Uncertainty over marine protection areas hurts offshore investment: N.L. premier

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Newfoundland and Labrador’s premier says confusion and uncertainty over federal efforts to protect marine areas have stranded crucial offshore oil investment.

Dwight Ball says future decisions should be timely and based on good science — not pressure from what he called special interest groups.

He made the comments to the National Advisory Panel on Marine Protected Area Standards.

There are now two marine protected areas off Newfoundland and Labrador, with a third proposed for the Laurentian Channel off its southwest coast.

The panel is collecting input for a report due in September to federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc and the coast guard.

It’s to advise on developing standards for marine protected areas using guidelines from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The federal government has committed to protecting 10 per cent of Canada’s marine areas by 2020.