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Vanderzwaag, David L., Hutchings, Jeffrey A., Jennings, S. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2390-7225 and Peterman, Randall M.
(2012)
Canada's international and national commitments to sustain marine biodiversity.
Environmental Reviews, 20 (4).
pp. 312-352.
ISSN 1181-8700
Abstract
Canada has made numerous international and national commitments to sustain marine biodiversity. International commitments include the implementation of ecosystem-based management, the establishment a network of marine protected areas, and the restoration of commercially exploited fish stocks. However, the international commitments tend to be quite general in nature with the precise governance implications of key principles, such as precaution and the ecosystem approach, being open to interpretation, thus leaving considerable room for discretion in implementation. Consequently, a plethora of soft law documents has emerged to provide more specific guidance to decision-makers and progressively develop international law and policy. Nationally, Canada has embraced a long list of commitments that are supportive of sustaining marine biodiversity through legislation and numerous policy-related documents. Nonetheless, Canada has left many of these commitments unfulfilled or inadequately fulfilled, such as (i) the development of integrated management plans for coastal and marine waters, (ii) the implementation of the precautionary approach for Canada's fisheries, and (iii) the establishment of recovery strategies and identification of critical habitat for species at risk. Although the goal of effective protection of marine biodiversity in Canada appears to be guided by international and national commitments, there remains a clear need to fully implement, operationalize, and strengthen these commitments as articulated in the Oceans Act, fisheries management-related policies, the Species at Risk Act, and others.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | policy,marine protected areas,precautionary approach,fisheries,oceans,sdg 14 - life below water ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences |
| UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | Pure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Oct 2013 22:12 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Oct 2022 04:51 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/43845 |
| DOI: | 10.1139/a2012-013 |
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