A ''zone d'exploitation contrôlée'' (in French; acronym ZEC) is a "Controlled harvesting zone" located in public lands areas of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. ZECs are a system of territorial infrastructures set up in 1978 by the

Government of Quebec A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

to take over from private hunting, fishing and trapping clubs (as a result of "Operation wildlife management") to provide timely access to recreational activities to the general public like hunting and fishing.

Administration

They are non profit organisations managed by honorary administrators whose primary responsibility is to manage fishing and hunting activities and see to

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animal species (biology), species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous ...

conservation on their respective territories. ZEC objectives: # Wildlife conservation (hunters and anglers must report their catch) # Access to wildlife resources # User participation # Operations must be financially self-sufficient ZECs fill a much larger economic place than fishing and hunting clubs did as they also promote all types of recreational and tourism activities such as hiking, canoeing,

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

-camping, mountain-biking, rock-climbing, vacationing and cottage rental, camping, wildlife/nature observation, wild berry picking, etc. They are open to all recreational enthusiasts and reservations are generally not required.

Organisation

The 86 ZECs consist of 63 hunting and fishing areas, 22 salmon fishing areas, and one wildfowl hunting area. They are gathered in 11 regional groups whose role is to facilitate exchanges between managers from different ZECs and allow solving common problems. Four years after the first ZEC inaugurations, the Government of Quebec helped the ZEC administrators to found the ''Fédération québécoise des gestionnaires de zecs'' (FQGZ) whose role is to provide a common voice to all the ZECs at the provincial level and promote wildlife conservation.https://www.reseauzec.com/le-reseau/federation FQGZ English page was under construction at viewing October 2007

List across the Province

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zone d'exploitation controlee Tourism in Quebec Protected areas of Quebec Organizations based in Quebec Economy of Quebec Geography of Quebec