Eastport Marine Protected Area Steering
Committee
Revised
Terms of Reference
Sept 2006
Background
In
1999, the
Eastport Peninsula Lobster Protection Committee (EPLPC)
approached Fisheries and Oceans Canada on establishing an MPA under the
Oceans Act in the Eastport area. In October 2000, the Minister of
Fisheries and Oceans identified the Eastport closed areas (Round Island
and Duck Island) as Areas of Interest (AOIs). A Steering Committee was
formed to help DFO evaluate the site’s merit as a potential MPA, provide
advice, and guide MPA development. In March 2003, the
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, with the support of the Steering
Committee, recommended to proceed with the regulatory process required to
designate and manage Round Island and Duck Islands as MPAs under the
Oceans Act. Following regulatory development,
Round Island and Duck Islands were officially designated as MPAs by the
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans in October 2005.
The Eastport MPA Steering Committee will continue to guide all activities
of this initiative. This will include participating in the finalization of
a management plan and acting as an advisory body for all activities
related to monitoring, enforcement, public education and awareness, and
any other ongoing MPA related initiatives. Finally, the Steering
Committee will monitor the effectiveness of and adaptively manage the
MPAs.
These Terms of Reference may be amended to reflect ongoing development.
Mission Statement of the Sponsors
To increase
stakeholder involvement in the development, management, monitoring,
evaluation and surveillance of local fishery resources and the supporting
habitats so as to develop sustainable economic activities associated with
the MPA.
Mandate
The mandate
of the Eastport MPA Steering Committee will be as follows:
-
To
finalize the Eastport MPAs Management Plan and review and update as
needed.
-
To
monitor the effectiveness of the Eastport MPAs by encouraging scientific
research in the areas and reviewing the results of this research.
-
To
monitor enforcement of the MPA regulations by working with DFO, the
general public, and other affected stakeholders.
-
To
routinely inform the public of the designation of the MPAs and solicit
public comments, ideas, and feedback where appropriate.
-
To
promote the conservation, protection, and sustainable use of marine
resources and their habitats.
-
To
foster partnerships with other similar interest/stakeholder groups.
-
To
identify sources of funding for continuing research, monitoring,
education, and public awareness
Membership
The Steering Committee will consist of representatives from the sponsoring
group (EPLPC) and other interested or affected stakeholders who may include
provincial and federal agencies, recreational users, economic development
associations, etc. The committee will be co-chaired by one representative
from the sponsor group and one representative from DFO.
Stakeholder groups were recently contacted to determine their level of
involvement and current membership reflects their responses. It is
recognized that flexibility with respect to membership should be maintained
to ensure the inclusion of future potential interested or affected
stakeholders, and to reflect the interests, goals, and objectives of future
projects and plans.
Voting members are those individuals or stakeholder groups have a vested
interest in the management of the MPAs. Voting members consist of
individuals from the sponsoring group (EPLPC) as well as representatives
from local groups such as fish processors, municipalities, harbour
authorities, tourism associations, and schools.
Ex-officio members provide advice, assistance, etc. where appropriate and
have no voting privileges. Mailing list members may request to have
appropriate correspondence (meeting minutes, project up-dates, etc.) sent to
them to ensure information exchange. The committee, as required, may consult
the stakeholder groups on the mailing list.
New stakeholder groups wishing to participate will be requested to make a
presentation to the Steering Committee outlining it’s interest and
intentions. The inclusion of the new group in the Steering Committee will be
decided upon by existing members as per the Guidelines for Conducting
Steering Committee Meetings.
If multiple groups from the same ocean
sector express interest in participating, the Steering Committee may
recommend that the number of representatives from that particular sector be
limited to two. The multiple organizations would collaboratively choose
Steering Committee representatives to jointly represent them.
The MPA Community Coordinator will take minutes at Steering Committee
meetings and distribute to voting and ex-officio members for review.
Finalized minutes will be forwarded to members and mailing list contacts as
identified previously.
Meetings
In
general, Steering Committee meetings will be held quarterly, however
additional meetings can be scheduled at the call of the Chair(s) as
required. The frequency of meetings will depend on the rate of progress,
stage of development, and urgency.
Guidelines for Conducting Steering Committee Meetings
A
quorum of 65% of voting membership will be required at a meeting to allow
decision making. If less than 65% of voting members are not in attendance,
no decisions will be made.
Although the Committee will strive to promote consensus, unresolved issues
will be voted upon by voting members of the Committee provided a quorum of
65% is present as per Guideline #1. If a quorum is present, a vote will
pass if it receives support from 50% + 1 of voting members.
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