Terms of Reference

Standards for the release of captive marine mammals into the wild

National Peer Review - National Capital Region

April 26 and May 2, 2017
Teleconference/Webex

Chairperson: Garry Stenson

Context

Marine Mammal rehabilitation is a controversial subject and receives various levels of support and interest from the different regions in Canada. Under the Marine Mammal Regulations and the Fishery General Regulations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has the authority to license the live capture and release of marine mammals.

The release of rehabilitated or captive animals without the knowledge of all the implications of such actions and associated mitigation measures may risk serious ecological harm. For example, there is a risk that animals that have been held in captivity (i.e. sick individuals, or healthy individuals that have been held in proximity with sick animals) may, upon release, transfer diseases to otherwise healthy conspecific individuals in wild populations as well as to other species. This risk may have significant effects on wild populations, particularly species of conservation concern.

The advice will be used to establish a consistent departmental approach to the release of animals held in captivity, for rehabilitation, or for the temporary display of marine mammals. Once the advice (including the specific conditions necessary for the release of marine mammals) is produced, it will become the guideline for all the external stakeholders involved with marine mammal rehabilitation/release in order to be licensed by the Department.  For Canadian species listed/designated as at risk (as well as other species), the rehabilitation and release of individuals can improve our knowledge on their biology, which in turn could be used to improve management.

Objectives

The objectives are to evaluate the risks and benefits to wild marine mammal populations of releasing rehabilitated or captive marine mammals back into the environment.  In summarizing the potential risks, we will provide recommendations on protocols and screening procedures that would identify how to mitigate these risks.  This information will be used to build a risk management approach with appropriate mitigation measures to be followed in the release of rehabilitated or captive marine mammal situations.

Specifically, the review will evaluate:

1. Whether protocols and screening procedures currently used by other countries (such as the US and Netherlands, for example) to make decisions with regard to the release of marine mammals are adequate for use in Canada, or whether they should be modified for use in Canada, and recommending protocols and screening procedures to mitigate potential effects on wild populations in Canada (i.e. the risk of disease transfer from released captives to wild populations);
2. The risks influencing the survival of rehabilitated or captive animals upon release; and,
3. The recommended guidelines (e.g. age-, sex-, size-, species-specific) to maximize the probability of individual survival after release into the environment.

Expected Publications

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

Participation

• DFO Ecosystems and Oceans Science, and Ecosystems and Fisheries Management sectors
• University of Calgary
• University of Montreal
• Marine Mammal Center
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• University of Prince Edward Island
• Vancouver Aquarium

Reference

Measures, L.M. 2004. Marine mammals and “wildlife rehabilitation” programs. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2004/122. ii + 35 p.