Science Response 2020/027

Identifying Potential Pacific Sand Lance Burying Habitat in the Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area

Context

The Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area is the first protected marine area established under the Canada Wildlife Act. The conservation objective of the Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area (SImNWA) is to conserve migratory seabirds and species at risk as well as their habitats, ecosystem linkages, and marine resources that support these species for the long term.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has committed to developing a new fisheries regulation under the Fisheries Act to restrict fisheries that pose a risk to the conservation objectives of the SImNWA. The proposed regulation will:

1. prohibit fishing of three key forage fish species that serve as a food source for seabirds (Pacific sand lance, Pacific saury and North Pacific krill); 
2. prohibit groundfish bottom trawling within portions of the area consistent with the existing groundfish trawl footprint; and
3. prohibit salmon gill net and seine fishing in the SImNWA.
4. DFO has committed to develop this regulation for pre-publication in Canada Gazette I by 30 June 2020.

This Science Response (SR) will focus on the Pacific sand lance, an important seabird forage fish (Hedd et al 2006) that lacks a swim bladder and is highly dependent upon suitable sandy substrates for burying themselves in the sea floor (Robinson et al. 2013). The substrate dependence highlights the need for assessing possible spatial and temporal overlap with bottom contact fishing in the SImNWA. The SR will summarize the best available seabed and sand lance discarded catch data and identify (map) potentially suitable subtidal burying habitats. The substrate and discarded fish catch data will then be used to assess the potential spatial and temporal overlap between the bottom trawl footprint and Pacific sand lance habitat.

Advice used from this SR will be used to inform future fisheries restrictions where the fishery poses a risk to the conservation objectives of the SImNWA.  Advice will also be used to inform the development of research and/or fisheries mitigation measures for the Scott Islands marine NWA Management Plan in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada, Indigenous groups, other partners and stakeholders.

Objectives

1. To summarize the best available seabed and sand lance commercial discarded catch data for the preliminary identification and mapping of potential suitable subtidal burying habitats within the SImNWA.
2. To use information from the first objective to characterize, map, and evaluate the spatial and temporal overlap between potential sand lance burying habitat and the bottom trawling footprint within the SImNWA.

This Science Response results from the Science Response Process of February 26, 2020 on Identifying Potential Pacific Sand Lance Burying Habitat in the Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area.

Science Response 2020/027 (PDF, 1,180 KB)

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