Terms of Reference

Development of risk-based Indicators for SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount and Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Areas using the Ecological Risk Assessment Framework

Regional Peer Review Process – Pacific Region

May 20-21, 2015
Nanaimo, British Columbia

Chairperson: John Holmes

Context

Canada's Oceans Act and Oceans Strategy commit Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to lead the development and implementation of a sustainable, precautionary and integrated ecosystem approach to oceans management.  An important step toward meeting these commitments is the application of a risk-based framework to identify and prioritize management issues and inform the development of conservation objectives, management strategies and action plans for Large Ocean Management Areas (LOMAs) and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

A five-step framework based on Pathways of Effects (PoE) and Ecological Risk Assessment methods was developed by DFO Science for the identification of indicators (Davies et al. 2011 a+b) and reviewed at a Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat-Pacific (CSAP) Regional Peer Review (RPR) meeting in October 2010 (DFO, 2011a+b).  A preliminary PoE was conducted for human activities currently occurring at SGaan-Kinghlas – Bowie (SK-B) (DFO, 2011a) and Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents (EHV) (DFO, 2011b) Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).  The recommendations from this preliminary work were to:

• develop measurable Conservation Objectives;
• collect baseline data to complete an Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (ERAF) of identified stressors;
• implement comprehensive reporting; and
• utilize a stressor-based indicator framework to identify appropriate indicators for monitoring the achievement of Conservation Objectives.

An ERAF was completed by DFO Oceans and Science staff in Pacific Region (O et al. 2014) and endorsed at a CSAP RPR meeting in May 2012 (DFO 2012).  Following from the ERAF development, a Regional Peer Review held in June 2013 (DFO 2014) concluded that the Level 1 (qualitative) risk assessment performed well in identifying relative risk to Significant Ecosystem Components (SECs) and in providing information on the drivers of risk to SECs.  A subsequent RPR was held in February, 2014 to evaluate the structure and performance of the semi-quantitative (Level 2) ERAF methodology relative to the prototype ERAF (O et al. 2014) and to develop a list of SECs for both the SK-B and EHV MPAs; ranked by their estimated risk scores resulting from exposure to human activities/stressors. 

The ranked lists of SECs support the development of indicators to monitor progress against the achievement of conservation objectives in each MPA.  Activities/stressors driving the risk scores inform the development of monitoring plans for each MPA. Conservation Objectives have not yet been developed for SK-B or EHV; however, the indicators proposed through this work are intended to be suitable for use once Conservation Objectives have been established.   Management plans are currently under development for SKB and EHV MPAs.

DFO Oceans Program has requested Science Branch to identify risk-based indicators for SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount (SK-B) and Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents (EHV) Marine Protected Areas. The identification of indicators, monitoring protocols and strategies to assess the achievement of the conservation objectives (COs) is a key component of MPA planning and implementation in Canadian Pacific marine waters.  

Objectives

The following working paper will be reviewed and provide the basis for discussion and advice on the specific objectives outlined below.

Thornborough, K., Dunham, J.  Development of risk-based indicators for Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents and SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount Marine Protected Areas. CSAP Working Paper 2014OCN004

The specific objectives of this review are to:

1. Assess the consistency and application of the criteria and methodology used to identify risk-based indicators based on the ERAF outputs for:
1. SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount (SK-B)
2. Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents (EHV)
2. Assess the indicator selections and their prioritization rankings for use at SK-B and EHV.
3. Assess the applicability of the proposed protocols developed for measurement of the highest ranked interactions indicators for SK-B and EHV.
4. Identify any remaining information gaps for indicators and potential approaches to address these gaps.

Expected Publications

• Science Advisory Report (2)
• Proceedings
• Research Document

Participation

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Ecosystems and Oceans Science, Fisheries Management, Science
• Council of the Haida Nation
• Province of BC
• Academia / Invited experts
• Aboriginal communities/organizations
• ENGOs
• National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association
• Fishing Industry

References

DFO, 2014.  Pilot application of an ecological risk assessment framework to inform ecosystem-based management in the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area.  DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2014/026.

DFO. 2012. Risk-based assessment framework to identify priorities for ecosystem-based oceans management in the Pacific region. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2012/044.

DFO. 2011a. Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area Monitoring Indicators, Protocols and Strategies. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2011/035.

DFO. 2011b. SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount Marine Protected Area Monitoring Indicators, Protocols and Strategies. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2011/036.

Davies, S., O, M., Boutillier, J., 2011a.  Recommendations for indicator selection for Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area.  DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2011/068. vi + 24 p.

Davies, S., O, M., Boutillier, J., 2011b.  Recommendations for indicator selection for Sgaan Kinghlas Bowie Seamount Marine Protected Area.  DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2011/069. vi + 30 p.

O, M., Martone, R., Hannah, L., Greig, L., Boutillier, B. and Patton, S. 2014. An Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (ERAF) for Ecosystem-based Oceans Management in the Pacific Region. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2014/072. vii + 59 p.