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Status and Progress on Attainment of Management Goals for American Eel

Zonal Advisory Process - Gulf, Central and Arctic, Maritimes, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec

September 2, 2010

200 Kent Street, Ottawa (ON)

Chairperson: M. Castonguay

Context

American eel (Anguilla rostrata) is a panmictic species in eastern North America. It is fished commercially, recreationally, and by aboriginal peoples in many parts of eastern Canada. American eel is also impacted by non-fishing related activities including fish passage constraints such as those associated with hydro-electric developments. In 2006, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada  (COSEWIC) assessed American Eel in Canada as “Special Concern”. A National Management Plan for American Eel in Canada has been drafted and components of the plan are being delivered by the appropriate Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) administrative regions and by the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Management agencies and stakeholders have initiated a number of measures to address threats to American eel. Fishing and hydroelectric turbines are among the mortality sources which are hypothesized to have a major impact on American eel populations. The long-term goal expressed in the draft management plan is to rebuild overall abundance of American eel in Canada to its level in the mid-1980’s, as measured by the key available abundance indices. The short-term goal is to reduce mortality of American eel from all anthropogenic sources by 50% relative to the average for the 1997-2002 period.

A request for scientific advice on the following questions has been submitted by Ecosystems and Fisheries Management Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO):

  1. What is the current status of American eel in Canada?
  2. What progress has been made toward meeting the goal of a 50% reduction in mortality relative to the baseline of average mortality in 1997-2002?
  3. What is best methodology for setting recruitment and escapement targets for a watershed or estuary/bay area, taking into account cumulative impacts.

Objectives

The objectives of the science peer review meeting are:

  1. Based on the region specific abundance indices, to assess the present status of American eel in eastern Canada relative to the objective of rebuilding the overall abundance of American eel to the level in the mid-1980’s.
  2. To describe the management measures which have been introduced in response to the objective of achieving a 50% reduction in anthropogenic mortality of American eel.
  3. To advise on the metric which should be used in the context of evaluating reductions in mortality (absolute number of animals or proportion of the stock).
  4. To the extent possible, to assess the level of mortality from all anthropogenic sources occurring on the stocks and to assess the level of mortality reduction which has been achieved.
  5. To the extent possible, to evaluate the appropriateness of the existing management measures and to advise on other measures which could be considered, and their contribution, to achieving the objectives of reducing anthropogenic mortality on American eel and rebuilding the abundance as expressed in the management plan.
  6. To the extent possible, to advise on a reference mortality level for the American eel which could be applied on a watershed, estuary/bay, regional scale to guide the management of activities which result in human-induced mortality of American eel.

Outputs

A Science Advisory Report and supporting research documents are expected outputs of the meeting. As well, a proceedings report that summarizes the review of the working papers during the meeting will be produced.

The Science Advisory Report is expected to be produced within eight weeks of the meeting. The supporting research documents and proceedings document are expected within four months of the date of the meeting.

When finalized, the products from the meeting will be posted on the DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat website.

Participation

To assist in the review and the drafting of the advice, participation is expected from:

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