Proceedings 2022/017

Proceedings of the Regional Peer Review on the Validation of Metrics Selected to Report on the State of Fish and Fish Habitat in the Ontario and Prairie Region Priority Areas: Part 1; June 29–30, 2021

Chairpersons: Joclyn Paulic and Glenn Benoy

Editors: Chandra Rodgers, Matthew Teillet and Adam Rego

Summary

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has committed to producing three (3) spatial or area-based reports on the State of Fish and Fish Habitat (SOFFH) in Canada by March 31, 2023. These will serve as a means of reporting on the progress of implementing a modernized Fisheries Act, and demonstrating results of a revitalized Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program (FFHPP). The FFHPP in the Ontario & Prairie (O&P) Region have selected two (2) priority areas to develop their own SOFFH reports on: the Lower Great Lakes Area in Ontario, and the Eastern Slopes Region of Alberta. Six (6) environmental indicators were selected to represent the SOFFH, and seventeen (17) metrics were proposed to inform those indicator categories. Each priority area will be divided into assessment units (e.g., tertiary watersheds). Data informing each indicator will be consolidated and the ‘state’ of each metric will be reported based on threshold classifications (e.g., Excellent, Good, Fair, Marginal, Poor) for each assessment unit. The science advice on validation of metrics and ultimately the identification of thresholds will be developed in a two-part CSAS process. This first part, held on a virtual platform on June 29–30, 2021, was a workshop to provide a preliminary review of the proposed metrics with a larger team of experts for the two priority areas and to identify feasibility and accessibility of monitoring data. The second part will be a full CSAS peer-review to identify thresholds for the validated metrics. This second part will occur at a later time.

This Proceedings report summarizes the relevant discussions and recommendations received on the indicators and metrics proposed during this first part of this CSAS process. Additional publications from this process will be posted on the DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) website as they become available.

Proceedings 2022/017 (PDF, 471 KB)

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