Proceedings 2012/035
Proceedings of the Zonal Advisory Process for Smooth Skate and Thorny Skate Pre-COSEWIC meeting; January 11-13, 2011
Chairperson: K. Clarke
Summary
A Regional Advisory Process (RAP) for the Smooth Skate and Thorny Skate Pre-COSEWIC Peer Review Meeting was held on 11-13 January 2011 at the Comfort Inn, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). The requirement for a Pre-COSEWIC peer review meeting is triggered when COSEWIC (Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, a non-government scientific advisory body that has been established under Section 14(1) of the Species at Risk Act, SARA) schedules a species to be assessed for the risk of extinction, the scientific basis for listing a species under SARA. The assessment initiates a regulatory process whereby the competent Minister must decide whether or not to accept COSEWIC’s assessment and add a species to Schedule 1 of SARA, which would result in legal protection for the species under the Act. If the species is already on Schedule 1 of SARA, the Minister may decide to keep the species on the list, reclassify it as per the COSEWIC assessment, or to remove it from the list (Section 27 of SARA). Two species of skate, Smooth Skate (Malacoraja senta) and Thorny Skate (Amblyraja radiata) have been scheduled by COSEWIC for assessment. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), as a key repository of information on marine species, is to provide COSEWIC with the best information available to ensure that an accurate assessment of the status of a species can be undertaken and a Pre-COSEWIC evaluation is completed to provide the information.
The purpose of this Pre-COSEWIC meeting was to peer-review DFO information relevant to the COSEWIC status assessment for Malacoraja senta and Amblyraja radiata in Canadian waters, considering data related to the status and trends of, and threats to these species inside and outside of Canadian waters, and the strengths and limitations of the information. This information will be made available to COSEWIC, the author(s) of the species status report, and the co-chairs of the applicable COSEWIC Species Specialist Subcommittee.
Participants included DFO staff from Science (NL, Gulf, Maritimes, and National Capital regions), Fisheries and Aquaculture Management (NL Region), and Species at Risk Management (NL Region), as well as representatives from the Marine Institute of Memorial University, The University of New England, Fisheries, Food and Allied Workers Union (FFAW) and the COSEWIC author. The meeting rapporteur was Dr. F. Mowbray.
These proceedings contain a summary of presentations made during the meeting and the summaries of related discussions. Included as appendices are the Terms of Reference, agenda, and a list of participants.
Additional information on this Pre-COSEWIC is available in the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Research Document series.
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