Science Response 2019/033

Threat Assessment for Atlantic Mud-piddock (Barnea truncata), Canadian Population

Context

The Atlantic Mud-piddock (Barnea truncata), assessed as Threatened (COSEWIC 2009), was added to Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act (SARA) on May 3, 2017 (GoC 2017). Consequently, it is required that a proposed recovery strategy be posted on the Species at Risk Public Registry within two years of listing (SARA, s. 42[1]).

For aquatic species, SARA recovery strategies require the inclusion of a threat assessment, based on Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO’s) Guidance on Assessing Threats, Ecological Risk and Ecological Impacts for Species at Risk (DFO 2014). Threat assessments inform species listing recommendations, recovery strategies, and action plans (DFO 2014). Information on threats is needed to plan and prioritize recovery measures for the species, and to inform the regulatory and management decisions made by DFO, regarding human activities that interact with the species. Threat assessments are normally completed as part of the Recovery Potential Assessment (RPA) for the species^{Footnote 1}. In the Atlantic Mud-piddock RPA, threats were described briefly (DFO 2010); however, a threat assessment table was not completed. Since that time, new threat assessment guidance has become available (DFO 2014).

This report identifies the Threat Risks (see Table 2 for definition of “Threat Risk”) for the Atlantic Mud-piddock where it occurs in Atlantic Canadian waters. Since the species has no conservation status in other parts of its global distribution, there are no comparable risk assessments published for a comparison of threats in Atlantic Canada.

This Science Response Report results from the Science Response Process of February 16, 2018, of the Threat Assessment for Atlantic Mud-piddock (Barnea truncata).

Science Response 2019/033 (PDF, 641 KB)

Accessibility Notice

This document is available in PDF format. If the document is not accessible to you, please contact the Secretariat to obtain another appropriate format, such as regular print, large print, Braille or audio version.