Canadian Council of Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministers (CCFAM) Report on Canada’s Network of Marine Protected Areas, June 2017

Table of Contents

• Complete Text
• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• The Importance of Healthy Oceans
• Benefits of Marine Protected Areas and Marine Protected Area Networks
• Marine Protected Area Network Planning
• Progress in Priority Marine Bioregions
• Marine Conservation Targets: 2017 and 2020
• Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OEABCM)
• Conclusion

Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures

The term Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OEABCM) is found as part of the UN CBD’s Aichi Target 11 in recognition of the contribution that OEABCM can make to marine biodiversity conservation. International guidance on OEABCM from the IUCN and the UN CBD continues to develop. In the interim, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has developed operational guidance for identifying marine “other measures”.^{Footnote 16} This guidance has been and will continue to be informed by discussions taking place through the IUCN’s Task Force on OEABCM, the UN CBD’s Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, and the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas (CCEA).

To support the development of this OEABCM operational guidance, in January 2016, the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) provided a Science Advisory Report^{Footnote 17} that summarizes the characteristics and factors that can be used to determine whether an area-based management measure is likely to provide marine biodiversity conservation benefits. The resulting operational guidance for identifying marine OEABCM includes five broad criteria, and recommends that each measure must meet all five criteria to be identified as a marine OEABCM:

1. Clearly defined geographic location.

The measure must be in a spatially-defined area.

2. Conservation or stock management objectives

The measure must have a conservation or stock management objective AND the objective must directly reference at least one species of regional importance or habitat that is important to biodiversity conservation.

Conservation and stock management objectives have a biological or ecological basis. Directly referencing an important habitat or species in the objective ensures that management decisions are closely linked to that ecological component.

3. Presence of ecological components of interest

Ecological components of interest are the species and habitat(s) that are conserved in a measure. In order for this measure to meet this criterion, the measure must contain at least two ecological components of interest: a habitat that is important to biodiversity conservation AND a species of regional importance that uses the habitat.

4. Long-term duration of implementation

• The measure must either be entrenched via legislation or regulation; or not be entrenched via legislation or regulation but show clear evidence that the management measure is intended for the long-term (minimum 25 years).
• Measures identified as OEABCM will be managed using a long-term adaptive management approach and are expected to be in place year-round for a minimum of 25 years to support long-term biodiversity conservation benefits. This criterion should not be considered an expiry date for OEABCM. The underlying aim is for all reported OEABCM to be in place indefinitely and ideally in perpetuity.
• As licence conditions or variation provisions under the Fisheries Act have provisions that can simplify removal of a management measure, all fishery closures established via those means are not considered to be entrenched via legislation or regulation, and therefore require clear evidence that they are intended for the long-term. This evidence is in the form of a clearly stated long-term management objective documented in an official publication from the responsible authority.

5. The ecological components of interest are effectively conserved

• No human activities that are incompatible with the conservation of the ecological components of interest (the species and habitat(s) identified through criteria #2 and #3) may occur or be foreseeable within the defined geographic location.
• Foreseeable activities generally include activities for which a business plan is in place and there is evidence that the proponent is going to conduct the activity (for example, applications for leases or permits).
• Existing risk-based tools can be used, as appropriate, in conjunction with expert opinion, to assess whether existing or foreseeable activities and their impacts are incompatible with the conservation of the ecological components of interest.
• Ecological monitoring, surveillance, and enforcement are important elements of adaptive management that support effective conservation. Where these management elements are not already in place for an OEABCM, the intention is to introduce these management elements over time.

Canada’s fishing sector makes many significant contributions to marine biodiversity conservation through long-term fisheries area closures (that is, closures of areas within fisheries). Once an OEABCM (such as a fisheries area closure that meets all five criteria) is identified, future management of that OEABCM must adhere to these criteria or the OEABCM status will be revoked in future reporting.

Each OEABCM is monitored to ensure its ongoing conformity with these criteria. Measures will lose their OEABCM status if a new activity in the area is incompatible with biodiversity conservation and if the impacts of this new activity are not mitigated.

Ecological monitoring programs and surveillance and enforcement will be undertaken to support management decisions within an OEABCM, as resources allow.

In addition to MPAs, OEABCM are another area-based management measure to consider when developing bioregional MPA networks because they contribute towards long-term biodiversity conservation. Whether an OEABCM is part of a bioregional MPA network will depend upon the characteristics of the OEABCM and whether it contributes to the bioregion’s specific network objectives.

Area-based and other management measures support and strengthen bioregional MPA networks, even if they do not qualify as OEABCMs. For example, a seasonal fisheries area closure that does not qualify as an OEABCM may be geographically located between an MPA and an OEABCM – serving as a “stepping stone” to protect a particular life history stage of a species (for example, spawning) as that species moves between two areas during the rest of its life history. The potential supporting role of different types of area-based management measures within a bioregional network will vary on a case- by-case basis, depending on the bioregion’s network objectives.

As part of its report on meeting the 2017 marine conservation target, DFO will note the contribution of OEABCM and the biodiversity conservation benefits they provide, according to these criteria. In addition, future fisheries area closures or other OEABCM will be established. The location, management approaches, and size of these future measures will be developed in consultation with provinces, territories, Indigenous groups, stakeholders, and other parties. DFO will review the list of area-based management measures that meet the criteria contained in the Operational Guidance on a periodic basis to ensure that these measures continue to meet the criteria within an adaptive management approach.

The OTG supports DFO in conducting initial analyses to determine how OEABCM may contribute to the 2017 target. The OTG looks forward to working with the Department on how this approach may be improved in advance of 2020, when international guidance on OEABCM is further developed by, for example, the IUCN and the UN CBD.