World Wildlife Fund Canada June 2003 MANAGEMENT DIRECTION FOR THE BOWIE SEAMOUNT MPA: LINKS BETWEEN CONSERVATION, RESEARCH, AND FISHING MANAGEMENT DIRECTION FOR THE BOWIE SEAMOUNT MPA: LINKS BETWEEN CONSERVATION, RESEARCH, AND FISHING FINAL REPORT Prepared for WWF Canada Pacific Region #3-437 3rd Avenue West Prince Rupert, British Columbia V8J 1L6 Attn: Michele Patterson (250) 624-3705; [email protected] by AXYS Environmental Consulting Ltd. 2045 Mills Road West PO Box 2219 Sidney, British Columbia V8L 3S8 June 2003 Management Direction for the Bowie Seamount MPA TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures.................................................................................................................................................ii List of Tables..................................................................................................................................................ii 1.0 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background .......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Objectives............................................................................................................................................. 1 2.0 ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY OF BOWIE SEAMOUNT.................................................................................. 3 2.1 Ecological Integrity ............................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Seamount Ecosystem and Conservation Values.................................................................................. 3 2.2.1 Landscape................................................................................................................................. 7 2.2.2 Physical Processes ................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.3 Species Composition................................................................................................................. 9 2.2.3.1 General Description .................................................................................................... 9 2.2.3.2 Fish ........................................................................................................................... 12 2.2.4 Functional Organization........................................................................................................... 14 2.2.5 Summary and Conclusions...................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Fisheries Management and Research................................................................................................ 16 2.3.1 Examples of Seamount Fisheries Management...................................................................... 17 2.3.1.1 Tasmanian Seamounts Marine Reserve................................................................... 17 2.3.1.2 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary .................................................................. 18 2.3.1.3 New Zealand Seamount Fisheries ............................................................................ 19 2.3.1.4 Hawaiian Ridge Seamount Fisheries ........................................................................ 20 2.3.1.5 Summary and Conclusions ....................................................................................... 21 2.3.2 Bowie Seamount Fisheries Research and Management......................................................... 23 2.3.2.1 Sablefish Fishery....................................................................................................... 23 2.3.2.2 Rockfish Fishery........................................................................................................ 28 2.3.2.3 Pacific Halibut Fishery............................................................................................... 31 2.3.2.4 Albacore Tuna Fishery.............................................................................................. 32 2.3.2.5 Squid Fishery ............................................................................................................ 32 2.3.3 Summary and Conclusions...................................................................................................... 32 3.0 DEFINING A MANAGEMENT REGIME FOR BOWIE SEAMOUNT .......................................................... 34 3.1 Overarching Goal ............................................................................................................................... 34 3.1.1 Examples of Seamount MPA Management Direction.............................................................. 34 3.1.1.1 Tasmanian Seamounts Marine Reserve................................................................... 34 3.1.1.2 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary .................................................................. 36 3.1.2 Bowie Seamount Management Direction ................................................................................ 37 3.1.3 Summary and Conclusions...................................................................................................... 38 3.2 MPA Boundary ................................................................................................................................... 38 3.2.1 Examples of Seamount Management Boundaries .................................................................. 39 3.2.1.1 Tasmanian Seamounts Marine Reserve................................................................... 39 AXYS Environmental Consulting Ltd. June 2003 i Management Direction for the Bowie Seamount MPA 3.2.1.2 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary .................................................................. 39 3.2.1.3 New Zealand Seamount Fisheries ............................................................................ 39 3.2.2 Bowie Seamount Boundary..................................................................................................... 40 3.2.3 Summary and Conclusions...................................................................................................... 41 3.3 Harvest Refugia.................................................................................................................................. 42 3.3.1 Theory and Practice ................................................................................................................ 42 3.3.1.1 Purpose and Benefits................................................................................................ 42 3.3.1.2 Refugia Design.......................................................................................................... 44 3.3.2 Examples of Seamount Refugia.............................................................................................. 46 3.3.2.1 Tasmanian Seamounts Marine Reserve................................................................... 46 3.3.2.2 Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary .................................................................. 46 3.3.2.3 New Zealand Seamount Fisheries ............................................................................ 47 3.3.3 Bowie Seamount Refugium..................................................................................................... 47 3.3.3.1 Harvest Refugium Objectives.................................................................................... 47 3.3.3.2 Comparison of Refugium Options ............................................................................. 50 3.3.3.3 Summary and Conclusions ....................................................................................... 53 3.4 Experimental Research Area.............................................................................................................. 54 3.5 Collaborative Fishery Management.................................................................................................... 56 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................................................................... 60 5.0 REFERENCES............................................................................................................................................ 62 APPENDIX A: Recommendations on Ecological Integrity from the Report of the Panel on the Ecological Integrity of Canada’s National Parks (Parks Canada 2000) 1 APPENDIX B: IUCN Protected Area Categories System (IUCN 1995, Kelleher and Kenchington 1992) 1 List of Figures Figure 1. Trophic relationships at Bowie Seamount (Beamish and Neville In prep.)............................................ 15 List of Tables Table 1. Summary of seamount management regimes around the world (AXYS 1999)........................................ 5 Table 2. Species richness of biota observed at of near Bowie Seamount (Canessa et al. In prep.).................... 10 Table 3. Summary of research on species composition at Bowie Seamount (Canessa et al. In prep.)............... 11 Table 4. Comparison of seamount fisheries management................................................................................... 22 Table 5. Summary of fishing activity at Bowie Seamount .................................................................................... 24 Table 6. Summary of fishery management