Tell the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans: Urgent protection needed for Howe Sound’s Glass Sponge Reefs

Thanks to your call for further research, last summer DFO confirmed five additional living glass sponge reefs in the area which are now in need of the same protections. Now, we need your help to establish equal protection for these remaining glass sponge reefs.

Once thought extinct, glass sponge reefs are a unique ecological treasure on BC’s coast. These fragile structures provide shelter for critical species like rockfish and prawns while also working to filter the ocean.

There is no time left to waste. Glass sponge reefs already face a myriad of threats including damage from fishing gear and rising ocean temperatures. This is our chance to give glass sponge reefs a shot at survival on the frontlines of a changing ocean. Will you add your voice?

Send a letter Minister Jordan, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. We’ve prepared a letter for you to start with, but we encourage you to edit it or write your own!

Here are some ways to customize your letter:

Mention your concern for the rapidly changing ocean on marine life and the community
Talk about why Howe Sound's marine ecosystem is important to you
Fishing restrictions and declining fish populations have hit some families hard. Marine reserves help ensure the future of our local fisheries. What does a healthy marine economy mean for you?

Minister

Bernadette

Jordan

Dept. of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard

Dear Minister Jordan,

I am writing to express my support for the protection of five new glass sponge reefs in Atl'ka7tsem/Howe Sound verified last year. These reefs are vital coastal ecosystems, providing homes for economically important rockfish and shrimp. Once thought extinct for tens of millions of years and only existing in the northeast Pacific Ocean, mainly off BC’s coast, these are world treasures that deserve strong protection.

I’d like to thank you for bringing attention to Howe Sound’s glass sponge reefs in your online discussions with MP Patrick Weiler last summer. I'm happy to see that you recognize their importance.

I’d also like to thank Fisheries and Oceans Canada on their previous work to create eight marine refuges in Howe Sound in 2019. These ensure the fragile reefs are kept safe from shattering by bottom-contact fishing. Buffers around the reefs will help protect them from choking from sediment disturbance. We now need these five new glass sponge reefs to be given these same protections.

Not only do these reefs benefit the economy, but they help our health and environment as well. Glass sponge reefs filter bacteria out of the marine water, and fight climate change by storing carbon on the ocean floor.

We also need to better enforce these marine refuges. Last year, a fisher was caught dropping traps on a glass sponge reef off of Sechelt. The fisher was fined, but the damage was already done. In fact, the five glass sponge reefs newly verified all had damage from previous bottom contact fishing.

Thank you for your work, and I look forward to more announcements for ocean protection in the future.

Yours sincerely,

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