Terms of Reference

An assessment to support decisions on authorizing scientific surveys with bottom-contacting gears in protected areas in the Newfoundland and Labrador Bioregion

Regional Peer Review – Newfoundland and Labrador Region

October 5-9, 2020
Virtual Meeting

Co-Chairs: Nadine Wells and Christina Bourne

Context

In 2019, the Government of Canada introduced a plan to conserve 25% of Canada’s oceans by 2025, and work towards conserving 30% by 2030. This came after Prime Minister Trudeau announced that Canada had surpassed its marine conservation target of protecting 10% of Canada’s marine and coastal areas on August 1, 2019. Under Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) mandate, Canada established Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) under the Oceans Act and Marine Refuges (MRs) under the Fisheries Act, including three MPAs and five MRs in the Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Region. In addition to this, the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) has established fisheries closures in the NAFO Regulatory Area, including the nose and tail of the Grand Bank, to protect corals and sponges in an analogous manner to DFO’s MPAs and MRs.

In 2019, the Government of Canada adopted new national protection standards for MPAs and MRs. For MPAs, these standards prohibit four industrial activities: oil and gas, mining, dumping, and mobile bottom trawling. For MRs, DFO will use a risk-based approach for prohibiting or limiting activities, which will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In both types of areas, some activities will be allowed if they are consistent with the conservation objectives of the area. For example, proposed scientific activities will be assessed by regional managers based on the risk posed to the conservation objectives and will require approval of an Activity Plan, which outlines the survey methods and design, potential impacts to the area, and any avoidance and mitigation measures that will be used.

In the NL Region, DFO Science conducts several bottom-contacting surveys that can have an impact on conservation objectives in MPAs and MRs. While most surveys are conducted by DFO Science staff, some are carried out by industry partners. These surveys include the multispecies Research Vessel (RV) survey, which has been a mainstay since the early‑1970s, the Collaborative Post-season (CPS) trap survey, conducted for Snow Crab since 2003, and the Unit 2 Redfish survey, conducted biennially since 2000. The RV survey provides information on species distribution, biomass, and abundance for various groundfish and invertebrate species, as well as other biological (e.g., growth rates, maturation schedules, diet, etc.) and physical information (e.g. bottom temperature and salinity). The CPS trap survey also provides information on Snow Crab distribution, biomass, catch rates, and size frequency distributions to complement the RV survey. The Redfish survey provides information on species distribution, biomass, and size frequency distributions and is the only survey index used in the assessment of the Unit 2 portion of the Units 1 and 2 Redfish stock. Data from all three surveys represent a critical component of DFO’s science-based monitoring and advice, including stock, ecosystem, and environmental assessments. Since the RV survey also samples within NAFO fisheries closures outside the Canada’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and considering that most indices integrate information from both domestic and international waters, the NAFO closures will also be considered for this process as analogous to MRs.

In 2018, DFO Science developed a national framework with an agreed set of assessment criteria that can be applied consistently across Canada to assess the impact of existing and proposed scientific activities on the benthic components of protected and sensitive benthic areas, as well as to assess the time-series value of the scientific survey designs and protocols that include sampling in these protected areas (DFO 2018). Following this process, the Gulf Region applied the framework to their own scientific surveys with bottom-contacting gears (Benoit et al. 2020, DFO 2020). DFO Science in the NL Region will carry out a similar process to assess the impacts that scientific surveys with bottom-contacting gears have on protected areas, to examine the implications of excluding surveys in these areas, and to review the benefits of survey activities as well as potential mitigation measures that could reduce or eliminate their impacts. This information will inform future scientific survey activities, as well as provide a basis for the development and assessment of subsequent Activity Plans.

Objectives

1. An evaluation of the potential significant adverse impacts of bottom-contacting scientific surveys on conservation objectives within protected areas.
2. An evaluation of the potential implications for science advice (e.g. on stock assessments, ecosystem assessments, climate studies, long-term monitoring, etc.) if bottom-contacting scientific surveys are excluded from protected areas.
3. A review of:
• the benefits and limitations of bottom-contacting scientific surveys to the monitoring and management of protected areas and each of their corresponding conservation objectives; and
• the implications for science advice on the ability to monitor whether protected areas are achieving their conservation objectives if bottom-contacting scientific surveys are excluded from protected areas.
4. A review of potential mitigation measures or actions that could reduce or eliminate the impact of bottom-contacting scientific surveys in protected areas as per DFO 2018/043 guidance.

Expected Publications

• Science Advisory Report
• Proceedings
• Research Document

Expected Participation

• DFO Science, Ecosystems Management and Fisheries Management Branches
• Province of Newfoundland and Labrador - Department of Fisheries and Land Resources
• Academia
• Indigenous groups
• Industry
• Non-governmental organizations
• Other invited experts

References

Benoit, H.P., Asselin, N.C., Surette, T., and Juillet, C. 2020. An assessment to support decisions on authorizing scientific surveys with bottom-contacting gears in protected areas in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res Doc. 2020/007. Xi+ 80 p.

DFO 2018. Framework to support decisions on authorizing scientific surveys with bottom-contacting gears in protected areas with defined benthic conservation objectives. Can. Sci. Adv. Sec. Sci. Adv. Rep. 2018/043.

DFO 2020. Assessment to support decisions on authorizing scientific surveys with bottom-contacting gears in protected areas in the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Can. Sci. Adv. Sec. Sci. Resp. 2020/013.