Science Advisory Report 2020/003

Review of monitoring activities in the Basin Head Marine Protected Area in the context of their effectiveness in evaluating attainment of conservation objectives

Summary

• The Basin Head physical conditions, pre-dating the Irish moss collapse, are not fully described. Sedimentation and infilling have led to some of the most important structural changes in Basin Head, impacting the hydrodynamics of the lagoon that modify the suitability of the habitat for Irish moss.
• The monitoring program should be focused on indicators that are good integrators of ecosystem conditions and that have direct links to Irish moss itself or the ecosystem components associated with Irish moss persistence and recovery.
• A number of current monitoring activities are considered adequate for the purpose of assessing the attainment of conservation objectives. Modifications to some monitoring activities and several new monitoring initiatives are proposed.
• Point sampling of many variables (water chemistry, nutrients) as previously conducted is generally inefficient and not very informative of conditions that ultimately affect abundance and maintenance of Irish moss.
• Individual field sampling techniques can provide data for several indicators and conservation objectives simultaneously.
• Cost considerations override many monitoring choices as does the complexity of the many potential sampling and sample analysis techniques.
• The capacity and training of the local watershed group that has contributed to the field monitoring as well as field logistic constraints within Basin Head MPA must be taken into account when developing monitoring activities.

This Science Advisory Report is from the June 11-12, 2019 regional science peer review meeting of the review of monitoring activities in the Basin Head Marine Protected Area in the context of their effectiveness in evaluating attainment of conservation objectives. Additional publications from this meeting will be posted on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science Advisory Schedule as they become available.

Science Advisory Report 2020/003 (PDF, 1,046 KB)