CANADA 2019 Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Plan Implementation

The Arctic Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Plan is the Marine component of the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF)’s Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP). The CBMP is an international network of scientists, governments, Indigenous organizations and conservation groups working to harmonize and integrate efforts to monitor the Arctic’s living resources. It consists of four Monitoring Plans (marine, coastal, freshwater and terrestrial) that integrate existing monitoring and data to better understand changes in Arctic biodiversity. CBMP-Marine is organized through a Marine Steering Group and six Expert Networks (Sea ice biota, Plankton, Benthos, Fishes, Seabirds and Marine mammals). These networks provide the framework to implement the CBMP Arctic Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Plan (CBMP-Marine Plan) and to facilitate more rapid detection, communication, and response to the significant biodiversity-related trends and pressures affecting the circumpolar Arctic. CBMP-Marine engages more than 75 scientists and representatives of Arctic Council states, Permanent Participants and Observer countries.

CBMP-Marine connections to activities in • Development of Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s (DFO) State of the Arctic Ocean report, to inform both technical and public audiences on the current status and knowledge of the Canadian Arctic marine environment. • Progress towards national marine conservation targets, including collaborative work with Indigenous peoples, governments, and international partners to explore how best to understand, protect and manage Canada’s High Arctic, i.e., Tuvaijuittuq (High Arctic Basin). • Ratification of the international Agreement to Catching thick-billed murres at Coats Island, . Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Photo credit: Sarah Poole. Central Arctic Ocean. Top CBMP-Marine Activities • DFO research programs including missions to planned for 2019 study sea ice ecosystems of the “Last Ice Area” and, to assess biodiversity and ecosystem In 2018, CBMP-Marine disseminated the findings from the State linkages between coastal and marine habitats in of the Arctic Marine Biodiversity Report (SAMBR), completed the Canadian Beaufort Sea. the prior year. SAMBR represents the first integrated reporting outcome of the CBMP-Marine and CBMP overall. Findings from • Launch of multi-disciplinary projects in , the report were presented at the Arctic Biodiversity Congress Nunavut, one of six sites across Canada where 2018 and the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, DFO will be working with Indigenous and among other national and international fora. CBMP-Marine coastal communities as part of the Coastal also started the first steps towards reviewing and adjusting Environmental Baseline Program under Canada’s marine monitoring activities according to advice contained in Oceans Protection Plan. SAMBR. • Completion of the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS) campus located in Cambridge In 2019, CBMP-Marine is focused on convening a scoping Bay, Nunavut, open to visiting national and workshop to review key elements of the monitoring program international researchers. and identify potential areas of collaboration within the Arctic Council. www.caff.is/marine Ocean (WGICA); drafting first report for publication first in 2019. drafting report Ocean (WGICA); Integrated Ecosystem Assessment oftheCentral Arctic Participated intheICES/PICES/PAME Working Group on 2018). April onFishExperts Stocks intheCentral ArcticOcean (published Published oftheFifth theFinal ofScientific Meeting Report Frontier Atlantic Northwest Institute Redfish Symposium) Conference Biodiversity) andmeetings(e.g. onMarine Ocean Presented at(World international scientific conference contact: Kevin Hedges Fish ecosystems. Contributed several publications on sea ice in Arctic marine Tromsø; ArcticBiodiversity Congress, Rovaniemi). Biodiversity Congress,(Marine Montreal; ArcticFrontiers, Presented seaice biotaresearch at international meetings Poulincontact: Michel IceSea members. Network Expert Creation ofbibliography ofpublications by thePlankton Events inCanadian Ecosystems marine in Victoria, BC. Participated inDFONational Peer Algae onHarmful Review protists inachanging Arctic (TaxMArc), Norway. inDrøbak, led project, Diversity, taxonomy of marine anddistribution Participated to meetingandworkshop ontheNorwegian- 2018, Davos; ArcticBiodiversity Congress, Rovaniemi). Biodiversity Congress, Marine Net, Ottawa; Montreal; Polar Presented at four international scientific conferences (Arctic contact: Connie Lovejoy Plankton and to develop aphoto catalogue (DFO Tech inprep.). Report Labrador Coast to improve identification of benthos bycatch inDavis Strait, surveys shrimp HudsonStrait andNorthern One Canadian benthos taxonomist in (DFO) participated Iceland, Faroe Islands, Norway, Russia,Canada, Alaska). of trawl bycatch surveys (Greenland, inregular fishery Analyses with their respective national monitoring programs Reykjavik to discussways ofstandardizing Biological Traits metinNovemberArctic-Atlantic benthos 2018in experts Biodiversity Congress). Conference Biodiversity) andmeetings(e.g., onMarine Arctic Presented at(World international scientific conference contact: Virginie Roy Benthos in 2019. documentMonitoring into Publication . anticipated Canada translated theSAMBR: KeyFindings andAdvice for General MARINE SUMMARY EXPERT NETWORKS OF 2018 ACHIEVEMENTS Data andgraphicsData generated by CBMPare available ontheArctic

Biodiversity Data Service at Service Data Biodiversity https://abds.is priorities. seabird population assessmentsto andAMAP support Research to assesscontaminants inseabirds andeggs Baffin Bay/Davis Strait Strategic Environmental Assessment). andenvironmentprotection activities assessments (e.g., to informsurveys protected marine areas planning, habitat Ongoing research andship-based usingat-sea tracking workplan. Birds Initiativegroup andtheArcticMigratory workplan Continued onseveral delivery items onCAFF’s CBird expert Black contact: Amie Seabirds Government ofNunavut). (Fisheries andOceans Canada, Ocean Tracking Network, patterns fishesinBaffin of marine Bayand connected waters Ongoing research to assessmovement andhabitat use Sound, Broughton Island). Baffin Bay and inshore connected waters (i.e. Cumberland Ongoing at-sea fishmonitoring biodiversity in of marine and at . and invertebrates inEclipse Sound, Pond Frobisher Inlet, Bay fishes ofmarine Conducted baselinebiodiversity surveys the Northwest Atlanticthe Northwest seal). (harp andin HudsonBay (narwhal) locations includinginNorthern Field research 2018 conducted inseveral andsurveys data was combined to identify hotspotsandwas published. assessments ofpopulation status. Canadian Arctictelemetry abundance statistics, estimates, survey harvest aerial and Pan-Arctic datasets have beencoalesced includinghistorical publications). reproduction (resulted in~15primary health (e.g., disease, contaminants), feeding, genetics, and Archived tissuesamplesare beinganalyzed to assess 30-year program inLabrador onseals). (including an ongoing methods and knowledge and across the Canadian Arctic, blending of scientific ensuring Community-based mammal sampling continues marine contact: Steve Ferguson Mammals Marine For more information: 200 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A0E6 Conservation Flora ofArctic andFauna (CAFF) Borgir, Nordurslod, 600Akureyri, Iceland Website: Fisheries andOceans Canada Sign upfor theCBMPnewsletter [email protected] CBMP Marine SteeringCBMP Marine Group [email protected] [email protected] Fisheries andOceans Canada Glenn BenoyGlenn orAlain Dupuis Twitter @CAFFSecretariat CAFF FacebookCAFF | *

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