Design Strategies for the Northern Shelf Bioregional Marine Protected Area Network
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) Research Document 2021/024 Pacific Region Design Strategies for the Northern Shelf Bioregional Marine Protected Area Network Rebecca G Martone1, Carolyn K Robb1, Katie SP Gale2, Alejandro Frid3, Chris McDougall4, and Emily Rubidge2 1Pacific Biological Station Fisheries and Oceans Canada 3190 Hammond Bay Road Nanaimo, BC V9T 6N7 2Institute of Ocean Sciences Fisheries and Oceans Canada PO Box 6000 Sidney, BC V8L 4B2 3Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance 2790 Vargo Rd Campbell River, BC V9W 4X1 4Haida Fisheries Program Council of the Haida Nation PO Box 87 Massett, Haida Gwaii V0T 1M0 March 2021 Foreword This series documents the scientific basis for the evaluation of aquatic resources and ecosystems in Canada. As such, it addresses the issues of the day in the time frames required and the documents it contains are not intended as definitive statements on the subjects addressed but rather as progress reports on ongoing investigations. Published by: Fisheries and Oceans Canada Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat 200 Kent Street Ottawa ON K1A 0E6 http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/ [email protected] © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2021 ISSN 1919-5044 Correct citation for this publication: Martone, R.G., Robb, C.K., Gale, K.S.P., Frid, A., McDougall, C., and Rubidge, E. 2021. Design Strategies for the Northern Shelf Bioregional Marine Protected Area Network. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2021/024. xi + 156 p. Aussi disponible en français : Martone, R.G., Robb, C.K., Gale, K.S.P., Frid, A., McDougall, C. et Rubidge, E. 2021. Stratégies de conception pour le réseau d’aires marines protégées dans la biorégion du plateau Nord. Secr. can. de consult. sci. du MPO. Doc. de rech. 2021/024. xiii + 178 p. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. x ACRONYMS .............................................................................................................................. xi 1. INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND ..........................................................................................1 1.1. CONTEXT – DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR THE MPA NETWORK DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IN THE NSB ......................................................................................................... 1 1.2. SCOPE ........................................................................................................................... 4 2. ECOLOGICAL NETWORK DESIGN PRINCIPLES, DESIGN GUIDELINES, AND DESIGN STRATEGIES .............................................................................................................................5 2.1. PRINCIPLE 1: INCLUDE THE FULL RANGE OF BIODIVERSITY .................................. 6 2.1.1. Guideline Concept: Representation .......................................................................... 7 2.1.2. Guideline Concept: Replication................................................................................. 8 2.2. PRINCIPLE 2: ENSURE ECOLOGICALLY AND BIOLOGICALLY SIGNIFICANT AREAS ARE INCORPORATED .......................................................................................................... 8 2.3. PRINCIPLE 3: ENSURE ECOLOGICAL LINKAGES ....................................................... 9 2.3.1. Guideline Concept: Connectivity ............................................................................... 9 2.4. PRINCIPLE 4: MAINTAIN LONG-TERM PROTECTION ................................................10 2.4.1. Guideline Concept: MPA level of protection .............................................................10 2.5. PRINCIPLE 5: ENSURE MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTION OF INDIVIDUAL MPAs ..............11 2.5.1. Guideline Concept: Size ..........................................................................................11 2.5.2. Guideline Concept: Shape .......................................................................................13 2.5.3. Guideline Concept: Spacing ....................................................................................13 3. REVIEW OF METHODS FOR SETTING REPRESENTATION AND REPLICATION TARGETS FOR ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION PRIORITIEs ............................................... 14 3.1. DESCRIPTION OF APPROACHES ...............................................................................14 3.1.1. Policy-driven approaches ........................................................................................15 3.1.2. Expert opinion and heuristic approaches .................................................................15 3.1.3. Quantitative analytical approaches ..........................................................................16 3.2. REVIEW OF APPROACHES APPLIED IN CANADA AND THE NORTHEAST PACIFIC16 3.2.1. British Columbia Marine Conservation Analysis .......................................................16 3.2.2. Gwaii Haanas ..........................................................................................................16 3.2.3. Scotian Shelf Bioregion ...........................................................................................17 3.2.4. Pacific Northwest Marine Ecoregional Assessment .................................................17 4. SETTING ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION TARGETS IN THE NSB ................................... 19 4.1. ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION PRIORITIES FOR THE NSB .....................................19 4.2. SETTING ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION TARGETS FOR COARSE-FILTER CONSERVATION PRIORITIES ............................................................................................21 4.3. SETTING ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION TARGETS FOR FINE-FILTER CONSERVATION PRIORITIES ............................................................................................22 4.3.1. Calculation of fine-filter ecological conservation target scores .................................23 iii 4.3.2. Species-based conservation priorities (excluding marine birds) ...............................24 4.3.3. Species-based conservation priorities (for marine birds) .........................................26 4.3.4. Area-based conservation priorities ..........................................................................27 4.3.5. Expert review ...........................................................................................................28 4.3.6. Fine-filter ecological conservation target ranges ......................................................28 5. DETERMINING THE CONSERVATION PRIORITIES APPROPRIATE FOR INCLUSION IN DESIGN SCENARIOS ..........................................................................................................29 6. RESULTS: ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION TARGETS FOR COARSE-FILTER FEATURES ...............................................................................................................................31 7. RESULTS: ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION TARGETS FOR FINE-FILTER FEATURES ... 35 7.1. SPECIES-BASED CONSERVATION PRIORITIES ........................................................35 7.2. AREA-BASED CONSERVATION PRIORITIES ..............................................................38 8. RESULTS FOR OTHER DESIGN STRATEGIES ..................................................................39 8.1. REPLICATION ...............................................................................................................39 8.1.1. Replication across scales ........................................................................................39 8.1.2. Varying the number of replicates by patch size and rarity ........................................40 8.2. MPA SIZE AND SPACING .............................................................................................41 8.2.1. MPA Size ................................................................................................................41 8.2.2. MPA Spacing ...........................................................................................................44 8.3. INCORPORATING MPA EFFECTIVENESS INTO THE APPLICATION OF ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION TARGETS IN MPA SITE-SELECTION ANALYSES .........47 8.3.1. Risk-based approach for assessing impacts to conservation priorities.....................47 8.3.2. MPA performance scaling factors to weight the achievement of ecological conservation targets ..........................................................................................................49 8.3.3. Combination of the risk-based approach and MPA performance scaling factors ......50 8.3.4. IUCN levels of protection .........................................................................................50 9. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................51 9.1. ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION TARGET-SETTING ...................................................52 9.1.1. Ecological conservation targets and MPA network coverage ...................................52 9.1.2. Coarse-filter features and naturalness .....................................................................53 9.1.3. Fine-scale conservation priority features .................................................................53 9.1.4. Expert review ...........................................................................................................54 9.1.5. Limitations ...............................................................................................................55