Terms of Reference

Application of an Ecological Risk Assessment Framework to Inform Ecosystem-based Management for SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount and Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Areas

Regional Peer Review - Pacific Region

February 11-13, 2014
Nanaimo, BC

Chairperson: John Holmes

Context

Canada's Oceans Act and Oceans Strategy commit Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to lead the development and implementation of a sustainable, precautionary and integrated ecosystem approach to oceans management.  An important step toward meeting these commitments is the application of a risk-based framework to  identify and prioritize management issues and inform the development of conservation objectives, management strategies and action plans for Large Ocean Management Areas (LOMAs) and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

An Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (ERAF) was developed by a team of DFO Oceans and Science staff in Pacific Region (O et al., unpublished manuscript¹) and reviewed at a Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat-Pacific (CSAP) Regional Peer Review (RPR) meeting in May 2012 (DFO 2012).  A Regional Peer Revie of a pilot project applying the Level 1 methodology in the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) in June 2013 (DFO, in press) concluded that the Level 1 risk assessment performed well in identifying relative risk to significant ecosystem components (SECs) and in providing information on the drivers of risk to SECs.  A Level 1 risk assessment is a triage approach best suited to assessing relative risk at LOMA spatial scales, where the list of potential SECs and activities/stressors is large and broad-scale data availability may be limited. A Level 2 risk assessment is a semi-quantitative method best suited to local or regional scales within a LOMA or on specific SECs of interest because the data requirements (quantity and quality) are much higher than for a Level 1 assessment (DFO, in press).

The identification of indicators, monitoring protocols and strategies to assess the achievement of the conservation objectives (COs) is a key component of MPA planning and implementation in Canadian Pacific marine waters.   Building on earlier review processes that provided Science advice for identifying indicators in Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents (EHV) (DFO 2011a) and to SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount (SK-B) (DFO 2011b) MPAs, the goals of the present RPR are to evaluate the structure and performance of the Level 2 ERAF methodology relative to the prototype ERAF (O et al. unpublished manuscript¹) and to develop a list of SECs for each MPA ranked by their estimated risk scores resulting from exposure to human activities/stressors.  The activities/stressors driving the risk scores will inform the development of monitoring plans for each MPA and the ranked list of SECs are intended to support decision-making concerning indicators to monitor progress against the achievement of conservation objectives in each MPA.

Objectives

The following working papers will provide the basis for discussion and advice respecting the objectives outlined below.

Thornborough, K. and O, M. 2014. Ecological Risk Assessment for the Effects of Human Activities at Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area.  CSAP Working Paper.

Rubidge, E. and O, M. 2014. Ecological Risk Assessment for the Effects of Human Activities at SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount Risk Assessment Marine Protected Area.  CSAP Working Paper.

Specific objectives of this review are to:

1. Evaluate operational changes to the Level 2 ERAF prototype methodology to address gaps in structural components of the methodology such as scoring metrics, cumulative risks, and assumptions affecting scoring metrics (e.g. the nature of biological effects, the recovery time of ecosystem components, etc.);
2. Evaluate operational changes to the Level 2 ERAF prototype that address uncertainty in biological data inputs such as a lack of spatial/temporal data for some species, habitats, and communities;
3. Evaluate the consistency in the application of the Level 2 ERAF methodology to SGaan Kinghlas- Bowie Seamount and Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents MPAs;
4. Provide advice on the rankings of SECs based on their risk scores and the drivers of risk (activities/stressors, uncertainty) for SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount and Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents MPAs;
5. Provide advice regarding next steps for indicator development using the lists of ranked SECs and drivers of risk in each MPA; and
6. Identify any remaining information gaps and potential approaches to address these gaps.

Expected Publications

• CSAS Science Advisory Report (1);
• CSAS Research Documents (2); and
• CSAS Proceedings.

Participation

• DFO: Science, Oceans, Fisheries Protection, Species at Risk, Fisheries Management;
• DFO Risk Assessment Center of Expertise;
• DFO Ecosystem management;
• Environment Canada;
• Parks Canada;
• Council of the Haida Nation;
• First Nations;
• Universities;
• Environmental Non-governmental organizations;
• Fishing Industry;
• Province of BC;
• National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

References

DFO. In press. Pilot application of an ecological risk assessment framework to inform ecosystem-based management in the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area.  DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. In press.

DFO. 2012. Risk-based assessment framework to identify priorities for ecosystem-based oceans management in the Pacific region. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2012/044.

DFO. 2011a. Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area Monitoring Indicators, Protocols and Strategies. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2011/035.

DFO. 2011b. SGaan Kinghlas-Bowie Seamount Marine Protected Area Monitoring Indicators, Protocols and Strategies. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2011/036.

¹O, M., Martone, R., Hannah, L., Greig, L., Boutillier, B. and Patton, S. 2013. An Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (ERAF) for Ecosystem-based Oceans Management in the Pacific Region. Draft Research Document.