8950 Martin Luther King Jr. Street N. #202 St. Petersburg, Florida 33702-2211 Tel: (727) 563-9070 Fax: (727) 563-0207 Email: [email protected] President: Andrew A. Rosenberg, Ph.D. Marine Stewardship Council Assessment Manitoba boreal forest lakes walleye, northern pike, yellow perch, lake whitefish, and lake cisco commercial gillnet fishery Waterhen Lake walleye and northern pike UoAs only Public Certification Report March 24th 2020 MRAG Americas, Inc. 8950 Martin Luther King Jr. Street N, Suite 202, St Petersburg, FL 33702, USA Jodi Bostrom, Sara Adlerstein-Gonzalez, and Tom Jagielo Client: Government of Manitoba Manitoba Sustainable Development, Wildlife and Fisheries Branch Winnipeg, Manitoba Skownan First Nation Waterhen, Manitoba MSC reference standards: MSC Fisheries Certification Requirements (FCR) Version 2.0 US2531 Waterhen Lake / Public Certification Report 1 Project Code: US2531 Issue ref: Public Certification Report Date of issue: March 24th, 2020 Prepared by: J. Bostrom (team leader), S. Adlerstein-Gonzalez, and T. Jagielo Checked/Approved by: Amanda Stern-Pirlot US2531 Waterhen Lake / Public Certification Report 2 Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................... 3 1. Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 5 2 Authorship and Peer Reviewers ...................................................................................... 6 3 Description of the Fishery ................................................................................................ 9 3.1 UoAs and Scope of Certification Sought .................................................. 9 3.1.1 Final Units of Certification (UoCs) ............................................................ 9 3.1.2 Total Allowable Catch (TAC) and Catch Data ........................................... 9 3.1.3 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Enhanced Fisheries ....................... 10 3.1.5 Scope of Assessment in Relation to Introduced Species Based Fisheries 10 3.2 Overview of the Fishery .......................................................................... 10 3.3 Principle One: Target Species Background ............................................ 13 3.3.1 Walleye .................................................................................................. 13 3.3.2 Northern Pike ......................................................................................... 19 3.4 Principle Two: Ecosystem Background .................................................. 22 3.4.1 Primary and Secondary Species ............................................................ 22 3.4.2 ETP Species .......................................................................................... 27 3.4.3 Habitats .................................................................................................. 27 3.4.4 Ecosystem ............................................................................................. 31 3.5 Principle Three: Management System Background ................................ 32 3.5.1 UoAs’ Area of Operation ........................................................................ 32 3.5.2 Recognized Groups with Interest in the UoAs ........................................ 39 3.5.3 Consultations for the Formation of the Management Plan ...................... 40 3.5.4 Arrangements for Ongoing Consultations ............................................... 40 3.5.5 Non-MSC Fishery Users ........................................................................ 41 3.5.6 Decision-Making Process ....................................................................... 43 3.5.7 Objectives of the Fishery ........................................................................ 44 3.5.8 Fishing Categories in the Fishery ........................................................... 45 3.5.9 Granted Access Rights within the Fishery .............................................. 45 3.5.10 Regulation Measures ............................................................................. 47 3.5.11 Monitoring, Control, Surveillance, and Enforcement ............................... 48 3.5.12 Education and Training for Interested Parties ......................................... 51 3.5.13 Management Plan Review and Audit ...................................................... 52 3.5.14 Management Jurisdictions ...................................................................... 52 4 Evaluation Procedure .................................................................................................... 53 4.1 Harmonized Fishery Assessment ........................................................... 53 4.2 Previous assessments ........................................................................... 53 4.3 Assessment Methodologies ................................................................... 54 4.4 Evaluation Processes and Techniques ................................................... 54 US2531 Waterhen Lake / Public Certification Report 3 4.4.1 Site Visits ............................................................................................... 54 4.4.2 Consultations ......................................................................................... 57 4.4.3 Evaluation Techniques ........................................................................... 57 4.4.4 RBF Process .......................................................................................... 58 5 Traceability .................................................................................................................... 59 5.1 Eligibility Date ........................................................................................ 59 5.2 Traceability within the Fishery ................................................................ 60 5.3 Eligibility to Enter Further CoCs ............................................................. 61 5.4 Eligibility of Inseparable or Practicably Inseparable (IPI) stock(s) to Enter Further Chains of Custody .............................................................................................. 62 6 Evaluation Results ........................................................................................................ 62 6.1 Summary of PI Level Scores .................................................................. 62 6.2 Summary of Conditions .......................................................................... 63 6.3 Determination, Formal Conclusion, and Agreement ............................... 64 6.4 Changes in the Fishery Prior to and Since Pre-Assessment................... 64 References ......................................................................................................................... 65 Appendices ......................................................................................................................... 69 Appendix 1 Scoring and Rationales .............................................................................. 69 Appendix 1.1 Performance Indicator Scores and Rationale ......................................... 69 Appendix 1.2 Conditions ............................................................................................ 128 Appendix 1.3 Recommendation ................................................................................. 134 Appendix 2 Peer Review Reports ............................................................................... 135 Appendix 3 Site Visit Announcement Flyer.................................................................. 193 Appendix 4 Stakeholder Submissions ......................................................................... 194 Appendix 5 Surveillance Frequency ............................................................................ 196 Appendix 6 Objections Process .................................................................................. 197 US2531 Waterhen Lake / Public Certification Report 4 1. Executive Summary This report sets out the results of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) reassessment of the Waterhen Lake walleye (Sander vitreus) and northern pike (Esox lucius) commercial gillnet fishery against the MSC Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Fishing. As part of this reassessment, additional lakes are being assessed for inclusion in the overall fishery (to be known as the “Manitoba boreal forest lakes walleye, northern pike, yellow perch, lake whitefish, and lake cisco commercial gillnet fishery”). This larger fishery has 14 proposed units of assessment (UoAs); however, this report only covers 2 UoAs – Waterhen Lake walleye and northern pike. MRAG Americas was contracted in 2018 by the Government of Manitoba (Manitoba Sustainable Development, Wildlife and Fisheries Branch) and the Skownan First Nation to undertake the reassessment of the Waterhen Lake walleye and northern pike fishery and the initial assessment of the other UoAs within the larger Manitoba boreal forest lakes walleye, northern pike, yellow perch (Perca flavescens), lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis), and lake cisco (C. artedi) commercial gillnet fishery. Waterhen Lake was originally certified in June 2014. The assessment was undertaken in accordance with the MSC Fisheries Certification Requirements (FCR) v2.0 and using the MSC Guidance to MSC FCR v2.0, which sets out the assessment and certification process. As a result, to date, the following