Terms of Reference

Intermediary Ecological Monitoring Report of the Banc-des-Américains Marine Protectes Area on Priority Indicators

Regional Peer Review – Quebec Region

January 31, 2024

Virtual Meeting

Chairperson: Charley Cyr

Context

In March 2019, the Banc-des-Américains area was designated as a marine protected area (MPA) under the Canada Oceans Act (SOR/2019-50). This area also benefits from dual protection status under the Canada-Quebec Agreement relating to the joint Banc-des-Américains marine protected area project. This MPA has three conservation objectives (CO):

1. conserve and protect benthic habitats;
2. conserve and protect pelagic habitats and forage species and
3. promote the recovery of endangered whales and wolffish (Gauthier et al. 2013).

To adequately inform management, DFO must carry out multi-year monitoring of ecological indicators to evaluate the state and evolution of the MPA. A SCAS peer review held in May 2018 (Faille et al. 2019; MPO 2019) allowed to identify indicators and scientific surveys needed for an ecological monitoring plan. Following a recommendation from this review, a scientific monitoring committee was implemented in January 2019 to finalize the ecological monitoring plan as well as to supervise the calculation of indicators and the production of monitoring reports. In May 2021, a second peer review validated the choice of measures and produced a state of knowledge for the monitoring indicators (MPO 2023). Through these processes, priority issues were defined, 44 indicators link to conservation priorities and pressures were retained, measures related to each indicator were chosen and the needed scientific surveys were identified. Methodology to present indicator results has been specified, including the spatial and temporal scales to consider and the approach to assess the state of each indicator. It was also recommended to produce an intermediary ecological monitoring report every 3 years covering selected priority indicators. A complete report covering all indicators will be produced less frequently (e.g. every 10 years). DFO Marine Planning and Conservation Branch (DPCM) asked the Sciences sector to produce an intermediary ecological monitoring report applying the previously peer-reviewed approach. This report focuses on priority indicators that are likely to fluctuate rapidly and have data available annually. Thus, the results arising from this CSAS Science Response will provide an overview of the current state of these indicators in order to inform the DPCM team to optimize the adequate management of the MPA.

Objectives

The objectives of this review are:

• Update the results of the 14 priority monitoring indicators of the Banc-des-Américains MPA.
• Evaluate the state of priority indicators according to the methodology adopted during the May 2021 peer review.

Expected Publications

• Science Response

Expected Participation

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) (Sciences sector, DPCM, resource management)

References

• DFO. 2019. Review of ecosystem features, indicators and surveys for ecological monitoring of the Banc-des-Américains Marine Protected Area. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2019/033.
• DFO. 2023. Review of the monitoring indicators for the Banc-des-Américains Marine Protected Area, validation of the choice of measures and state of knowledge. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2023/001.
• Faille, G., Laurian, C., McQuinn, I., Roy, V., Galbraith, P., Savenkoff, C., Côté, G. and Benoît, H.P. 2019. Review of the indicators and recommendations for an Ecological Monitoring Plan for the Banc-des-Américains Marine Protected Area. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2019/065. v + 53 p.