Gulf of St. Lawrence Integrated Management Area

The Gulf of St. Lawrence Integrated Management (GOSLIM) initiative fosters coordination between the various initiatives carried out by stakeholders and authorities involved in protecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence marine environment.

The process involves:

• Identification of ecologically and biologically significant areas;
• Identification of ecologically significant species;
• Identification of conservation objectives;
• Inventory of human activities and assessment of their impact on significant areas and species;
• Identification of key management themes;
• Analysis of management measures already in place and their gaps;
• Development of action plans designed to resolve specific problems.

As this initiative unfolds, key Aboriginal organizations, industry representatives, and other stakeholders with vested interests in the projects or initiatives will be consulted in order to take into account their social, cultural, ecological and economic values into the management of human activities in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The Gulf of St. Lawrence Integrated Management Plan [PDF] - 2.2 Mb is a collaboration between federal government departments, provincial governments and Aboriginal organizations and covers a vast maritime region of Eastern Canada that encompasses the entire Gulf of St. Lawrence, including the Upper and Lower St. Lawrence estuaries.

To learn more about the Government of Canada's efforts to protect the Gulf of St. Lawrence, please visit the following resources below.

Marine Protected Areas within the Gulf of St. Lawrence Integrated Management Area

• Basin Head MPA
• Banc-des-Américains
• Protected Areas of Quebec

Proposed Future Sites

• St. Lawrence Estuary
• Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence
• Shediac Valley

Publications

• The Canada-Quebec St. Lawrence Plan (2011-2026)
• State of the Ocean 2008: Physical Oceanographic Conditions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (CSAS sar - 2009/019)
• The State of the Ocean Report for the Gulf of St. Lawrence
• Social, economic and cultural overview of western Newfoundland and southern Labrador [PDF] - 4.51 Mb
• State-of-the-ocean report for the Gulf of St. Lawrence Integrated Management (GOSLIM) Area (2012) [PDF] - 4.89 Mb
• Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence Marine Ecosystem Overview and Assessment Report [PDF] - 2.48 Mb
• Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSA) in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence: Identification and Characterization [PDF] - 279 kb
• Synopsis of the social, economic, and cultural overview of the Gulf of St. Lawrence [PDF] - 474 kb
• Social, economic, and cultural overview of the Quebec Region [PDF] - 1.2 Mb
• Social, economic and cultural overview of the Gulf region [PDF] - 1.54 Mb