Terms of Reference

Design Strategies for the Western Arctic Biogeographic Region Marine Protected Area Network (Part 1)

Regional Peer Review – Central and Arctic Region

May 8, 2018
Winnipeg, MB
Teleconference and WebEx

Chairperson: Joclyn Paulic

Context

Canada has committed to establishing a national network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in support of integrated coastal and oceans management. Under the National Conservation Plan, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is responsible for coordinating the development of MPA networks, one within each of the five DFO regions across Canada. The Western Arctic Biogeographic Region (WAB), within DFO’s Central and Arctic Region has been identified as one of the priority areas for the development of a MPA network plan.

An MPA Network is a collection of individual marine protected areas that operate synergistically to achieve an overarching conservation goal(s) that would benefit the ecosystem more than any one individual site. The network consists of a broad range of protection measures (e.g., fishery closure, MPA) that operate at various spatial scales. Guidance on bioregional MPA network planning is set out in the National Framework for Canada’s Network of MPAs, the Framework for a Pan-Arctic Network of Marine Protected Areas, and the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties Decision IX/20.

In order to achieve a scientifically defensible MPA network a regional approach must be developed to achieve the desired goals and objectives (i.e., design strategy). The design strategy describes the types of features to be conserved, the relative targets for those area types, and identifies a methodology which can be applied. This is achieved by defining the specific species, habitat or other ecological features that the network aims to protect (i.e., conservation priorities), the specific and measurable operational objective to indicate the desired state for each priority and an appropriate treatment method to incorporate the specific attributes of network design.

As part of the steps to design the WAB regional MPA network, DFO Science has provided advice on the identification of EBSAs (DFO 2014), national guidance on the development of MPA networks (DFO 2010, 2013), and the delineation of WAB representative coastal and marine eco-units (DFO 2015). Additionally, an overarching MPA network conservation objective for the WAB was provided within the DFO (2015) advice: “to ensure as much as possible that ecosystems and ecosystem services of the Western Arctic Bioregion remain healthy and productive for future generations”. Finally, DFO Science has also recently provided advice on the identification of ecologically significant species, functional groups and community properties (ESSCP) for consideration as conservation priorities within the MPA network design (DFO 2018).

DFO Oceans has requested that DFO Science develop a design strategy methodology to address the conservation priorities, set conservation targets, provide recommendations on the types of areas to be protected and ensure that the requirements to achieve the Operational Objectives are adequately captured within the MPA network design.  Additional guidance on how to incorporate specific attributes of network design principles is also requested.

Objective

The request for Science Advice to develop MPA Network design strategies will be addressed in a two part meeting. The objectives of Part 1 of this Science Advisory Process are to:

1. provide an information session on the DFO National Framework for Marine Protected Area Networks in Canada and an update of the regional MPA network planning process;
2. provide an overview of the conservation priorities identified for the WAB MPA network;
3. review available information (including geospatial) to identify data requirements (e.g., species distribution, migration routes, proxies, habitat mapping) to support the development of targets for conservation priorities (e.g., life history features) in the WAB; and,
4. develop the work plan and Terms of Reference for Part 2 of this process.

Expected Publications

• Proceedings

Expected Participation

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) (Science and Ecosystems and Fisheries Management sectors)
• Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Academia
• Other invited experts

References

DFO. 2010. Science Guidance on the Development of Networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2009/061.

DFO. 2013. Science Guidance on how to Achieve Representativity in the Design of Marine Protected Area Networks. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep.2012/083.

DFO. 2014. Re-evaluation of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) in the Beaufort Sea. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2014/052.

DFO. 2015. Eco-units and potential Priority Conservation Areas in the Western Arctic Bioregion. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2015/021.

DFO. 2018.  Identification of Ecologically Significant Species, Functional Groups and Community Properties for the Western Arctic Biogeographic Region. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2018/019.