[5] Plans to create it were first announced by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on October 25, 2007, in Nipigon, Ontario.

The conservation area extends 140 kilometres (87 mi) eastward from Thunder Bay,[3] from Thunder Cape in the west, at the tip of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, to Bottle Point in the east, and stretches southward to the Canada-US border, linking with Isle Royale National Park.

[10] The official designation prevents resource extraction or other operations which may damage the aquatic or terrestrial ecosystems in the conservation area.

They protect key elements of the ecosystem, while preserving the livelihoods of local residents who work in marine industries.In 2009 the Wilson Islands were purchased from private owners.

[14][15] Historic shipwrecks lie on the seabed of the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area,[16] including the Gunilda at Rossport.

[8] The shores have two areas of First Nation pictographs and Sibley Peninsula has archaeological sites from Paleoindian, archaic, and woodland settlements.