Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault Protects 15,000 Square Kilometers of St. Lawrence Estuary

TADOUSSAC, Que. — Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault announced on Monday the formal legal designation of three expanded Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) encompassing more than 15,000 square kilometers of contiguous marine habitat across the St. Lawrence Estuary and Saguenay Fjord.

The regulatory protection order, enacted under the Oceans Act and the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act, establishes mandatory 10-knot seasonal vessel speed restrictions and acoustic noise quiet zones across critical calving grounds for the isolated, critically endangered St. Lawrence beluga whale population.

Protecting Keystone Marine Species and Estuary Biodiversity The St. Lawrence beluga population has declined to under 900 individuals due to historical industrial toxins, acoustic underwater noise pollution that disrupts echolocation feeding, and commercial vessel collisions.

"The St. Lawrence River is the ecological soul of Quebec and Canada, and protecting its extraordinary marine wildlife is our solemn collective responsibility," Minister Steven Guilbeault said in Tadoussac. "By establishing these 15,000 square kilometers of marine protected areas, we are creating a permanent sanctuary where belugas, blue whales, and marine life can feed, nurse their young, and thrive without underwater noise pollution, moving Canada closer to our international commitment to protect 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030."

Marine Conservation Directives The designation order incorporates:

• Commercial Shipping Speed Caps: Mandatory 10-knot speed limits in designated whale feeding zones, reducing underwater acoustic noise by over 70 percent.
• Prohibition of Seabed Mineral Extraction: Absolute ban on oil and gas exploration, seabed dredging, and ocean waste dumping.
• First Nations Co-Management: Partnering with the Innu Nation of Essipit and the Wolastoqey Nation in joint ecological monitoring and whale rescue operations.

Marine biologists, commercial whale-watching operators, and international conservation organizations praised the historic marine designation, noting that acoustic quiet zones are essential to reversing beluga population declines.