Let's Get Started

Before beginning the activities in this education kit, you and your students will need to spend some time investigating and learning about the Species at Risk Act as it applies to aquatic species and some key terms and concepts. This section will familiarize you and your students with information you'll need for the other activities.

You can use the Species at Risk Act activity provided in the student activity kit, incorporate some of the terms presented here in a spelling quiz, ask students to search definitions on the Internet, or present this information simply as background material.

Whatever approach you take, the information in this section is essential to the activities that follow. A full glossary is provided, but these terms will get you started.

Important words to learn

Ecosystem: an interdependent and dynamic system of living organisms with their physical and geographical environment.

Habitat: the particular type of local environment occupied by an individual or a population.

Critical habitat: the habitat that is necessary for the survival or recovery of a listed species.

Recovery: the restoration of a species to a viable, self-sustaining population level, able to withstand random events and other environmental variables.

Special concern: a wildlife species that may become a threatened or an endangered species because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats if no action is taken to prevent this.

Threatened: a wildlife species that is likely to become an endangered species if nothing is done to reverse the factors leading to its extirpation or extinction.

Endangered: a wildlife species that is facing imminent extirpation or extinction.

Extirpated: a wildlife species that no longer exists in the wild in Canada, but exists elsewhere.

Extinct: a species that no longer exists.

What is the Species at Risk Act?

Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA) was created to protect many wildlife species including aquatic species such as fish, reptiles, marine mammals and mollusks (shellfish). SARA was created to protect species from becoming extinct in two ways:

• By providing for the recovery of species at risk due to human activity; and,
• By ensuring through sound management that species of special concern don't become endangered or threatened.

The Act became law in June 2003. In 2004 prohibitions came into affect that included laws against killing, harming, harassing, capturing or taking species at risk, and against destroying their critical habitats.

How do we know a species is at risk?

To prevent the extinction of species, we must first find out what species we have, where they can be found and what their status is. The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) has the responsibility to evaluate the status of wildlife at risk in Canada. It brings together wildlife experts who assess scientific reports on the status of species suspected to be at risk. The entire Committee then designates these species in one of the five following categories: special concern, threatened, endangered, extirpated, and extinct.

How do species get on the List?

Species are designated 'at risk' by COSEWIC according to a broad range of scientific data. The federal government through the Cabinet then decides whether those species should get legal protection under the Act. These decisions are made after consultations with affected people and other groups. For example, the government will want to consult with fishermen before listing a species of fish that may affect a fisherman's ability to fish in a certain area.

Working together

Three federal government departments are directly involved in protecting species at risk:

1. Environment Canada
2. Parks Canada
3. Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is responsible for all aquatic species, both freshwater and saltwater. Under SARA, Fisheries and Oceans Canada must produce recovery strategies and action plans for aquatic species listed as endangered or threatened and management plans for those listed as Special Concern. Once a species is added to the list and protected officially under SARA, a recovery strategy must be developed.

For endangered species, this strategy must be developed within a year of the listing; for threatened or extirpated (extinct in Canada) species, a recovery plan must be developed within two years. These strategies and action plans will detail the specific steps that need to be taken to protect identified species.

There are so many aquatic species in need of protection all over Canada that the Species at Risk Act has the potential to touch the lives of millions of Canadians from commercial fishers and recreational fishers to recreational boaters. If you own property on or near water for a home, cabin, or business, your activities could impact the habitat of a species at risk.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada is determined to work as closely as possible with the people affected to make sure that our strategies and plans are practical, effective, and in keeping with a sound fisheries management approach. We can only succeed when everyone works together including governments, fishermen, and the public, including children.

Aquatic Species at Risk in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2006

Atlantic walrus (NW Atlantic): Extirpated, listed under SARA
Blue whale (Atlantic): Endangered, listed under SARA
Grey Whale (Atlantic): Extirpated, listed under SARA
North Atlantic Right Whale: Endangered, listed under SARA
Leatherback turtle: Endangered, listed under SARA
Northern wolffish: Threatened, listed under SARA
Spotted wolffish: Threatened, listed under SARA
Striped wolffish: Special Concern, listed under SARA
Banded killifish – (Newfoundland Population) Special Concern, listed under SARA

Note: This list changes so check the Aquatic Species at Risk internet site http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/index-eng.htm for the most up to date listings and status.

The species we will look at closely in this kit:

3 species of wolffish
Leatherback turtles
Blue whales