Engagement on the science-based whale review

A summary of what was heard
March 2018

Engagement on the Science-based Whale Review
A Summary of What was Heard

Prepared by the consortium of Nielsen, Delaney + Associates, PubliVate.
Contract #: FP918-17-0001

Ce document est également disponible en français.

Table of Contents

• Complete Text
• 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Project Background
• 3. Summary of Engagement Strategy
  • 3.1 Targeted Input
  • 3.2 Open Public Engagement
• 4. Summary of What We Heard
  • 4.1 Who Did We Hear From?
  • 4.2 Understanding the Findings
  • 4.3 How the Following Sections are Organized
• 5. Prey Availability
  • 5.1 Summary of Key Themes
  • 5.2 What Indigenous Groups Said
  • 5.3 What Governments and Other Stakeholders Said
  • 5.4 What the General Public Said
• 6. Entanglements
  • 6.1 Summary of Key Themes
  • 6.2 What Indigenous Groups Said
  • 6.3 What Governments and Other Stakeholders Said
  • 6.4 What the General Public Said
• 7. Acoustic Disturbance and Vessel Presence
  • 7.1 Summary of Key Themes
  • 7.2 What Indigenous Groups Said
  • 7.3 What Governments and Other Stakeholders Said
  • 7.4 What the General Public Said
• 8. Vessel Strikes
  • 8.1 Summary of Key Themes
  • 8.2 What Indigenous Groups Said
  • 8.3 What Governments and Other Stakeholders Said
  • 8.4 What the General Public Said
• 9. Contaminants
  • 9.1 Summary of Key Themes
  • 9.2 What Indigenous Groups Said
  • 9.3 What Governments and Other Stakeholders Said
  • 9.4 What the General Public Said
• 10. Conclusions - Readiness to Move Actions Forward
  • 10.1 Common Themes across All Threats
  • 10.2 Roles and Leadership
  • 10.3 Improved Coordination and Communication
  • 10.4 Future Engagement and Consultation
  • 10.5 Region-specific Actions
• 11. Appendices
  • Appendix A: Who We Heard From
  • Appendix B. Profile of Respondents – Let’s Talk Whales Online Engagement
  • Appendix C: Engagement Questions

8. Vessel Strikes

Strikes from vessels, whether they are commercial or recreational, can injure or kill whales. Collisions with vessels are a threat to St. Lawrence Estuary Belugas and North Atlantic Right Whales and have recently emerged as a threat for Southern Resident Killer Whales.

The mechanisms by which whales can detect and prevent being struck by a vessel are not completely understood. For North Atlantic Right Whales, risk analyses focused on vessel speed suggest that the probability of lethal injury from vessel collisions decreases when vessel speed is reduced, e.g., reducing vessel speed to less than 13 knots increases the likelihood that a whale struck by a vessel will avoid serious injury or death. ^{Footnote 35}, ^{Footnote 36}

8.1 Summary of Key Themes

Indigenous groups, governments and other stakeholders provided feedback on the threat of vessel strikes for the North Atlantic Right Whale.

• Participants at sessions for all three endangered whale populations noted that some actions to reduce underwater noise could also reduce the risk of vessel strikes, e.g., restricting vessel traffic at certain times, moving shipping lanes, or introducing speed restrictions in critical habitat or high use areas. They believe that actions to address the threat of vessel strikes are required to enhance whale recovery.
• Some participants suggested that speed restrictions could be easier to implement than actions involving changes in shipping lanes. Other participants pointed to recent examples of successful changes to shipping lanes in whale critical habitat through collaborative work at the International Maritime Organization, with provincial governments, Indigenous groups and industry, e.g., in the Grand Manan basin.
• Participants from all parties would like to see stronger systems in place for detecting whale presence and communicating this information to vessels to avoid vessel collisions and disturbance to whales.
• Indigenous groups and stakeholders requested more information about the type and size of vessels that would be affected by any new restrictions in North Atlantic Right Whale critical habitat or high use areas, which shipping lanes might be affected, what alternate routes might be proposed, and how high use areas would be identified and managed.
• Indigenous groups and some participants suggested that a priority be placed on removing large vessels from North Atlantic Right Whale critical habitat and applying speed restrictions on large vessels in areas where these whales are known to be present (as per the priority management action identified);. Some participants felt it would be relatively easy to remove commercial shipping vessels from their critical habitat, e.g., by making minor changes to existing shipping lanes (Grand Manan Basin) and encouraging greater compliance with guidelines (Rosewater Basin); participants agreed that any changes need to take into account the impacts on marine safety.
• Online participants almost universally supported the general measures proposed in the online questionnaire. They supported introducing stronger regulations, monitoring and enforcement as well as educating and sensitizing the public; when asked about which approach was more important, equal numbers of participants supported both approaches.
• Indigenous groups and some other participants do not believe that actions to reduce vessel strikes (removing or restricting vessel traffic; reducing vessel speed) will be feasible without regulatory action that is supported by enforcement. Most participants from the general public would like more monitoring and enforcement on the water (more eyes on the water).
• The shipping industry wants to see definitive evidence of the efficacy of proposed measures before engaging in a conversation, and are more open to voluntary measures.
• Online participants, Indigenous groups and environmental non-governmental organizations frequently mentioned solutions that include Marine Protected Areas or sanctuaries (where vessel traffic is restricted). In written submissions, specific regulatory approaches were put forward to strengthen whale habitat protection, e.g., by amending the Oceans Act (Bill C-55) to create Interim Marine Protected Areas that can be more quickly introduced and to exclude oil and gas exploration/extraction and other harmful activities in Marine Protected Areas.
• Many participants from the general public perceive the whale watching industry as a contributor to disturbance of whales and are in favour of stronger industry regulations, monitoring and enforcement. The whale-watching industry believes they are a partner in conservation, as their livelihood depends on a healthy, sustained whale population; they are interested in partnering on education and awareness efforts as well as monitoring and reporting to increase knowledge about whale presence and behaviours.

8.2 What Indigenous Groups Said

In general, Indigenous participants supported the approach of removing vessel traffic from areas where North Atlantic Right Whales are present and/or restricting vessel speed in those areas.

Indigenous participants felt that:

• Vessel traffic rerouting would likely be more difficult than changing shipping speeds;
• Changing vessel routing could take time and could potentially be complex given the economic interests involved (shipping, oil and gas, commercial fishing);
• Actions to reduce threats from vessel strikes (removing vessels; restricting vessel speed) will likely not be feasible without regulatory action that is supported by enforcement.

Suggestions from Indigenous participants were:

• Place a priority on removing or restricting large vessels from North Atlantic Right Whale critical habitat areas (as per the priority management action identified);
• As a preliminary step, apply speed restrictions to large vessels in areas where North Atlantic Right Whales are known to be present (as per the priority management action identified);
• Develop a protocol for dynamic notification of vessel operators when a North Atlantic Right Whale aggregation has been located, e.g., through a survey:
  • The protocol would alert vessel operators as soon as possible of North Atlantic Right Whale presence;
  • Pre-determined guidance could be prepared on how vessel operators should proceed with their transit, taking operational constraints into consideration.
• Explore alternative technologies to reduce the level of shipping impact on North Atlantic Right Whales;
• Coordinate efforts of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Transport Canada to reduce the threats to the North Atlantic Right Whale and provide more opportunities for Indigenous groups to engage with Transport Canada on these actions in the future.

8.3 What Governments and Other Stakeholders Said

North Atlantic Right Whale

Remove vessel traffic from North Atlantic Right Whale critical habitat and high use areas.

Some participants felt it would be relatively easy to reduce or eliminate commercial shipping vessels in North Atlantic Right Whale critical habitat by relocating shipping lanes (e.g., Grand Manan basin) and encouraging greater compliance with guidelines (e.g., Roseway basin). Removal of commercial shipping vessels away from North Atlantic Right Whale critical habitat in Grand Manan Basin and Roseway Basin is mostly accomplished. However, reducing the numbers of other vessels could be more difficult (e.g., whale watching for Grand Manan Basin, fishing, fisheries enforcement, military, and pleasure vessels for both critical habitat areas).

Participants requested that more specific information be provided about the potential effectiveness of the priority management actions and the expected operational, marine safety and economic impacts on the shipping industry.

Participant suggestions included:

• Clarify what is meant by vessel traffic, specifying:
  • The type and size of vessels included in the restrictions (e.g., fishing vessels, whale-watching vessels, commercial shipping vessels, cruise ships, passenger ferries, all vessels);
  • The shipping lanes that could be affected and, if shipping lanes were moved, the proposed alternate routes;
• Base decisions on the type of vessel to be included in the vessel restrictions on level of risk of vessel strike to North Atlantic Right Whales; for example, risk is expected to be lower for slower-moving vessels such as some passenger ferries;
• Consider operational and navigational marine safety constraints in next steps towards implementation of vessel restrictions in critical habitat or other high use areas;
• Engage Indigenous groups, environmental non-governmental organizations, the shipping industry and other vessel operators, building on and strengthening the collaborative work with government over the past 20 years to reduce threats from shipping on whales in Canadian waters;
• Based on the results of engagement and further analysis, develop proposals to take to the International Maritime Organization to:
  • Amend commercial shipping lanes in the Grand Manan Basin critical habitat;
  • Amend current Areas to Be Avoided by vessels in the Roseway Basin critical habitat from recommended to mandatory;
• In collaboration with partners, increase communication with vessel operators (commercial ships, fishing, enforcement, and military vessels) transiting the Areas to be Avoided in the Roseway Basin critical habitat to increase compliance with current recommendations;
• Explain how current data gaps on the potentially shifting habitat use and distribution of North Atlantic Right Whales will be filled and how high use areas will be determined;
• Identify potential high use areas that are under consideration for vessel removal on a visual chart, e.g., areas in the Gaspé region of the Gulf of the St. Lawrence;
• In developing specific actions to implement, draw from what is already known to have worked in Canadian and United States waters to reduce vessel strikes;
• Develop more flexible legislative and regulatory tools for the Government of Canada to quickly introduce or lift temporary mitigation measures such as restrictions on fishing or shipping to reduce risk of harm to North Atlantic Right Whales.

Some participants said that the Government of Canada needs new management tools to allow faster, more responsive action to the changing movements of North Atlantic Right Whales. To be effective, government needs the ability to react quickly. Participants made a similar suggestion with respect to the threat of entanglement.

Implement vessel speed restrictions in areas where North Atlantic Right Whales are present.

As with actions aimed at removing or reducing vessel traffic, participants requested more specific information about the implementation of vessel speed restrictions in areas where North Atlantic Right Whales are present.

Participant suggestions included:

• Clarify the nature of the speed restrictions being considered, including the speed being considered, the vessel classes to be affected, the timing of the restrictions and whether areas outside the boundaries of North Atlantic Right Whale critical habitat would be included; and if yes, how these areas would be determined.
• Share information on the operational and navigational marine safety constraints for the shipping industry and other vessels affected by speed restrictions.
• Apply speed restrictions to large vessels in areas where North Atlantic Right Whales are known to be present (as per the priority management action identified). ^{Footnote 37}

Increase awareness and monitoring of vessel traffic restrictions in North Atlantic Right Whale critical habitat.

Participants held different views about whether voluntary measures would be sufficient to remove vessel traffic or if new regulations would be needed:

• Participants from industry indicated a strong willingness to help increase compliance with current voluntary measures.
• Other participants, including Indigenous groups, felt that it would be difficult to achieve a high level of compliance in the busy Grand Manan Basin through voluntary measures. ^{Footnote 38} They suggested that regulatory action would be required, supported by enforcement measures that involve several federal departments and international bodies. Transport Canada, has an important role to play as regulator.

8.4 What the General Public Said

The Let's Talk Whales online portal included an open-ended question designed to capture general thoughts on some of the actions identified by scientists in the Phase 1 science assessment to address the threat of vessel strikes. The actions included for this particular threat were:

• Educate vessel operators on collision risks;
• Change how and where vessel traffic moves (e.g. routes; speed);
• Create areas in important whale habitat where vessel presence is restricted or excluded (sanctuaries); and,
• Increase the minimum distance that is allowed between vessels and whales.
• Roughly half (52%) of the responses directly addressed the actions presented. Consistent with all online questionnaires included in this engagement, the overall tone of the comments received was positive, with most expressing their support for the actions. Only one participant from the general public directly expressed rejection for actions related to increasing minimum distances, decreasing speeds, and creating sanctuaries.
• The proposed action that generated relatively more comments was changing how and where vessel traffic moves, of which most of the comments related to establishing route-change guidelines for vessels. Some participants suggested removing all shipping lanes from whale habitats and some called for reducing oil tanker vessel traffic overall.
• Of those comments that directly addressed the actions, a notable percentage (44%), were related to the creation of sanctuaries. Most of the comments were broad, expressing their agreement and support for this action, highlighting the need to protect and restore whale habitat.
• Consistent with what was heard from the public through the acoustic disturbance questionnaire, additional actions emerged related to regulations, monitoring, and enforcement to deal with the threat of physical disturbance. These suggested actions were put forward by multiple groups of the public, including environmental non-governmental organizations and respondents from governments.
• The common theme around regulations, monitoring, and enforcement was the need for stricter regulations, together with increased and improved monitoring, patrolling and enforcement.
• An additional action that generated a notable number of mentions is the need to leverage and implement technological improvements already available that will help address this threat. Most of the comments within this action focused on improvements in modelling and data collection, as well as implementing a notification system of whale presence to alert and inform marine users of whale presence.
• Only a handful of responses to the open-ended question (4 in total) included comments expressing disapproval and dissatisfaction with the suggested actions.