareas o f upwell ing being very cha rac t e r i s t i c . The cur ren t scan be so powerful a t ce r t a i n l o c a l i t i e s to c rea te suchfea tu res as the Old Sow Whirlpool , located of f the southernt i p of Deer I s land , which is the second l a rges t whirlpool inthe world Figure 4) .The s t rong t i da l cur ren ts and upwel l ings produce nu t r i en tr i c h water s , and as a r e s u l t the West I s l e s i s one of themost b io log ic a l ly product ive areas in the Bay of Fundy andon the eas t coas t of Canada. Sc ien t i f i c s tudies havei nd ica ted t ha t Head Harbour Passage and Lete te Passage inp a r t i c u l a r are two of the most important cen t res ofbio logica l produc t iv i ty in the Bay of Fundy. Almost a l l ofthe species known to occur in the Bay, from the smal les tp lank ton ic l i f e forms to the l a rges t whales, can be found inthe seaward port ion of the West I s l e s a rea , e s pe c i a l l ydur ing the highly produc t ive months of summer and f a l l .Marine species counts i nd ica te t ha t in the West I s l e s areathere are known occurences of some 836 inve r tebra te spec ies ,96 f i sh spec ies , 20 spec ies o f mammals, 70 spec ies o f bi rdsand 223 spec ies o f aqua t i c p l an t s .

Some o f the more s ign i f i can t marine na tu ra l resourcefea tures of the area include:


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15 -Figure 4 OCE NOGR PHY

f upwelling water';';';;; '''';'' Zon : ;ps and ,ough at;onWIII IIIIIIIh. Zones f ebb slick form: : : Zones e : :... boundar"les shears- Surfac whirlpoolt Old Sow

Surge channels-; Salt pondsT Tide pools

DEER

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CAMPOBELLOISLAND

Kilometres 010 ~ _ 0


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c r i t i c a l feed ing , breeding and s tag ing areas of reg ionaland nat iona l s i gn i f i cance for a wide assemblage ofshoreb i rds , seab i rds and waterfowl such as Bonapar tesGul l , Northern Phalarope , Common and Arc t i c Terns , andCommon Eider ; t h i s i s one of the few areas in the Baywhere one can observe l a rge numbers o f feeding bi rdsdur ing spr ing and f a l l migra t ions ; up to 70,000 bi rds canbe seen on a nyone day dur ing the migra t ion per iods

Figure 5) ;c r i t i c a l feeding and rea r ing areas o f na t iona l andi n t e rna t iona l s ign i f i cance for l a rge whales such as theFinback, Minke and occas iona l ly the Humpback Whale and theendangered North A t lan t i c Right Whale Figure 6) ;a r es iden t group o f harbour porpoise reputed to be one o fthe l a rges t remaining groups of the spec ies in the world;the area i s known to be the major stronghold for t h i sspec ie s in the western North A t lan t i c , south o fNewfoundland Figure 6) ;t i da l processes and oceanographic phenomena which areouts tanding in At lan t i c Canada, inc lud ing the wo r ld sh ighes t t i de s and the wo r ld s second l a rge s t whir lpool

F igure 4) ;open sea hab i t a t s which are the product ion grounds for oneof the l a rge s t herr ing popula t ions in the world;l a rge numbers of surface swarms of Euphausid shrimp andassoc ia t ed marine l i f e ; only in a few areas in the Bay ofFundy i s t poss ih le to view t h i s phenomenon;l a rge popula t ions o f inve r t eb r a t e spec ies c h a r a c t e r i s t i cof At l an t i c Canada such as l obs t e r s , c rabs , s t a r f i s h , seaurch ins , and sponges;a unique i s l and arch ipe lago which di sp lays both thephysica l f ea tures depic t ing the geologica l andgeomorphological pas t of t h i s area o f the Bay of Fundy,


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- 17 Figure 5 MARINE AND SHOREBIRD NESTING AND FEEDING AREAS Cormorant colonies.t. Herring Gull colonieso Great Black Backed Gull colonies Black Guillemot coloniesBald Eagle nesting sites (1979)

Possible Gannet nesting site 1 pair)Osprey nesting sites (1979) .Significant marine areas forfeeding birds (Phalaropes. Gulls.etc.)

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- 18 6 MARINE MAMMALS

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l'Kilometres10

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ISLAND

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Approximate boundary- Finback an

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of occurence ofa Right WhalesMinke Whales

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~ IslandLEON RDVILLE

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Indian Island historic settlementWrecks known)Wrecks possible)Head Harbour LightMascabin LightHistoric shipbuilding site


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24 -

example a ves t ige o f one of the f i r s t and most successfu lt rad ing es tab l i shments in the West I s l e s area . Between 1765and in to the 1820 s , James Chaffey and h i s he i r s es tab l i sheds t rong t rad ing l i nks with England the United Sta t e s and the Caribbean. The Chaffey company genera ted s i gn i f i can t seat r a f f i c between these po in t s and is bel ieved to haver i va l l ed many of the major por t s on the eas t coast of NorthAmerica.

While a gr i c u l tu r e and lumbering were also ac t ive during the1800s the sh ipbui ld ing indust ry was th r iv ing . From 1822 to1850 Richardson and Cummings Cove on Deer Is land achieved awide repu ta t ion as producers of f ine vesse l s . Remains ofthe Cummings Cove yard and associa ted a r t i f a c t s can st ll beseen on th i s s i t e .

Mining al though an i n t r i c a t e par t of the h i s to ry of theWest I s l e s , has never r ea l ly been a s i gn i f i can t pa r t of thesoc i a l fabr ic or economy of the area . In 1869 a sha f t wassunk on Adams I s land to ex t rac t chalcopyri te and born i t e .Evident on the i s land is the headstock o f one of the s ha f t so f the ea r ly 1920 s .

The commercial f i sh ing indus t ry , however has long been themajor resource harvest ing a c t i v i t y and the economic mainstayo f the west I s l e s area . His tor ica l documenta t ion ind ica te st ha t as ea r ly as 1808 most re s idents of Deer Is land werecommercial f ishermen. Over the years , a wide var i e t y off i sh spec ies have been harvested , inc luding her r ing ,pol lock , mackere l cod haddock and assor ted s h e l l f i s h ,sca l lops in pa r t i cu l a r . The l obs t e r f i she ry has a l so madea s i gn i f i can t cont r ibut ion to the loca l f i sh ing economy.


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Fish harves t ing methods u t i l i zed in the west I s l e s have beenequal ly var iab le and inc lude g i l l ne t t i ng se in inghand- l in ing l ong- l i n ing t rawl ing dragging and, mostimpor tan t ly weir f i sh ing . The herr ing weir f i she ry hasbeen ac t ive throughout the h i s t o r i c a l per iod in the WestI s l e s . As ea r ly as 1850, 21 weirs were repor ted along theshore l ine of Campobello I s land . This f i she ry in pa r t i cu l a ri s of cons iderab le economic and cu l t u ra l value to the WestI s l e s a re a and i s most representa t ive of the loca lr e l a t i onsh i p between man and the sea . At a na t iona l l eve lthe West I s l e s area has the highest concent ra t ion of her r ingweirs in Canada.

A pa r t i cu l a r ly i n t e re s t i ng legacy o f the shipping andt rad ing era of the pas t is the number of shipwrecks andt h e i r cargos known or suspected to ex i s t in the area o f theproposed park . Most are merchant vesse l s o f var ious s i z e sbut a t l e a s t one admira l ty s h ip the H.M.S. Br i t a nn ia i sknown to have foundered in the area and now l i e s on a ledgenear Sandy I s land . Other wrecks can be found o f f the shoreso f Pendle ton Spruce, and Sandy I s lands near ChocolateCove, Deer I s l a nd and possib ly of f Hospi ta l I s l and and DeerI s l and Poin t .

Due to the number of shipwrecks and the t r eacherous natureo f these wate rs t became necessary to e r e c t l igh thouses .While Grand Manan I s l and rece ived i t s f i r s t l igh thouse in1831, the f i r s t l igh thouse in the West I s l e s area was b u i l ta t East Quoddy Head on Campobello I s l and in 1871, followedby a second a t Green Point Mascabin Head). The l igh thousecomplex a t East Quoddy Head i s a pa r t i cu l a r ly good exampleo f such s t ruc t u res bu i l t dur ing t h i s per iod and hase xc e l l e n t p o te n t i a l for the i n t e rp re t a t i on of mari t ime


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26

naut ica l h i s to ry as well as the na tu ra l h i s to ry o f the westI s l e s area .

Sec t ion 2 .2 .12 o f the d r a f t National Marine Parks Pol icys t a t e s tha t : Sign i f i c a n t h i s t o r i c a l and archaeo log ica lresources in marine parks w i l l be pro tec ted . Research i sst ll required to i den t i fy and assess h i s t o r i ca l . andarchaeo log ica l s i t e s in the West I s l e s , and to determine themost appropria te management act ions to e f f ec t t he i rpro t e c t ion .

The management of shipwrecks and o ther marine h i s t o r i c a lresources found underwater within marine park boundaries isa unique cha l lenge , but one in which Parks Canada i s rap id lygain ing exper ience . While the l egal ques t ions of ownershipo f marine h i s t o r i c a l resources , and the subsequent author i tyto adminis ter and manage them within na t iona l marine parks ,have ye t to be c la r i f i ed among prov inc ia l and other federa la u t h o r i t i e s , t i s assumed here t ha t Parks Canada would bet he lead agency r espons ib le for managing such resources inna t iona l marine parks . These management r e spons ib i l i t i e swould inc lude the protec t ion of marine h i s t o r i c a l andarchaeo log ica l resources , the management o f v i s i t o r use ofand the i n t e rp re t a t i on o f these resources , and the spec ia lcons ide ra t ion of v i s i t o r sa fe t y . The par t i c i pa t i on o fParks Canada 's Underwater Archaeology Sect ion would be mostva luab le in deve loping these management programs andconduc t ing the necessary research .


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3.4 Proposed Park Boundaries

The boundary of an area se lec ted for a nat iona l marine parkshould:

1) inc lude those natura l and cu l tu ra l resource features andthemes considered r ep r es en t a t i ve of the Natura l MarineRegion in which the park is loca ted , and provide for thepr o t ec t i on and conservat ion of those resources ;

2) inc lude su f f i c i en t land and water components to providefor the understand ing , appreciat ion and enjoyment of thepark by the publ ic ; and

3) enable the e f f i c i e n t management and admini s t ra t ion ofthe nat iona l marine park .

Consequent ly , the proposed park boundary shown in Figure 8def ines a core park area tha t r epresen t s the minimum areatha t i s considered essen t ia l for a viab le na t iona l marinepark. This core area i s approximately 55 square ki lometresin s i ze . wo addi t iona l areas have a lso been def ined to thenor th 3 .4 sq . kIn. and south 6.5 sq. kIn. of the core parkarea t ha t , while not e s s e n t i a l , would be des i reab le forinclus ion within the park .

The proposed core area includes most of the marine watersbetween Deer and Campobello I s l ands extending as far southas the nor thern t i p of Indian Is land and north to MohawkIs land and Green Poin t . The proposed boundary would extendfrom Green Poin t on a s t r a igh t l ine eas t to White HeadIs land and on to Bl i s s I s land Poin t , veer south through apoin t one ki lometre eas t of White Horse I s l and to a point


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28 Figure 8

:.\[:

'v/ .,. /, .> f(

-f...,ItI

A..()

.()o.()

0'I

'I''i 90

.-\

l


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2.5 k i lomet res eas t of East Quoddy Head and veer west toEast Quoddy Head. The inc lus ion of lands on East QuoddyHead i s appl icable to v i s i t o r use op t ions 2 and 3 only .The boundary would then fol low the high water mark along thewest shore l ine of Campobello Is land to Wilsons Beach wheret would extend west to the nor thern t i p of Ind ian I s land .

The eas te rn boundary would be s i t ua t e d .25 to .5 k i lomet reso f f sh o re from the eas t shore l ine of Deer Is land unt i l i tmeets Bar I s l and from where i t would cont inue nor th ,inc luding the Net Ledges, wo Hour Rock and Mink I s land , toseaward of Beans I s land but inc luding the Beans Ledges, tothe landward s ide of Hardwood and Par t r idge I s lands . Theboundary would then fol low the seaward high water markaround the Jameson I s lands , inc lude Parker and MohawkI s l a nds , and thus re turn to Green Poin t . A small land areaa t Green Point would be included in v i s i t o r use opt ions 1and 2.

Not a l l those areas iden t i f i ed for t he i r resources igni f icance have been included in the core park a rea , forexample the marine waters surrounding Indian I s l a nd , DeerIs land Poin t , Green Point and Lete te Passage . While theyare st ll considered de s i r a b l e for inc lus ion within theproposed park , some representa t ion o f t he i r marine themesand vaiues i s found within the core a rea .

A poss ib le nor thern add i t ion to the core area would includethose waters in Lete te Passage northwest of Mohawk Is landand Green Poin t between Macs I s land and the main landshore l ine fol lowing a l i ne to McGraws, Hoyt and CooksI s l ands to , and inc luding , K e l ly s Cove.


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possib le southern addi t ion to the core area would inc ludethose waters south and west of Wilsons Beach to IndianIs land and the Canada U.S. border from Cherry Is land on theeas t to Deer Is land Poin t on the west .

Al l i s l ands with in the core park area are recommended forinc lus ion except where ind ica ted as excluded on Figure 8.Some land on Deer and Campobello I s l ands and on Green Poin ti s iden t i f i ed for park purposes . This land i s shown onFigure 8. The spec i f i c parce l s o f land required vary withthe v i s i t o r use op t ions .

Where the boundary extends over marine waters the boundarywould include the water column and would encompass the seabed sub jec t to the agreement of the Province of NewBrunswick to t r ans fe r the admin i s t ra t ion and con t ro l ofthese seabed l ands to the federa l government. The boundarywould be de l inea ted on the water su r face by a system ofbuoys and beacons s i t ua t ed a t s t r a t e g i c loca t ions to c l ea r l yi den t i fy the l i m i t s of the na t iona l marine park .


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4.1 Major I s sues and Concerns

The major i ssues and concerns i den t i f i ed during the publ icconsul ta t ion sess ions are out l ined below and are categor izedunder the fol lowing headings:A. Park PurposeB. Park Object ives

1. Resource Pro tec t ion /Conserva t ion2. Publ ic Understanding, Apprec ia t ion and Enjoyment3. Regional In t e g ra t i on

A. Park Purpose

The loca l publ ic genera l ly expressed consensus tha t the WestI s l e s area had many spec ia l values tha t warrantedconserva t ion . Some f e l t there were now i n su f f i c i en tc on t ro l s to pro t ec t the West I s l e s environment and t ha t ana t iona l marine park could provide them. Others quest ionnedwhether a na t iona l marine park was the most appropria te wayto achieve conservat ion objec t ives and whether Parks Canadawould be able to manage these resources in a way t ha t wouldpermit the cont inued v ia b i l i t y of the commercial f i she ry andthe maintenance of t h e i r l i f e s t y l e s . While t wasrecognized tha t the management of a na t iona l marine parkwould requ i re co-opera t ion among severa l government agenciesand the loca l pub l i c there was an expressed lack o fconf idence in the government 's a b i l i t y to work coopera t ive lyor to cons ider publ ic opin ion in i t s decis ion-makingprocess . The publ ic was pa r t i cu l a r ly concerned about whatro le they would play in the park planning and managementprocess .


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B. Park Object ives1. Resource Protec t ion/Conservat ion

Many members o f the publ ic were concerned over thelong term prospects for resource conservat ion in theWest I s l e s , whether a park was es tab l i shed or not ,p a r t i c u l a r l y in view of cur ren t o r proposedcommercial developments in the area . I t wasrecognized by some t ha t the es tabl ishment o f a parkcould as s i s t in mit iga t ing the negat ive e f f ec t s ofsuch development.

The major concerns expressed were the po t en t i a limpact o f a nat ional marine park on the commercialf i she ry and the management prac t ices which would beput in place to manage the f i she ry and park v i s i t o ruse. Spec i f i c i ssues re fe r red to the s ize of theproposed park , the cont inuat ion of e x i s t i ng o rposs ib le fu tu re commercial f i sh ing prac t i ce s ,t r a d i t i o n a l domest ic resource harves t ing , hunt ing ,and po t en t i a l conf l i c t s between resource pro tec t ion ,commercial f i sh ing and park v i s i t o r a c t i v i t y . Thepo t en t i a l e f f ec t of increased boat t r a f f i c and noiseon f i sh movement was an i s sue o f p a r t i c u l a rimportance. Some a l so expressed the concern t ha tex i s t i ng problems o f dis turbance to f i sh ing gear andpoaching would increase should a park bees tab l i shed .

Many f i shermen s t re ssed the poin t t ha t t h e i rinvolvement in the park management decis ion-makingprocess would be necessary i f so lu t ions were to befound to these problems. Some f e l t t ha t suchpa r t i c ipa t ion in park management would he lp loca l


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commercial f i shermen in pro tec t ing t he i r f i sh ingi n t e r e s t s . Before a f ina l dec i s ion on a na t iona lmarine park in the West I s l e s , they sought guarantees t ha t the commercial f i she ry wouldcont inue , t ha t the commercial f i shermen would bep a r t of the decision-making process r e l a t ive to park planning and management, and t ha t they would not have to contend with new and add i t iona l regula t ionson the commercial f i she ry imposed because of park establ i shment .

2. Publ ic Understanding, Apprecia t ion and EnjoymentThose res id ing in the area ad jacen t to the proposedpark were concerned about the number of parkv i s i t o r s t ha t may be a t t r ac t ed , and the po t en t i a limpact o f t h i s v i s i t a t i o n on t h e i r l i f e s t y l e . Overand above the po t en t i a l impact on the commercialf i she ry , they also envisioned. o ther po t en t i a lprob lems such as increased t r a f f i c conges t ion ,pa r t i cu l a r ly on the Deer Is land fe r ry and i t s access roads , and increased inc idences of vandal ism, rowdyism, l i t t e r i n g and crime. I t was alsorecognized , however, t ha t many of these problems e x i s t with cur ren t l e ve l s of tourism and tha t ana t iona l marine park would a s s i s t in t h e i r cont ro l .They a l so inquired about the impact on the loca li n f r a s t r u c t u r e and se rv ices such as water , sewage, hea l t h , pol ice and f i r e pro t e c t ion .


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o ~ also noted tha t the West I s l e s is a sens i t i veenvironment and were concerned about the poten t i a limpact o f increased v i s i t a t i o n on the a r e a s na tu ra lresources . Summer weather condi t ions , with f requentfog, were viewed as a se r ious c ons t r a in t to v i s i t o renjoyment , as were the po t en t i a l l y dangerouscondi t ions in the cold and t u rbu len t waters o f theWest I s l e s .

Concern was expressed t ha t the regu la t ions a f fec t ingpark v i s i t o r s would also apply to loca l re s identsand thereby l i m i t t h e i r t r ad i t i ona l a c t iv i t i e s .

3 . Regional In t e g ra t i onSevera l concerns were ra i sed over the poten t i a limpact o f the proposed nat ional marine park on, andi t s r e l a t i onsh i p with , the surrounding region . I twas suggested t ha t land specu la t ion would occur ,with the subsequent inc rease in land pr ices andt axes . There was a concern t ha t l ands would beexpropr ia ted fo r park purposes , and t ha t new landuse con t ro l s and zoning would be put in p lace tocont ro l loca l land use pa t t e rns .

I t was recognized t ha t the proposed na t iona l marinepark could as s i s t in expanding the d ive r s i ty of theloca l economy by providing oppor tuni t i e s for thepr i va t e s e c to r to become involved in the tour i smindus t ry , or by providing d i r e c t and i nd i rec temployment for loca l r e s i den t s . While t h i s prospec twas seen by some to have mer i t , o the rs consideredthe po ten t i a l ly negat ive soc ia l e f f ec t s to outweigh


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the poten t i a l economic bene f i t s . They f e l t t ha t i fpark were e s t ab l i shed oppor tuni t i e s would have to

be provided to enable l oca l people to pa r t i c ipa t e inthe dec i s ion m aking process r e l a t ive to parkplanning and management on regu la r bas i s .


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Commercial f i sh ing would continue in a na t iona l marine parkin the west I s l e s and would cont inue to be managed by the Department of Fishe r ie s and Oceans. I t is Parks Canada 's pos i t i on t ha t marine parks and commercial f i she r i e s are compat ible and indeed share a common concern for t he l on g-term conservat ion o f marine resources . Fur ther , t i s acondi t ion of the Province of New Brunswick 's pa r t i c ipa t ionin t h i s s tudy, t ha t the es tabl ishment of a na t iona l marinepark would not have a negat ive impact on the commercialf i shery .

Based on the above, the genera l pr inc ip les which followwould apply to the management o f commercial f i sh ing within ana t iona l marine park . Each o f the commercial f i sher ies i st hen d i scussed ind iv idua l ly with recommended resource management guidel ines for a na t iona l marine park .

5.1 .1 General Pr i nc i p l e s

1) C om me rc ia l f i sh ing would cont inue in a nat ional marine park in the west I s l e s area .

2) Commercial f i sh ing in a nat ional marine park wouldco n tin ue t o be managed by FO and regula ted under the prov i s ions of the Fishe r ie s Act , and only FOregula t ions would be u t i l i zed to regula te the commercialf i she ry .

3) Commercial f i sh ing in a nat ional marine park would bemanaged in accordance with the reg ional f i sher iesmanagement plans prepared by DFO. Parks Canada wouldnot be responsib le for t he fo rmula tion of speciesquotas , seasons , or othe r regu la to ry mechanisms re la tedto the management of f i sh s tocks .


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4 A f i she r i e s management plan for the na t iona l marine parkwould be j o in t ly prepared and approved by DFO and ParksCanada, in consul ta t ion with the loca l f i sh ing indus t rywith spec i f i c management gu ide l ines re la ted to parkmanagement matters and the i n t e rac t i on between themanagement and opera t ion o f a na t iona l marine park andthe commercial f i she ry for example, t ime and spa t i a lzoning around herr ing weirs to minimize in te r fe rencefrom park ac t i v i t i e s . This management plan would beprepared pr i o r to and would become a cond i t ion o f parkestabl i shment .

5 1 2 The Herring Fishery

There are about 90 ac t ive herr ing weirs in the west I s l e ss tudy a rea about 35 o f which are located wi th in the corea rea o f the proposed na t iona l marine park . The West I s l e sweir f i she ry accounts for approximately 50 o f the herr ingcatches in D is t r i c t 51, which encompasses the waterssurrounding Deer and Campobello I s land . I t i s a l imi tedent ry f i she ry which means pa r t i c ipa t ion is allowed onlywith the purchase of one of the e x i s t i ng l i censes the to ta lnumber o f which i s f ixed . The main weir f i sh ing seasonoccurs from June to October , al though in excep t iona l ly goodyears weir f i sh ing wil l cont inue in to the winter months.

The west I s l e s weir f i she ry i s one o f the l a s t remainingmajor weir f i she r i e s in the world and has i t s own cu l tu ra ls ign i f i cance . Approximately 2000-2500 people are employedin the reg ional herr ing indus t ry of which weirs are themains tay . The herr ing catch represents 92 o f the to ta lvolume of a l l f i sh landed in D is t r i c t 51 The value o fherr ing landed in the d i s t r i c t inc luding the west I s l e s


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Study Area, was approximately 2,400,000 in 1982 (N.B.Departmant o f Fisher ies , 1983). Although the herr ing catchincreased s t ead i l y up to 1982, the volume for 1983 and 1984dec l ined d ra s t i c a l l y .

The herr ing are a t t r ac t ed to the West I s l e s to feed in thenu t r i en t r i ch waters . As a pe lagic , migra tory spec ies , theherr ing caught in the we i rs are subjec t to a regionalmanagement s t r a t egy prepared by the Department of Fishe r ie sand Oceans. The weir f ishery i s somewhat se l f - r egu la t ing ,with weirs catch ing only a percentage of the ava i lab les tock .Some areas of conf l i c t could e x i s t between a park and theweir f i she ry . Whales and sea l s , which a park should help topro tec t , are of ten t rapped in weirs causing damage to boththe animals and the weirs . Seals pr imar i ly Harbour sea l s )are per i od i ca l l y shot by loca l fishermen andaquacu l t u ra l i s t s when sea l s are damaging gear or preying oncaptured f i sh . A bounty cur ren t ly ex i s t s on grey sea l s int he Bay o f Fundy. Idea l ly , the shoot ing of sea l s byf i shermen would not be a des i rab le way to manage sea lpopula t ions in na t iona l marine parks . However, the sea lpopu la t ion has r i sen dramat i ca l ly in recent years and aproblem does ex i s t for weir f ishermen.Concern has also been r a i s e d by the Bay of Fundy WeirFishermen's Associa t ion t ha t r e c r e a t iona l boating couldd i s rup t herr ing movements i n t o the wei rs .The herr ing weir f i she ry is of obvious economic and cu l tu ra lva lue to the West I s l e s r e s ide n t s who r e l y to a grea t ex ten ton i t s product ion for t h e i r l ive l ihood. As a unique f i she ryand one with a long t r a d i t i o n , the weir f i she ry is an


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i r r ep laceable component of the cu l t u ra l fabr ic of the WestI s l e s ana would be essen t i a l to in te rpre t ing ther e l a t i onsh i p between man and the sea . Parks Canada 1 smanagement program would be or ien ted toward expla in ing t h i sf i she ry to park v i s i t o r s and minimizing any poten t i a ldis turbance to t by park re la ted a c t i v i t i e s rec rea t iona lboating in pa r t i cu l a r .

Resource Management Guidel ines :1) The commercial f i she ry for herr ing using t r ad i t i ona l

wei rs se ines and g i l l ne t s would cont inue within ana t iona l marine park sub jec t to the appl icableregula t ions o f DFO. There would be no l i m i t s imposed byParks Canada on access to them by f ishermen.

2) h u t ~ o se ines would also continue to be u t i l i zedsubjec t to normal FO r egu l a t i ons within the na t iona lmarine park except a t designated s i t e s required for parkpurposes iden t i f i ed by Parks Canada and DFO inconsul ta t ion with the loca l f ishermen.

3) Fishermen who wish to re loca te t h e i r weirs within ana t iona l marine park would continue to be able to do sos ub je c t to the regula t ions o f FO and DOT and with theexcept ion o f s i t e s required by Parks Canada for parkpurposes. Such s i t e s would be i den t i f i ed by ParksCanada ana DFO in consul ta t ion with loca l f ishermen.

4) A management s t ra tegy for sea l s would be prepared by FOand Parks Canada in consul ta t ion with loca l f ishermen,which would es t ab l i sh measures to be used to minimizelosses to weir f i shermen or aquacu l t u ra l i s t s caused bysea l s . Unti l a sea l management plan i s implemented,


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ind iv idual f ishermen would be permit ted to continue toshoot sea l s t ha t are in the ac t o f causing damage o rl o s s .

5) All park f a c i l i t i e s in the v ic in i ty o f wei rs would bes i t ed in consul ta t ion with the l oca l f ishermen owningand/or operat ing those weirs . Care would be taken toensure park a c t i v i t i e s such as rec rea t iona l boat ing andboat tours would respec t the weir f i sh ing ac t iv i ty .Distance of a pa r t i cu l a r f ac i l i t y from a weir w i l ldepend on the nature of the f ac i l i t y and s i t ec h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .

6) Small sca le s taging areas which suppor t weir f i sh inga c t i v i t i e s would cont inue where they cur ren t ly ex i s t aslong as they do not d i s t u rb ecologica l ly sens i t i ves i t e s .

7) Due to the exis t ing and s ign i f i can t i n t e r e s t shown bycur ren t t o u r i s t s in the opera t ion o f wei r s Parks Canadawould wish to ente r i n to agreements with loca l weirf ishermen to make ce r t a i n weirs access ib le on acont ro l led bas i s for the purpose of demonstrat ing theweir f i sh ing technique to park v i s i t o r s . This woulds a t i s fy publ ic i n t e r e s t have high i n t e rp re t i ve andeducat ional value and de te r v i s i t o r cur i os i t y from o therweirs in the area .


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5 .1 .3 The Groundfish FisheryThe term groundf i sh f i shery r e f e r s to the harves t ing of anumber of spec ies by severa l d i f f e r en t methods. In the WestI s l e s area, the pr inc ip le spec ies caught are cod, haddock,winter f lounder and pol lock. In 1982, these spec iessupported a catch of 1,005 metr ic tons for a value of$599,000 (N.B. Department of Fishe r i e s , 1983) . Methods ofharves t ing groundf i sh inc lude hand- l in ing , long- l in ing ,dragging , se ining and g i l l ne t t ing . l a rge area of theWest I s l e s i s cur ren t ly closed to groundf i sh g i l l net t ingbecause of a con f l i c t with hand- l in ing and long- l in inggear .

The groundf i sh f i she ry f luc tua tes from one loca t ion toanother from year to year depending on the d i s t r i bu t ion ofthe d i f f e r en t f i sh spec ies . Most groundf i sh ing a c t i v i t yt akes place out s ide the core of the proposed na t iona l marinepark and i s loca ted pr imar i ly seaward o f Barnes , White andSpruce I s l ands extending beyond White Horse Is land towardthe Wolves.There are severa l resource concerns t yp ica l ly assoc ia t edwith groundf i sh ing in Atlan t ic Canada. Dragging forgroundf ish involves the use of var ious types of t rawls andbottom se ines designed to catch f i sh l i v ing on or near thebottom. This f i sh ing prac t i s e can r e s u l t in d i s r up t i on tothe seabed and the by-ca tch o f non- t a rge t spec ies .Groundfish g i1 lne t t ing can r e s u l t in the by-ca tch o f marinemammals and diving seab i rds which of ten drown in the netsbefore being r e leased .


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Resource Management Guidel ines :(1) The groundf i sh f i shery would cont inue in a nat iona l

marine park sub jec t to the appl i cab le FO r egu la t ions .(2) Where adverse e f f ec t s of groundf ish dragging on the

seabed or of groundf ish g i l l ne t t i ng on seab i rds andmarine mammals are suspected , moni tor ing s tud ies wouldbe conducted to determine the exten t o f t h i s impact .I f t h i s research ind ica tes tha t s ign i f i c an t seabi rd ormarine mammal m or ta l i t i e s occur , Parks Canada wouldwork c lose ly with DFO, the Canadian Wildl i fe Serv iceand the f i sh ing indus t ry to develop managements o lu t i ons which are mutual ly acceptable . Suchs o lu t i ons would be added to the negot ia ted f i sher iesmanagement plan for the park.

5 .1 .4 The Sca l lop Fishery

Scal lops are common in the West I s l e s area but a re nots u f f i c i e n t l y abundant to sus ta in a l a rge f i shery . Scal lopsare usua l ly harves ted by dragging in the winter tosupplement loca l incomes.

In 1982, the landed value of sca l lops in D i s t r i c t 51 was$201,000. However, t is impossible to determine whatpor t ion o f t ha t value was ac tua l l y harvested from with in thearea of the proposed marine park NB Dept. of Fishe r i e s ,1983). There were 72 sca l lop l i censes i ssued in D i s t r i c t51 in 1982.

Scal lop dragging with in the core area of the West I s l e s(Head Harbour Passage - Quoddy River - Fish Harbour) i s veryl oca l i zed . Act iv i ty i s l imi ted to a small number of boa ts


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due to the smal l s ize o f the sca l lop beds and ruggedunderwater topography. Scal lop dragging can a l so bed i s rup t ive to t he s ea bed environment , but the ex ten t o f theimpact o f sca l lop dragging on the marine hab i t a t s of theWest I s l e s i s not known, and fur the r r esea rch is requi red .

Sca l lop and groundfish dragging are now prohib i ted in mucho f the s tudy area during the sp r ing , summer and f a l l inaccordance wi t h Sect ion 24 o f the Atlant ic F i she r ie sRegula t ions . Subsect ion 24(1) of t h i s regu la t ion reads :

the master of every f i sh ing vesse l withmobile gear sha l l a t a l l t imes whi le the vesse l i sengaged in f i sh ing ensure t ha t t he re i s maintaineda d i s t ance of a t l e a s t one-ha l f naut ica l mile between his vesse l , including any equipment andgear a t tached there to , and any prev ious ly se tf ixed gear . "

Mobile gear i s defined to inc lude sca l lop drags , o t t e rt rawls and purse se ines . Fixed gear inc ludes her r ing

~ ~ r s

Resource Management Guidel ines :(1) Scal lop dragging would c o nt in u e in a na t iona l marine

park sub jec t to the appl icable DFO r e gu la t i ons .

(2) Parks Canada would work coopera t ive ly with DFO and thef i sh ing indus t ry to minimize i nd i sc r imina te methods off i sh ing and the use of gear which i s de s t ruc t ive to thesea bed. Where adverse e f f ec t s on marine hab i t a t s andecosystems are suspected , monitoring s tudies would bei n i t i a t e d to assess the ex ten t o f the problem. I f


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s ign i f i c an t e f f ec t s are i den t i f i ed , Parks Canada wouldwork c lose ly with DFO and the f i sh ing indus t ry in orderto develop management so lu t ions which are mutual lyacceptable . Such so lu t ions would be added to thenegot ia ted f i she r i e s management plan for the park .

5 .1 .5 The Lobste r Fishe ryThe l obs t e r f i shery cons t i tu t e s the most valuableinver tebra te f i shery in the west I s l e s study area . Thisinshore f i shery extends from low t ide l eve l to depths of55 metres o r more and occurs throughout the study area .Landings vary seasonal ly due to weather , water tempera tures ,and the l obs t e r f i sh ing season which i s open fromNovember 15 to June 24. Five percent o f the catch i s landedfrom January 1 to Apri l 30, 25 from May 1 to June 24, and70 from November 15 to December 31. There i s no l obs t e rf i sh ing from June 25 to November 14.

Because of the oceanographic (high t ide condi t ions andproximi ty to u.S. markets , the west I s l e s area i s one ofCanada 's major areas for the long term s torage of l i velobs t e r s . Lobste rs caught elsewhere in the Atlan t icProvinces a re held in l a rge t i da l pounds for marketing insummer and winter . Seven pounds loca ted on Deer I s l ands tock a t a nyone t ime an average of 1 .6 to 2.5 mil l ionpounds of l i ve lobs te r .

In 1982 there were 55 l i censed vessels in the l obs t e rf i shery in D i s t r i c t 51 t ha t landed 61 tons for a value of410,000 (N.B. Dept. o f ~ s h e r i e s 1983). The va lue of the

l obs t e r catch increased by 65.5% between 1980 and 1982.


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Resource Management Guidel ine : (1) The lobs te r f i shery would c o nt in u e i n a nat iona l marine

park sub jec t to the appl icable FO r egu la t ions .

5 .1 .6 The Clam Fishery

The sof t - she l led clam i s a t r ad i t iona l though somewhatsporadic f i shery . Clams are harvested annually with a clamhoe on ava i lab le "clam f l a t s " . There i s no cons is ten tseasonal pa t t e rn of t h i s pa r t i cu la r f i shery . Some of the more important clam a re as in the West I s l e s are DoylesPassage and the Mascarene penninsula . Although numerousareas on the mainland and Deer I s l and are closed from t imeto t ime due to para ly t ic s he l l f i s h poisoning (PSP), clammingi s st ll pursued in th e west I s l e s area , when permi t ted.

The presence of PSP has been the main l imi t ing fac to r to aclam f i shery in the West I s l e s area. PSP i s caused by abloom of a spec ies of plankton tha t i s fed on by the f i l t e r - f eed ing clams. The plankton i s harmless to the clambut po ten t i a l l y f a t a l to humans when the toxin i sconcent ra ted. At presen t , the clam f i shery i s smal l sca le ,causing only minor dis turbance to muddy i n t e r t i da l areas .This f i shery is not viewed as being over ly d i s rup t ive to the marine community a t i t s present sca le .

Resource Management Guidel ine: (1) Commercial and domest ic f i sher ies for clams would

c o nt in u e i n a nat iona l marine park under the appropr ia te FO r egu la t ions .


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5 .1 .7 Aquacul ture

Aquacul ture in the West I s l e s presen t ly per ta ins to thecage - rea r ing of salmonids . However there is a grea tpo ten t i a l for the cu l t i va t i on of many othe r marine spec ies ,from f i sh ( i . e . hal ibu t ) to s he l l f i s h ( i . e . blue mussels toa lgae ( i r i s h moss .

n aquacul ture program commenced in the s tudy area in Juneof 1978 with the cons t ruct ion of severa l f i sh pens in theRichardson-Lords Cove area of Deer I s l and . A t lan t i c salmonand rainbow t r ou t are ra ised for na t iona l and i n t e rna t iona lmarkets. I t i s genera l ly recognized there is l a rge growthpo ten t i a l for cage-rear ing salmonids in the West I s l e sarea . The a r e a s high product iv i ty and r e l a t i ve l y warmwinter t emperatures make some areas within the proposedmarine park some of the prime s i t e s for aquacul ture inEastern Canada.

Fa c i l i t i e s for t h i s type of aquacul ture include largef loa t ing cages wi th some shore based bui ld ings . Si tes arel imi ted by s he l t e r , water depth and r a t e of water exchange.

o major resource concerns have been iden t i f i ed for thecage - rea r ing of salmonids in the west I s l e s area. There mayposs ib ly be a bui ld-up of feces and food under the cages i t e s causing loca l anaerobic condi t ions . Environmentalconcerns must be examined on a s i t e by s i t e bas i s , takingin to account such f ac tor s as the f lushing ra te and type ofhab i t a t .

r .age-rear ing salmonids can take up a l a rge surface area .This may be s ign i f i c an t in c r i t i c a l areas , con f l i c t ing with


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such surface u se s a s seabi rd s tag ing areas o r parkf a c i l i t i e s .

Resource Management Guide l ines : (1) The cu l t i va t i on of salmonid and othe r species of f i shwould c o nt in u e i n a nat ional marine park, a t s i t e sapproved by Parks Canada, FO and DOT provided a l lnormal regula tory requirements are s a t i s f i ed .

(2) Parks Canada and FO would survey a l l poten t i a laquacul ture s i t e s with in the park area . Each s i t ewould be assessed for i t s rear ing poten t i a l andsubjected to an environmental assessment . A plan for managing cage-rear ing aquacul ture pro jec t s would thenbe developed. In genera l , cage-rear ing of salmonidswould not be hindered by a nat ional marine park.

(3) P arks Canada, FO and DOT in consul ta t ion with thef i sh ing indus t ry , would jo in t ly develop and enforce regula t ions r eg a rd in g t he conduct of f i sh cu l tureopera t ions in regard to the loca t ion and area l extento f cages, t he ty pe and arrangements o f moorings, thedisposa l o f re fuse and of f a l , the c leanl iness ands igh t l i nes s o f f a c i l i t i e s , the control of sea l s andother preda to rs and the removal of redundant aquacul ture equipment. This would encourage theorde r ly development of the indust ry and ensure i t scompa t ib i l i ty wi th Parks Canada 's objec t ives for ana t iona l marine park.

(4) Further study of the environmental consequences ofcage-rear ing salmonids i s recommended.


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5 .1 .8 Po ten t i a l New Fisher ies

There i s cons ide rab le po ten t i a l for the development of newf i she r i e s in the West I s l e s s tudy area. I t would not be thei n t en t ion of a na t iona l marine park to i n t e r f e r e with theevolu t ion or fu ture v i a b i l i t y o f the commercial f i sh ingindus t ry . The dr a f t Nat ional Marine Parks pol icy makes thefol lowing s ta tement with regard to new f i sher ies(Sect ion 2 .3 .8 ) :

"The es tab l i shmen t o f any f i shery , inc ludingaquacul ture , which i s not incorpora ted wi th in a cur ren tf i she r i e s management plan wil l requi re j o in t approvalby Parks Canada and the Department o f Fisher ies andOceans, and w i l l be sub jec t to pr io r complet ion ofs tock assessment and environmental impact s tud ie s " .

Resource Management Guidel ine :(1) New f i sher ies may be approved in a nat iona l marine park

sub jec t to Parks Canada 's objec t ives for the park , andt he appropr i a t e FO r egu la t ions , in consu l ta t ion withthe loca l f i shing indus t ry . Stock assessments andenvironmental impact s tud ies would have to be completedpr io r to approva l .

5 .2 . Water Qual i ty

The maintenance of a high l eve l of water qua l i ty i ses sen t i a l to the well being of any marine community. Waterqua l i t y i s a term encompassing a wide sub jec t area but canbe def ined as the physica l and chemical proper t i es of watert ha t , in the case of a marine park , are with in a range t ha tal lows the maintenance o f a heal thy marine ecosystem.


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Pote n t i a l t h rea t s to water qual i ty in the proposed na t iona lmarine park may come from two main sources . The mostimportant would be ex te rna l po l lu t i on sources from Sain tJohn harbour Letang I n l e t , the St . Croix River , and loca lcommercial shipping t r a f f i c . Secondly loca l communit iesa lso genera te sewage and f i sh process ing waste . At present ,however water qua l i t y in the west I s l e s area i s good.

The sewage d i sposa l system of the communit ies on Deer I s l andcons i s t s pr imar i ly of sep t i c tank systems o f which acons iderab le number are d i r ec t ly connected to o u t f a l l s tothe sea . Since the presen t volume o f sewage e f f l uen t i svery smal l , the damage from po l lu t i on has been l imi ted toda te . Areas al ready a f fec ted include the i n t e r t i d a l zonewhere sewage o u t f a l l s are concen t ra ted , and the s o f t bottomhab i t a t o f Lord s Cove and embayments such as Leonardvi l leHarbor where f lushing r a t e s are very low. Considera t ionshould be given to the fu ture t rea tment of sewage from thesecommunit ies.

Shorel ine developments in the study area and along themainland coas t are r e l a t e d primari ly to f i sh ing a c t i v i t i e s .For the most pa r t , they have a very l imi ted and l oca l i zedimpact on the marine environment .

There are numerous regula t ions in p lace regard ing thedumping of any substances i n to marine waters . The OceanDumping Control Act and the Fishe r ie s Act both cover dumpingo f any de le te rous subs tances in to t i d a l waters . TheFi s he r i e s Inspect ion Act covers the dumping of res idue fromf i sh process ing p l an t s . These ac ts are comprehensive butthe maintenance o f water qua l i t y requ i res monitoring andenforcement .


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One o f the g r e a t e s t po te n t i a l t h rea t s to water po l lu t ion inthe West I s l e s area comes from the p o s s i b i l i t y o f an o i ls p i l l . There i s an impor tan t t anke r rou te i n to Sa in t Johnand preva i l ing cu r ren t s may take a Sain t John o i l s p i l ld i r e c t l y to the west I s l e s .

Some concern has been expressed about some l oca l commerciala c t i v i t i e s th rea ten ing water qua l i t y . A pulp mil l near theLetang Estuary has caused l oca l i zed water q u a l i t y problemsfrom the depos i t ion o f excess ive organ ic ma t t e r in thee s tua ry . However, a t p re se n t the re i s no evidence tosugges t t ha t t i s a f f e c t i n g water qua l i t y in the s tudya rea .

Pre s e n t ly the Canadian Coast Guard has manpower andequipment to respond to marine envi ronmenta l emergenc ies ,e s pe c i a l l y o i l s p i l l s . A marine emergency response cen t rehas been es tab l i shed a t the St . Andrews Bio log ica l Sta t ionto provide an i n i t i a l response c a pa b i l i t y for l oca l o i ls p i l l s inc luding those which occur in the West I s l e s area .Equipment i s a l so loca ted in Sain t John under the d i r e c t iono f the Coast Guard. There i s a mul t i -agency "RegionalEnvironmental Emergency Team" which a c t s as an advisory andc o n su l t a t i v e body on water qua l i t y and response to marineenvi ronmenta l emergenc ies . This team has r e p re se n t a t i v e sfrom Department o f F i sh e r i e s and Oceans, Environment Canada,and Transpor t Canada as well as the province o f NewBrunswick.

Resource Management Guide l ines :(1) Parks Canada, as a member o f the Regional Environmental

Emergency team, would work c lose ly with o ther teammembers to ensure t ha t responding agenc ies adequa te ly


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consider park management requ i rements in t he i r responseto environmental emergencies , such as s p i l l s of oi l o rother chemical s . A co-ord ina ted emergency plan wouldbe developed to determine response capab i l i t y andprocedures .

(2) Parks Canada would co-opera te with othe r fede ra l andprovinc ia l agencies to monitor and mit iga te exte rna lt h rea t s to the qua l i ty of marine park waters .

(3) Parks Canada shore based f a c i l i t i e s should be equippedwith high qua l i ty sewage t rea tment capab i l i t y .

(4) Major wharfs run by Parks Canada should be equippedwith t o i l e t s and pump out f a c i l i t i e s for v i s i t i ng boatswith holding t anks for sewage.

(5) Boats owned by Parks Canada which have t o i l e tf a c i l i t i e s and those used for tour boats with in theproposed na t iona l marine park should be equipped withsewage holding t anks .

(6) Parks Canada wardens should a s s i s t the EnvironmentalPro tec t ion Serv ice (EPS) to enforce the Ocean DumpingControl Act and FO regarding the water qua l i typrovi s ions of the Fisher ies Act and Fi s he r i e sInspec t ion Act with in the boundar ies o f the proposednat iona l marine park .

5.3 Local Non-Commercial Resource Harves t ing

At presen t , loca l res iden ts harves t var ious marine organismsfor domest ic consumption. These inc lude clams, per iwinkles ,and var ious f i shes . There i s no r ea l da ta on the amount o r


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60 sh ips per year using the route and a marginal increase ispred ic t ed over the next decade. Improvements to the Baysidef a c i l i t i e s are being cons idered . There i s c ur r e n t lycons ide ra t ion being given to the es tab l i shment of a coalf i red genera t ing s t a t ion in Eas tpor t , Maine which wouldinvolve the shipment of coal through Head Harbour Passage.

The major resource concern associa ted with commercialshipping i s the loss o f cargo, pa r t i cu l a r ly petroleumproducts . Head Harbour Passage is a d i f f i c u l t route forshipping because of the extreme t ida l curren t s , numerousshoals and f requent presence of fog. A recen t proposa l fora super tanker por t a t Eas tpor t was re jec ted because of thesenavigat ional d i f f i cu l t i e s and the ecologica l importance o fthe surrounding waters . The presence of a na t iona l marinepark in the area would give addi t iona l s t rength to argumentsaga ins t l a rge shipments of o i l through the a rea .

Current l eve l s o f commercial shipping are manageable and donot presen t a concern. This a c t i v i t y would cont inue to bemanaged according to cur ren t prac t i ces by Transpor t Canada.

s o u r ~ Management Guidel ine:(1) o addi t iona l r egula t ions regarding commercial shipping

a re considered necessary a t present .

5.5 Spor t HuntingSpor t hunt ing in the west I s l e s area i s l imi ted and confinedpr imar i ly to the hunt ing of sea ducks . The west I s l e s areahas two seasons for waterfowl. From October 18 to January 7,l i censed hunters can shoot ducks , geese o ther than Brant)and sn ipe . The second season occurs from January 30 to


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February 25 when s c o t e r , e i de r , oldsquaw ducks andmergansers may be shot in coas ta l waters only . This win te r sea duck hunt takes place along the New Brunswick shore o fthe Bay of Fundy f rom Sain t John to the U.S. border . Theshore zone o f the Mascarene Peninsula is used by l oca l r e s ide n t s for hunt ing waterfowl . Whi te - t a i l ed deer are also hunted in the West I s l e s a rea .

Consis ten t with the Parks Canada Pol icy for na t iona l parks , spor t hunt ing would not be permi t ted in a nat ional marinepark . Since the l an d b a se of the proposed park would bevery smal l , park es tabl ishment would have an i n s i gn i f i can t impact on the hunt ing o f white t a i l ed deer . While r e l i ab l e da ta i s not ava i l ab le on t h e w in te r sea duck hunt , t woulda l so appear tha t the e x te n t o f l o s t hunt ing oppor tuni t i e s would be very smal l .

Resource Management Guidel ine: (1) Spor t hunt ing would not be p e rmi t ted w i th in the

boundar ies o f the proposed nat ional marine park.


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6.0 VISITOR UNDERSTANDING APPRECIATION ND ENJOYMENT

6.1 Vis i to r Use and Park Development Options

As par t of th i s f e a s ib i l i t y s tudy, th ree poss ib le opt ionsfor v i s i t o r use and park development have been prepared toi l l u s t r a t e var ious a l t e rna t ives of what a nat ional marinepark could look l i ke in the West I s l e s area . These opt ionsa l so permit Parks Canada to es t imate approximate cos t s forpark development, opera t ion and maintenance see Sect ion6.2 . Whether or not a nat ional marine park in the WestI s l e s is feas ib le wil l depend in par t on the degree to whichthe objec t ives for v i s i t o r use could be achieved . Theopt ions presented are not f i na l plans but are conceptsdeveloped to as s i s t in the assessment o f f ea s i b i l i t y . Noneo f the opt ions may be idea l and combinat ions o f t he i rre spec t ive fea tures may be poss ib le . There i s no commitmentby Parks Canada a t t h i s time to the development of thespec i f i c f ad i l i t i e s and services descr ibed . Shouldagreement be reached to es t ab l i sh a nat ional marine park , af i na l concept could then be developed fol lowing publ icconsul ta t ion .

The configura t ion of the land mass, the loca t ion ofes tab l i shed communities, indust ry and i n f r a s t ruc tu re , andmost impor tant ly , the cha rac t e r i s t i c s of the marine resourcei t s e l f , such as environmental ly sens i t i ve re sources ,s ign i f i can t hab i t a t s , and othe r environmental f ac t o r s , havea l l inf luenced the opt ions for the type , loca t ion andi n t ens i ty o f v i s i t o r ac t i v i t i e s .

Moreover, the cons ide ra t ion of the po t en t i a l impact of ana t iona l marine park on the ad jacent communities and thel i f e s t y l e of loca l res ident s l a rge ly accounts for the majord i f f e r e nc e s in the designs o f the v i s i t o r use opt ions . The


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Other park f a c i l i t i e s would be loca ted on some of the smalloffshore i s l ands . Day use and pr imi t ive campsi t es would beprovided on Casco Bay, Sandy, and Parker I s l ands with accessprovided by a regu la r shu t t l e boat se rv ice . Boat moorings i t e s would be provided a t des ignated l oca t ions for the useo f park v i s i t o r s a r r iv ing in t h e i r pr iva t e c ra f t . Tourboats would take v i s i t o r s through the archipelago, pas t theEas t Quoddy Head l ighthouse and out to White Horse Is land toview the bird colonies . Areas des ignated for SCUBA divinginclude waters in the v i c i n i t y of Barnes and Adams I s lands ,White , Spruce and Sandy I s lands , and Casco Bay Is land southto Popes I s l and .

OPTION 1 INVOLVES NO PARK DEVELOPMENT ON DEER AND CAMPOBELLOISLANDS.

OPTION 2This opt ion i s charac te r i zed by a de c e n t r a l i z a t i on o fsmal le r sca le park f a c i l i t i e s and se rv ices in a number o floca t ions (F igure 10 . In t h i s op t ion , the main VRC parkadmin i s t ra t ion complex would be located on the nor thern t i po f Deer I s land . The VRC would perform the same funct ions asou t l ined above for Option 1, but would not inc lude a marineobserva to ry . A park wharf would also be provided a t t h i sloca t ion to accommodate the tou r boats and the offshorei s l and shu t t l e se rv ice . In c on t r a s t to Option 1 , parkdevelopment on Green Point would cons i s t o f a smal lerv i s i t o r a c t i v i t y area providing f a c i l i t i e s for parking andpicnic ing with a viewpoint and i n t e rp re t i ve disp lays .A second smal l v i s i t o r a c t i v i t y area s imi la r to t ha tprovided on Green Poin t , would be loca ted on Deer Poin t . Inconjunct ion with the pr iva t e campground development


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62ure 10

I I.? .. _> e ll ,.,.,.,

I I :-.

..

PROPOSEDNATIONAL MARINE PARKVisitor Use Concept

(Option2)* Visitor CentreMajor Visitor Activity Area.. Administrationo interpretation Parking.. Picnicking Dive Centre .. Viewpoint.. Boat Launch Moorlng/Doddng AreaMinor Visitor Activity Area Interpret.Uon-ParkingPk:nlckl ll Hiking and or ViewpointP Primitive AccommodationII1II Shuttle Boat and Route- Designated Scuba Diving

Underwater Interpretive TrailBoat Tour Concession (large groups)Marine Wildlife Observation(seabirds., whales. porpoises. seals. etc.)Proposed park boundary-WEST ISLES

FEASIBILITY STUDYA Perk.. luurram 0 ,C ~ d ib _ B , . , w ~ . _ _


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cur ren t ly on Deer Poin t t h i s f a c i l i t y would provideaddi t iona l parking and p icn ic s i t e s with a viewpoint andi n t e rp re t i ve d i sp lays concen t ra t ing on the Old SowWhir lpool .Offshore i s l and oppor tuni t i e s also include day use andpr imi t ive camping but in t h i s op t ion they are located onAdams Simpson Spruce and Casco Bay I s lands . The areasdes ignated for SCUB diving are the same as those inOption 1 Optional tou r boat routes are i l l u s t r a t e d on themap and extend fur the r south to include a pass by IndianIs land to i n t e rp re t i t s h i s to r i ca l s igni f icance to the area .The opt ional tou r boat rou tes could in f a c t apply to anyo f the th ree op t ions .

In recogni t ion o f the many v i s i t o r s tha t t rave l toCampobello Is land each year pr imar i ly to v i s i t theRoosevel t Es t a t e t h i s opt ion provides for two v i s i t o ra c t i v i t y areas on Campobello I s l and in the v i c i n i t y o fWilsons Beach and the East Quoddy Head l igh thouse . Theformer would be a major v i s i t o r a c t i v i t y a rea bas i ca l l yproviding s im i l a r se rv ices to those of fe red a t the VRC onDeer I s land . The v i s i t o r a c t i v i t y area a t East Quoddy Headwould be s im i l a r to tha t provided a t Green Poin t and wouldtake pa r t i cu l a r advantage of the l igh thouse complex and i t shigh i n t e rp re t i ve po ten t i a l the exce l len t views o f themarine park a rea and the bes t land based loca t ion in thea rea for watching whales and o ther marine mammals andb i rds .

OPTION 2 INVOLVES DISPERSED DEVELOPMENT ON LL THREELOCATIONS OF GREEN POINT DEER ISLAND ND C MPOBELLOISLAND.


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OPTION 3The pr inc ip l e fea tu re t ha t d i s t i ngu i s he s Option 3 from theothe r two opt ions is the loca t ion of the VRC in the town ofSt . Andrews as i l l u s t r a t e d on Figure 11. Since the VRCrep resen t s the cent ra l focus of v i s i t o r a c t i v i t y themajori ty o f park v i s i t o r s would t r a ve l to St . Andrews f i r s tbefore proceeding by boa t to the marine park area . Thisop t ion takes maximum advantage of the e x i s t i ng tourismi n f r a s t ruc tu re pa r t i cu l a r ly access and r e s t a u ra n t andaccommodation s e rv i c e s tha t al ready e x i s t in St . Andrews.

The VRC complex in St . Andrews would be essen t i a l ly the sameas those mentioned above in the previous op t ions with theexcept ion t ha t no underwater observatory would be providedand the dive cent re the park admin i s t ra t ion of f i ces and thebase for the shu t t l e boat se rv ice to the of f shore i s landswould be located near Wilsons Beach on Campobello I s land .I t i s essen t i a l fo r these se rv ices to be located in c loseproximity to the park i t s e l f . As with the o ther twoop t ions the tou r boats would opera te from the VRC, in th i scase from St . Andrews. They would fol low a route such ast h a t shown on Figure which while cons iderably longerwould t ake a s im i l a r route as in the o ther opt ions throughthe marine park area .

This opt ion also provides for the same v i s i t o r useoppor tun i t i e s on and among the of f shore i s l ands as descr ibedin the othe r two op t ions .

Campobello Is land a l so f igures prominant ly in t h i s op t ion inmuch the same way as t does in Option 2 with v i s i t o ra c t i v i t y areas provided in the v i c i n i t y of Wilsons Beach andon East Quoddy Head.

OPTION 3 INVOLVES NO PARK DEVELOPMENT ON GREEN POINT OR ON. DEER ISLAND.

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West Isles Marine Park Phase 1 Report