Terms of Reference

Identifying Potential Pacific Sand Lance Burying Habitat in the Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area

Science Response Process – Pacific Region

February 26, 2020

Nanaimo, British Columbia
Chairperson: Dr. Cliff Robinson

Context

The Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area is the first protected marine area established under the Canada Wildlife Act. The conservation objective of the Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area (SImNWA) is to conserve migratory seabirds and species at risk as well as their habitats, ecosystem linkages, and marine resources that support these species for the long term.
The Scott Islands support the highest concentration of breeding seabirds in the Canadian Pacific, sustaining 40% of British Columbia's seabirds, including 90% of Canada's Tufted Puffins, 95% of Pacific Canada's Common Murre, 50% of the world's Cassin's Auklets and 7% of the global population of Rhinoceros Auklet. The surrounding ocean waters provide key foraging habitat for the birds that nest on the islands, including important prey species such as Pacific saury, krill and Pacific sand lance (Boutillier 2016).
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has committed to develop a new fisheries regulation under the Fisheries Act to restrict fisheries that pose a risk to the conservation objectives of the SImNWA.  The proposed regulation will:

• prohibit fishing of three key forage fish species that serve as a food source for seabirds (Pacific sand lance, Pacific saury and North Pacific krill); 
• prohibit groundfish bottom trawling within portions of the area consistent with the existing groundfish trawl footprint; and
• prohibit salmon gill net and seine fishing in the SImNWA. DFO has committed to develop this regulation for pre-publication in Canada Gazette I by 30 June 2020.

This Science Response will focus on the Pacific sand lance, an important seabird forage fish (Thayer et al. 2008) that lacks a swim bladder and is highly dependent upon suitable sandy substrates for burying (Robinson et al. 2013). The substrate dependence highlights the need for assessing possible spatial and temporal overlap with bottom contact fishing in the SImNWA.  This Science Response will summarize the best available seabed and sand lance bycatch data for identifying and mapping potentially suitable subtidal burying habitats. For example, seabed substrate will be derived by Natural Resources Canada marine geology experts interpreting acoustic backscatter collected from historic multibeam sonar surveys in the SImNWA. The substrate and fish data will then be used to assess the potential spatial and temporal overlap between the bottom trawl footprint and Pacific sand lance habitat.
Advice used from this Science Response will be used to inform future fisheries restrictions where the fishery poses a risk to the conservation objectives of the SImNWA.  Advice will also be used to inform the development of research and/or fisheries mitigation measures for the Scott Islands marine NWA Management Plan in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada, Indigenous groups, other partners and stakeholders.

Objectives

• Summarize the best available seabed data and sand lance commercial bycatch data for the preliminarily identification and mapping of potential suitable subtidal burying habitats within the SImWMA.
• Use information from objective one to characterize, map, and evaluate the spatial and temporal overlap between potential sand lance burying habitat and the bottom trawling footprint within the SImNWA.

Expected Publications

• Science Response

Expected Participation

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO: Science, Fisheries Management sectors)
• Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Natural Resources Canada
• Academia or Academics

References

Boutillier, J. 2016. Characterization and Analysis of Fisheries Related Risks to Significant Species, Habitats and Ecosystem/Community Properties within the Proposed Scott Islands marine National Wildlife Area. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2016/015. viii + 71 p.
Robinson, C.L.K., D. Hyrnyk, V. Barrie and J.F. Schweigert. 2013. Identifying subtidal burying habitat of Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) in the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia, Canada. Progress in Oceanography 115:119-128.
Thayer, J.A., D.F. Bertram, M.J. Hipfner, S.A. Hatch, L. Sater, W.J. Sydeman, and Y. Watanuki. 2008. Forage fish of the Pacific Rim as revealed by diet of a piscivorous seabird: synchrony and relationships with sea surface temperature. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 65: 1610-1622.