Terms of Reference

Recovery Potential Assessment of Mountain Sucker

Central and Arctic Regional Advisory Meeting

Lethbridge, Alberta
January 10, 2012 - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (MDT); and
January 11, 2012 - 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Chairperson: Kathleen Martin

Context

In November 2010, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) split Mountain Sucker (Catostomus platyrhynchus) into three populations and designated the Milk River populations as Threatened. The reason for this designation is because these populations have a small area of occupancy and number of locations (8) that make them particularly susceptible to habitat loss and degradation from altered flow regimes and drought that climate change is expected to exacerbate.

In advance of making a listing decision about whether to list Mountain Sucker on Schedule 1 as Threatened, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science has been asked to undertake a Recovery Potential Assessment (RPA). DFO Science developed the RPA framework to provide the information and scientific advice required for the Department to meet various requirements of the SARA. The information in the RPA may be used to inform both scientific and socio-economic elements of the listing decision, as well as development of a recovery strategy and action plan, and to support decision-making with regards to the issuance of permits, agreements and related conditions, as per sections 73, 74, 75, 77 and 78 of SARA.

This advisory meeting is being held to assess the recovery potential of Mountain Sucker. The resulting RPA Science Advisory Report (SAR) will summarize the historic and current understanding of the distribution, abundance and trend of this species, along with recovery targets and times to recovery while considering various management scenarios. The current state of knowledge about habitat requirements, threats to both habitat and Mountain Sucker, and measures to mitigate these impacts, will also be included in the SAR. At this stage in the SARA process for Mountain Sucker, the information in the RPA may be used to inform the listing decision, development of recovery documents and to support decision-making with regards to SARA agreements and permits.

Objectives

The intent of this meeting is to assess the recovery potential of Mountain Sucker using the RPA framework outlined in the Revised Protocol for Conducting Recovery Potential Assessments along with the advice for documenting habitat use and quantifying habitat quality (see Documenting Habitat Use of Species at Risk and Quantifying Habitat Quality). The advice will be provided to the DFO Minister for her consideration in meeting various requirements of SARA including any listing decision for this species.

Expected Publications

The meeting will generate a proceedings report summarizing the deliberations of the participants. This will be published in the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) Proceedings Series on the CSAS website. There will be CSAS Research Document(s) produced from the working paper(s) presented at the meeting. Advice from the meeting will be published in the form of a SAR.

Participation

Experts from DFO, provincial and U.S. academia will be invited to participate in this meeting.