Terms of Reference

Marine Screening-Level Risk Assessment Protocol for Aquatic Non-Indigenous Species

National Peer Review – Maritimes Region

February 4-6, 2015
Dartmouth, NS

Chairperson: Eddy Kennedy

Context

Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) aquatic invasive species program has been tasked by the Office of the Auditor General and an internal evaluation to establish a scientifically defensible and relatively quick protocol to screen and prioritize high risk aquatic non-indigenous species (NIS). Such a protocol would benefit DFO Science in providing timely advice on risk posed by NIS newly introduced to Canadian ecosystems, including application in Rapid Response frameworks for NIS.  The national ranking of aquatic NIS, based on the biological risk they pose to Canadian aquatic ecosystems, is necessary to prioritise the allocation of funds and other resources for national and regional aquatic NIS activities.

DFO’s Ecosystem and Fisheries Management (EFM), also a client for this process, has requested science advice to support the development of a national regulatory proposal to address aquatic NIS. Specifically, they have requested: 1) a protocol to identify and prioritise high risk aquatic NIS, and 2) a list of high risk aquatic NIS including NIS not yet present and already established in Canadian waters and whose transport to “non-infected” areas should be limited.

As a result, DFO’s Centre of Expertise for Aquatic Risk Assessment (CEARA) initiated the review and development of screening-level risk assessment (SLRA) prioritization tools for aquatic NIS and associated ecosystems. These tools will allow the ranking of aquatic NIS that can inform national prioritization of NIS. As well, they can be used as biological screening tools for aquatic NIS to determine (in a short time frame) if more detailed-level risk assessment or if risk management evaluations are required based on existing information.

A national Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) science advisory process was initiated in 2011 to provide science advice on SLRA prioritization tools for freshwater and marine NIS. This process will consist of at least 3 peer-review meetings. The first (Part 1) was held in Montreal, Québec on November 22-24, 2011. For Part 1, participants compared SLRA protocols and developed a framework for a new SLRA tool for aquatic NIS, referred to as the Montreal Rapid Assessment Tool (i.e., MRAT). It was concluded that different SLRA protocols may be required for freshwater vs. marine NIS taxa and ecosystems and, hence, prioritization using a single protocol was not pursued following this initial review. Part 2 was held in Burlington, Ontario on March 19-21, 2013, where SLRA protocols were evaluated for and applied to 3 freshwater NIS taxa, namely fish, molluscs and plants, currently in trade within Canada. Part 3 will be held in Halifax, NS on February 4-6, 2015, at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography to review and evaluate (i) the performance of a newly developed marine SLRA tool (i.e., Canadian Marine Invasive Screening Tool, CMIST) to predict the risk associated with NIS already established in 3 Canadian ecoregions (Strait of Georgia, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Scotian Shelf); (ii) the statistical optimisation methods to enhance CMIST predictability and performance in predicting risk associated with NIS already established in 3 Canadian ecoregions, and (iii) the performance of CMIST in assessing the risk of NIS not yet established in the same 3 Canadian ecoregions. To date, CMIST has been developed, tested and optimized for marine invertebrate NIS only. Future work will be required to assess its applicability to prioritize other high risk NIS taxa (e.g., marine fish and algae).

Objectives

Based on the papers presented at the meeting, meeting participants will be asked to fulfill the following objectives:

1. Review the marine SLRA tool (CMIST), as well as the optimisation methods, developed for screening marine invertebrates and provide science advice on the application of the tool as a scientifically defensible and relatively quick protocol to screen and prioritize marine invertebrate NIS that are:
   • already present in Canada, and
   • not yet introduced to Canada.
      
2. If CMIST is deemed appropriate in fulfilling Objective 1 and based on the testing of CMIST to date, provide a prioritised list of higher risk marine invertebrate species of those that were assessed as well as details of why they are higher risk:
   • already present in Canada, and
   • not yet introduced to Canada.
      
3. Provide Science advice on the suitability of CMIST for marine NIS in other taxa (e.g., fish and marine plants).

Background Papers and Working papers

• Drolet, D., C. DiBacco, A. Locke, C.H. McKenzie, C.W. McKindsey, A.M. Moore, J. Webb, and T.W. Therriault. (in review) An evaluation of two screening-level risk assessment tools for non-indigenous marine invertebrates in Canadian coastal waters (includes CMIST performance for marine invertebrates not yet introduced in the 3 Canadian ecoregions).
• Drolet, D., C. DiBacco, A. Locke, C.H. McKenzie, C.W. McKindsey, and T.W. Therriault. (submitted) Optimizing screening protocols for non-indigenous species: are currently used tools over-parameterized?
• CMIST Guidance (Tool questions and guidance for scoring system).

Expected Publications

• Science Advisory Report(s)
• Proceedings

Participation

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science, Ecosystem and Fisheries Management, Policy and Economics
• Experts from other federal and provincial government departments
• Academics

References

DFO. 2014. Science advice for screening-level risk assessment protocols for nonindigenous freshwater organisms in trade in Canada. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2014/009.

DFO. 2012. Proceedings of the Meeting on Screening-Level Risk Assessment Prioritization Protocols for Aquatic Non-Indigenous Species. November 22-24, 2011. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Proceed. Ser. 2011/068.

DFO. 2014. Proceedings of the National Peer Review of Screening-Level Risk Assessment Protocols for Freshwater Non-indigenous Species; March 19-21, 2013. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Proceed. Ser. 2014/004.

Mandrak, N.E., Cudmore, B., and Chapman, P.M. 2012. National detailed-level risk assessment guidelines: assessing the biological risk of aquatic invasive species in Canada. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2011/092. vi + 15 p

Mandrak, N.E., Gantz, C., Jones, L.A., Marson, D., and Cudmore, B. 2013. Evaluation of five freshwater screening-level risk assessment protocols and application to non-indigenous organisms in trade in Canada. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2013/122 v+137 p.

Schroeder, B., Mandrak, N.E., and Cudmore, B.C. 2014. Application of a Freshwater Mollusc Risk Assessment to Non-indigenous Organisms in Trade in Canada. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2013/060.