Canada's Ocean, Freshwater & US

Tang.ɢ̱wan – ḥačxwiqak – Tsig̱is Marine Protected Area

https://canadaoceanmap.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/33734348-white_tubeworm.jpeg
Photo: Eduardo Baena/Can Geo Photo Club
Location: West of Vancouver Island, British Columbia; Offshore Pacific bioregion
Approximate Area: 13,301,700 hectares
Date of Designation: 2024
Conservation Objectives

To conserve, protect and enhance understanding of unique seafloor features, including seamounts and hydrothermal vents, and the marine ecosystems they support in the proposed MPA.

Prohibitions

Activities that disturb, damage, destroy or remove any living marine organism or any part of its habitat or that is likely to do so are prohibited.

Why (environmental context for protection)

Tang.ɢ̱wan – ḥačxwiqak – Tsig̱is is home to a variety of marine species and a vast network of hydrothermal vents and seamounts. Hydrothermal vents and seamounts are beneficial to animals and humans, providing food, climate regulation, biochemical cycling and shelter. These geological features are found nowhere else in Canada except the Pacific Ocean, the majority of them will be in this protected area.