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Proceedings 2021/001

Proceedings of the Regional Peer Review on Science Advice to Assist in the Development of an Ecological Monitoring Plan for the Anguniaqvia niqiqyuam Marine Protected Area; February 18–20, 2020

Chairpersons: Joclyn Paulic and Jason Stow

Editor: Kayla Gagliardi

Summary

Under the Health of the Oceans initiative, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science is required to provide support and advice on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for DFO Oceans Management. Indicators, protocols, and strategies are intended to allow DFO to evaluate whether the regulatory conservation objectives (COs) are being met for an MPA. A monitoring plan is currently being developed for the Anguniaqvia niqiqyuam Marine Protected Area (ANMPA) by the ANMPA Working Group (WG) and the Western Arctic Marine Protected Area Steering Committee (WAMPA) as a cooperative process between appointed members of the Paulatuk Hunters and Trappers Committee (HTC) and co-management partners DFO and FJMC. This monitoring plan will provide a structured approach to gathering information in support of the management of the ANMPA, including meeting its COs. These COs are: (1) to maintain the integrity of the marine environment offshore of the Cape Parry Migratory Bird Sanctuary so that it is productive and allows for higher trophic level feeding; and, (2) to maintain the habitat to support populations of key species (such as beluga whales [Delphinapterus leucas], Arctic char [Salvelinus alpinus], ringed seals [Pusa hispida] and bearded seals [Erignathus barbatus]). A regional Science Advisory meeting was held February 18-20, 2020 at the Alt Hotel in Winnipeg, MB to focus on information gathering to support the development of an ecological monitoring plan for the ANMPA. The first objective of the meeting was to review a generalized monitoring framework that used the nearshore ANMPA as a case study to outline a suggested process to consider when developing the generalized ecological aspects of an MPA monitoring program which incorporated both scientific knowledge and guidance from partners. The second objective was to identify, review, and summarize existing scientific information/data and published local and traditional ecological knowledge relevant to the area to inform future monitoring plan development (i.e., potential indicators, protocols, and strategies), and identify key data gaps.

As a result of the Science Advisory meeting, the series of indicators and associated monitoring protocols and strategies which had been initially requested from the previous CSAS regional peer review meeting for the ANMPA in 2014 were discussed, modified, and updated. This Proceedings report summarizes the relevant discussions and presents the key conclusions reached during the meeting. Additional publications from this process will be posted on the DFO Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat website as they become available.

Accessibility Notice

This document is available in PDF format. If the document is not accessible to you, please contact the Secretariat to obtain another appropriate format, such as regular print, large print, Braille or audio version.

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