Quebec government’s unannounced withdrawal of a segment of a proposed marine protected area (MPA) in the St. Lawrence Estuary near Saguenay, QC is concerning. During initial MPA studies, this area was found to be ecologically significant and includes important nursery areas for capelin and rainbow smelt, important food for beluga.

IMMAs are discrete portions of habitat, important for marine mammal species, that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation.

A third of the world's cetaceans - whales, dolphins and porpoises - are still threatened with extinction.

So-called “ghost gear”, fishing equipment which is lost in the sea, can continue killing marine life for decades or even centuries after it first enters the ocean, making it the most deadly form of marine plastic debris. WWF is calling on governments to develop a legally binding global plastic pollution treaty that addresses this fundamental threat to marine wildlife.