Victory | March 1, 2019

Banc-des-Américains, a submarine bank off of Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula, designated as a Marine Protected Area

The Government of Canada established a 1,000 square kilometer Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence called the Banc-des-Américains. This new MPA protects one of Canada’s most diverse and productive marine areas. In 2017, Oceana Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada partnered to conduct an expedition in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, including the Banc-des-Américains. The MPA conserves habitat important for many species, including habitat-forming corals and sponges, forage fishes like capelin and herring and commercially important species, such as crab and shrimp and the iconic and highly endangered North Atlantic right whale.