Science Advisory Report 2013/048

Identification of Additional Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) within the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves Bioregion

Summary

• Fifteen EBSAs were identified, delineated and described within the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves Bioregion study area. The 14 static EBSAs represent approximately 31% of the total area examined.
• In the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves Bioregion study area, three EBSAs are in coastal areas (Nain Area, Lake Melville, and Gilbert Bay); seven EBSAs are in offshore areas (Outer Shelf Saglek Bank, Outer Shelf Nain Bank, Hopedale Saddle, Labrador Slope, Labrador Marginal Trough, Notre Dame Channel, and Orphan Spur); four EBSAs straddle coastal and offshore areas (Northern Labrador, Hamilton Inlet, Grey Islands, and Fogo Shelf); and one is a transitory EBSA that follows the southern extent of pack ice.
• A number of sources of information, including research survey data, published and unpublished studies, local and traditional ecological knowledge, and expert knowledge were considered for the identification of EBSAs in the study area. However, it is recognized that additional information may exist, or become available, that could potentially identify more specific areas of significance within each of the EBSAs, refine the boundaries of the EBSAs, or result in the identification of additional EBSAs.
• Much of the data available for analysis provided limited information among seasons and therefore improved information on seasonality could also enhance the identification of EBSAs.
• Dealing with information and data originating from multiple sources and various collection methods presents a challenge in combining the available material into metrics that can then be compared. To address this, coastal and offshore components of the study area were assessed separately.
• A total of 208 biological and oceanographic layers of data were examined to complete the analyses required to identify EBSAs in the study area. Ninety-nine offshore layers were resampled using a 20 km x 20 km grid; and 75 coastal layers were reviewed at the scale at which the data were available. Of these, 52 coastal layers were based on Community-based Coastal Resource Inventory (CCRI) data.
• Most EBSAs within the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves Bioregion study area were identified based on the aggregation of one or, more frequently, several taxa in an area because few available data sets, even paired with expert knowledge, allowed for the assessment of life history events being undertaken by a species in a given area. It can be assumed however that aggregations are often linked to activities vital to fitness consequences – especially if appearing to be seasonally predictable across years.
• Post meeting it was discovered that the ArcGIS quantile classification used to complete the significant area analyses had not performed as expected. It is uncertain as to how this would have affected the final size and shape of the EBSAs as this was largely determined during the peer review process. However, the difference in the end result is likely to be insignificant as the major features of the study area are still well captured.
• It was determined that an increase or decrease in the size of the top quantile extracted as ‘significant’ from each layer could ultimately impact the size, but not likely the location, of the areas delineated. Notably, expert interpretation of the data layers to aid in the identification of areas also had some influence the final size and shape of the EBSAs, as did the peer review process itself.
• EBSAs have been identified only within the boundaries of the study area. However, this does not preclude the extension of the significant features that triggered the identification of EBSAs into adjacent waters.
• Many of the habitat features that underlie significant ecological and biological processes in the coastal zone were poorly resolved for this process. Such features include the extent, dynamics and duration of land fast ice coverage, the presence of polynyas and re-occurring open water leads as well as areas of high primary productivity such as kelp forests, eelgrass beds and upwelling sites.
• Deep waters, i.e., those waters off the continental shelf and slope, represent a vast expanse of ocean that remains relatively understudied and therefore undefined. Therefore, the distribution and diversity of deep-water habitats, such as abyssal plains, hydrothermal vents, methane hydrate and brine seeps, cold-water coral reefs, and deep-water canyons, and the biota they support were poorly inventoried for consideration in this type of analysis.
• Areas that were not identified as EBSAs during this evaluation still have some level of ecological importance. The distinction is that such areas may not warrant an enhanced level of protection relative to other areas, or there is not enough information currently available to identify these areas as EBSAs.
• Given the limitations of some of the available data in the bioregion, as well as changes in environmental and community structure observed in the ecosystem in recent times, it is important to revisit EBSA delineations periodically as more information becomes available from scientific research, monitoring and LEK/TEK. Such re-evaluations will ensure that management decisions are made with the best possible information.
• When determining management measures, the rationale provided for each EBSA should be carefully considered. Heterogeneity and underlying ecological properties within broadly described EBSAs need to be clearly defined with respect to the temporal and spatial extent of the layers, as well as the associated uncertainties of each.
• Prioritization of the EBSAs identified for the study area would be dependent upon objectives for management within the bioregion. As these have yet to be determined, ranking of identified EBSAs would be of no further benefit at this point in time.

This Science Advisory Report is from the October 23-25, 2012 review on the Identification of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) for the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelf Bioregion. Additional publications from this meeting will be posted on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science Advisory Schedule as they become available.

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