Terms of Reference

Framework to support decisions on authorizing scientific surveys with bottom contact gears in protected areas with defined benthic conservation objectives

National Peer Review

January 16-18, 2018
Ottawa, Canada

Chairperson: Lisa Setterington and Gérald Chaput

Context

The Government of Canada committed to and accomplished increasing the protected coastal and marine areas of Canada to 5% by 2017, on the way to achieving 10% by 2020, as part of the agreed Aichi Biodiversity Target 11. To achieve this goal, networks of marine protected areas and other effective area based conservation measures are being implemented. Many of these protected areas have valued benthic components with defined conservation objectives. Sensitive benthic area closures, such as coral and sponge conservation areas, are part of the other effective area based conservation measures being considered. The development of coral and sponge conservation areas is intended to facilitate the conservation and protection of cold water coral and sponge communities and their habitats.

A number of marine protected areas and existing and proposed sensitive benthic area closure boundaries overlap with historical fishing areas and scientific survey areas that provide information for the assessment of Canadian fish stocks by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). The fishing industry may be prohibited from using bottom contact fishing gears in marine protected areas that include benthic conservation objectives or other conservation closures for sensitive benthic areas. In many DFO regions, scientific surveys using bottom contact gears have been conducted for several decades in recently defined protected areas and data from these surveys are the foundation of the species specific and ecosystem assessments that have been used to identify the valued ecosystem components and the sensitive benthic areas currently being defined by the Government of Canada.

DFO Oceans Management has requested advice on the conditions under which scientific research surveys with bottom contact gears may be authorized for sampling in protected areas with defined benthic conservation objectives. If bottom contact scientific research surveys are to be allowed in these areas, an assessment of the impact of the activities on the defined conservation objectives and the importance of including / excluding the protected areas within the scientific survey protocols are required. The question is to what extent the current science research survey practices will have to be adapted to mitigate the damage caused by bottom contacting mobile trawls or other related science survey activities when sampling in protected areas with defined sensitive benthic features.

The impacts of scientific surveys on the sensitive benthic areas and the importance of the protected area to the integrity of the historical time series from the scientific survey will be case specific. The decision on whether or not bottom contact scientific surveys will be authorized in these protected and sensitive benthic areas is the responsibility of DFO Oceans Management. To assist in this decision making process, DFO Science proposes to develop a national framework with an agreed set of assessment criteria that can be applied consistently across Canada to assess existing and proposed scientific activities for their impact to the benthic components of protected areas and sensitive benthic areas and to assess the time series value of the scientific survey designs and protocols that include sampling in these protected areas.

Objective

The objectives of the science peer review meeting are to develop a framework that can be used to assess the impacts of scientific surveys in protected areas and sensitive benthic areas relative to the broader ecosystem information value of the scientific surveys. The development of the framework would benefit from specific case study assessments to ensure workability and appropriateness of the framework. Specifically, the meeting will review:

• development of descriptors of the features of the important benthic components that are vulnerable to the bottom contact gears; these could include sensitivity to disturbance (structure), mobility, resilience, generation time, etc.;
• development of criteria to assess scale and scope of impact of the scientific activity (for example proportion of protected area potentially impacted, frequency of surveys, seasonality, type of gear used), including the impact on achieving conservation goals;
• development of criteria to assess the consequences of excluding / modifying survey protocols and design on the integrity of the time series information on ecosystem components under study, including the monitoring of valued benthic and ecosystem components in the protected area, and on the reliability of harvest advice; and
• guidance on applying the framework to specific cases.

Expected Publications

• Science Advisory Report
• Proceedings
• Research Documents

Expected Participation

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) (Ecosystems and Oceans Science, Ecosystems and Fisheries Management)
• Academia
• Invited experts