Terms of Reference

National Workshop on the Development of Precautionary Approach frameworks for Canadian Shrimp and Prawn Stock

November 26-27, 2008
Crowne Plaze Hotel, 101 Lyon Street, Ottawa (Ballroom B)

Chairpersons: Ghislain Chouinard and Max Stanfield / Barry Rashotte
Coordinators: Jean Landry and Lisa Setterington

Context

Canada is committed domestically and internationally to use the precautionary approach (PA) in managing its fisheries. PA compliant fisheries are also required for third party eco-certification, which is being sought by an increasing number of fisheries throughout the world. This includes Canadian shrimp fisheries. As an example, Eastern Newfoundland and Labrador Northern shrimp and Eastern Scotian Shelf shrimp became certified in 2008 by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) with specific conditions requiring progress being made in terms of implementation of the PA within the second year of certification.

In May 2008, a special National working group, co-lead by DFO Science and Fisheries and Aquaculture Management (FAM), was established to develop the elements of the PA frameworks for Canadian shrimp and prawn fisheries. This working group included two experts from the shrimp and prawn fishing industries. The objective was to provide the necessary guidance for the development of PA compliant shrimp fisheries in keeping with new Departmental policy and according to the timelines related to the fisheries under eco-certification and affected by PA-related conditions.

The fundamental principles that guided the work done by this special working group came from two key documents produced by DFO: 1) the Science Advisory Report 2006/023 that identifies the minimal requirements for harvesting strategies to be compliant with the PA; and 2) the new Decision-Making Framework Incorporating the PA, completed by FAM in 2008 as a policy document to guide the incorporation of PA principles in the management of Canadian fisheries.

The approach adopted by the working group was to first conduct the necessary preparatory work through conference calls and a face-to-face meeting in September 2008 to consolidate the information available. The November 2008 workshop has been planned in order to integrate a broader range of views from industry and to go a step forward in the development of a PA framework specific to each fishery.

Objectives of the November workshop

This workshop provides a unique opportunity to:

• discuss the essential elements in the Fishery Decision-making Framework Incorporating the PA (i.e. the PA framework) in a forum with Resource Managers, Scientists and fishing industry representatives and;
• examine the most current information available on the PA framework elements for each Canadian shrimp and prawn stock/fishery based on the work completed up to now by the National working group.

It is not the intent to finalize the PA frameworks elements (e.g. reference points, harvest decision rules) for these fisheries during the November workshop. It is recognized that further work and processes may be required to complete the development and the implementation of framework specific to each stock/fishery. Rather, the objective of the workshop, in this regard, is to make the best use of the time and opportunity to advance the development of the frameworks as far as possible. In regards to the fisheries affected by PA-related certification conditions, the workshop should be considered as one step forward to address the condition requiring that “Further work should be undertaken to develop and implement reference points based on stock biology, fishery characteristics and the limitations of the available data.”

Expected outcomes

It is expected that the final PA frameworks developed for each stock/fishery will correspond to a comprehensive set of reference points, removal references and harvest decision rules. These frameworks must also respect key principles such as being based on the best scientific information currently available, integrating the particularities of each stock/fishery in a way that will make the various frameworks across the country consistent with each other and being defendable in terms of international and domestic requirements related to the PA.

The outcomes of the November workshop should provide the necessary guidance to allow the completion and the implementation of the individual frameworks within the regions, according to the regional priorities identified for each fishery and established in collaboration with stakeholders. In the coming months, NHQ and the regions will be discussing timelines for completing this work in the context of an overall approach to advance and implement the PA framework in Canadian fisheries.

Proposed approach and documentation for the meeting

Each regional team (Science and FAM) will prepare a presentation covering the key aspects (e.g. biological information, management context, potential approach to define a PA framework for the stock/fishery of concern, key gaps, further necessary work, expected timelines to complete the work, etc.). The results of the preliminary work accomplished by the working group since May 2008 will be part of this information along with any other findings considered relevant. These presentations will be followed by discussions to integrate the views from industry, managers and scientists to ensure that all key aspects are taken into account for each stock/fishery.

Specific presentations are also planned on more generic topics related to the precautionary approach (e.g. General overview of the principles of the precautionary approach and of the new DFO fishery decision-making framework, Effects of changes in shrimp stocks productivity, etc.).

Documentation distributed in advance of the meeting will include the Science advice identifying the fundamental requirements of the PA and a synthesis of the work accomplished by the national working group since May 2008.

Participants

Approximately 40 participants are expected to attend the workshop including experts from DFO Science and FAM from each region and more than 15 participants from industry/co-management groups.

Documentation of the results

A Proceeding of the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) is expected and possibly other CSAS publications depending of the outcomes of the meeting.