Musquash Estuary Marine Protected Area Regulations

Musquash Estuary Marine Protected Area Regulations Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, pursuant to subsection 35(3) of the Oceans Acta, hereby makes the annexed Musquash Estuary Marine Protected Area Regulations. S.C. 1996, c. 31 The following definitions apply in these Regulations. Area means the Musquash Estuary Marine Protected Area designated under section 2. (zone) vessel has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Canada Shipping Act, 2001. (bâtiment) waters means, in addition to the waters, the seabed and subsoil below the waters to a depth of two metres. (eaux) In these Regulations, all geographical coordinates (latitude and longitude) are expressed in the North America Datum 1983 (NAD 83) geodetic reference system. In the schedule, the lines connecting the points are rhumb lines. The areas of the sea in the Musquash Estuary comprised of the management zones described below – and depicted in the schedule – are together designated as the Musquash Estuary Marine Protected Area: Zone 1, consisting of waters lying generally northwest of a rhumb line connecting points at 45°11′19.63″ N, 66°15′37.35″ W and 45°11′23.96″ N, 66°15′33.38″ W, that are within an area bounded by the low-water line of the estuary and by the rhumb line to its points of intersection with the low-water line, the northeasterly limit of Highway 790, where it crosses the southwestern arm of the West Branch Musquash River, the southeasterly limit of the abandoned Canadian Pacific Railway right-of-way, where it crosses the northeastern arm of the West Branch Musquash River, and the southerly limit of Route 1, where it crosses the East Branch Musquash River; Zone 2A, consisting of waters that are within an area bounded by the low-water line of the estuary and by the following rhumb lines to their respective points of intersection with the low-water line, namely, a line connecting points at 45°11′19.63″ N, 66°15′37.35″ W and 45°11′23.96″ N, 66°15′33.38″ W, and a line connecting points at 45°08′47.00″ N, 66°15′11.00″ W and 45°09′08.91″ N, 66°13′55.87″ W; Zone 2B, consisting of waters that are within an area known as Gooseberry Cove and bounded by the low-water line of the cove and by a rhumb line, to its points of intersection with the low-water line, connecting points at 45°08′28.46″ N, 66°15′12.23″ W and 45°08′14.39″ N, 66°15′35.50″ W; and Zone 3, consisting of waters that are within an area bounded by the low-water line of the estuary and by the following rhumb lines to their respective points of intersection with the low-water line, namely, a line connecting points at 45°08′47.00″ N, 66°15′11.00″ W and 45°09′08.91″ N, 66°13′55.87″ W, a line connecting points at 45°08′28.46″ N, 66°15′12.23″ W and 45°08′14.39″ N, 66°15′35.50″ W, and a line connecting points at 45°08′14.39″ N, 66°15′35.50″ W and 45°08′35.60″ N, 66°14′16.77″ W. In the Area, no person shall disturb, damage or destroy, or remove from the Area, any living marine organism or any part of its habitat; or carry out any activity — including depositing, discharging or dumping any substance, or causing any substance to be deposited, discharged or dumped — that is likely to result in the disturbance, damage, destruction or removal of a living marine organism or any part of its habitat. Despite subsection (1), a person may carry out any activity excepted under section 4 or any scientific, educational, archaeological, commercial tourism or habitat restoration activity for which a plan is approved under section 6. The following activities may be carried out in the Area: the following fishing activities, namely, fishing that is carried out in accordance with the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations, any of the following recreational fishing activities carried out in accordance with the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985 or the Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations, namely, manually fishing for scallops or clams, and fishing for any other species by means of angling or a dip net, and any of the following commercial fishing activities carried out in accordance with the Atlantic Fishery Regulations, 1985 or the Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations, namely, in Zone 1, fishing for elvers or eels by means of a hand-deployed fyke net or dip net, in Zone 2A, 2B or 3, fishing for lobster by means of individual traps and for herring by means of a weir, beach seine, bar seine or drag seine, in Zone 3, fishing for scallops, and in any Zone, manually fishing for clams; in Zone 2A, 2B or 3, the recreational or commercial harvesting of dulse manually; the operation of a vessel in Zone 2A or 2B at a speed no greater than five knots or in Zone 3 at a speed no greater than eight knots; in Zone 2A, the construction of a boat launch, the maintenance, repair or removal of a wharf or boat launch or the maintenance of a navigation channel, for which approval or authorization is not required under the New Brunswick Clean Water Act, S.N.B. 1989, c. C-6.1, the Canadian Navigable Waters Act or the Fisheries Act, as the case may be, or that is carried out in accordance with an approval or authorization required under any of those Acts; and any activity that is carried out for the purpose of public safety, national defence, national security or law enforcement or in response to an emergency. Every person who proposes to carry out a scientific, educational, archaeological, commercial tourism or habitat restoration activity in the Area shall submit to the Minister for approval, not less than 60 days before the day on which the activity is proposed to begin, a plan that contains the following information and documents: the name, address and telephone number and, if applicable, the facsimile number and electronic mail address of a person who can be contacted in respect of the plan; a detailed description of the proposed activity that sets out its purpose, the period or periods during which it is to be carried out, a map on which its location is identified, the types of data that are to be collected, if any, and the sampling protocols or other techniques to be used to collect the data, the types of equipment, if any, that are to be used during the proposed activity, including those for gathering data and, if any of the equipment is to be anchored or moored in the Area, the methods by which the anchoring or mooring is to be conducted, the type and identity of every vessel that is to be used to carry out the proposed activity, and every substance, if any, that is to be deposited, discharged or dumped within the Area during the proposed activity; an assessment of the environmental effects that are likely to occur within the Area as a result of the proposed activity; and a list of every licence, permit, authorization or consent obtained or applied for in respect of the proposed activity. The Minister shall, within 30 days after the day on which a plan that is submitted in accordance with section 5 is received, approve the plan if the proposed activity is not likely to damage or destroy the habitat of a living marine organism in the Area and, in the case of a habitat restoration activity, the proposed activity is to be carried out for the purpose of managing the Area. Despite subsection (1), the Minister shall not approve a plan if the cumulative environmental effects of the proposed activity, in combination with any other past and current activities carried out within the Area, are likely to damage or destroy the habitat of living marine organisms in the Area. Every person involved in an accident that is likely to result in any prohibited activity shall, within two hours after its occurrence, report the accident to the Canadian Coast Guard. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.