Terms of Reference

Management Strategy Evaluation Update and Evaluation of Upper Stock Reference Point Options for Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia, Canada

Regional Peer Review – Pacific Region

August 30, 2022
Virtual Meeting

Chairpersons: Bryan Rusch and Jaclyn Cleary

Context

Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia (BC) are currently managed in five major stock areas, and independent catch and survey information is collected for each area in order to provide annual science advice on this scale. To ensure consistency with the Sustainable Fisheries Framework and implementation of the Precautionary Approach, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) recommended a spawning biomass-based LRP of 0.3SB0 (unfished spawning biomass) for all five major stocks (Kronlund et al. 2018, DFO 2017).

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has committed to renewing the current Pacific Herring management framework to address a range of challenges to herring stocks and fisheries in British Columbia. Renewal of the management framework includes initiating a Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) process to evaluate the performance of candidate management procedures (MPs) against a range of hypotheses related to future stock and fishery dynamics. The purpose of the evaluation is to identify MPs (a combination of data, assessment method and harvest control rules) expected to provide acceptable outcomes related to conservation and fishery management objectives.

Fully applying the Precautionary Approach framework (DFO 2009) to fisheries management decisions requires establishing harvest strategies that identify three stock status zones (healthy, cautious, and critical) delineated by an Upper Stock Reference point (USR) and a Limit Reference Point (LRP). Additionally, amendments to the Fisheries Act (Bill C-68) were passed into legislation in 2019 and include new authorities to amend the Fishery Regulations, along with requirements to maintain major fish stocks at sustainable levels, and to develop and implement rebuilding plans for stocks that have declined below the LRP, into the critical zone.

Kronlund et al. (2018) proposed four candidate USRs appropriate for Pacific Herring, as a starting point for consultations and simulations as part of a process to renew the herring management approach (Cleary et al. 2019). The current management framework for Pacific Herring already has many of the required elements of the Fishery Decision-making Framework Incorporating the Precautionary Approach (PA Policy; DFO 2009), including candidate USRs for the major herring stocks. Selection of a USR for each major stock is now required to meet the legislated amendments.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Fisheries Management has requested that Science Branch update the evaluation of existing management procedures for four of the five major stock areas: Prince Rupert District, Central Coast, Strait of Georgia and West Coast Vancouver Island. This MP evaluation will also include an evaluation of the performance of proposed USR options (using simulations). MP evaluation updates for the Haida Gwaii major stock are being conducted as part of the Haida Gwaii Herring Rebuilding Plan process and will be presented in the draft Rebuilding Plan scheduled to be released in late Summer 2022. The evaluation and advice arising from this Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) Science Response (SR) will support on-going renewal of the Pacific Herring management framework and will be used to support the development of the 2022/23 Pacific Herring Integrated Fisheries Management Plan (IFMP).

Objectives

The specific objectives of this review are:

• Describe the role of Reference Points (i.e. Upper Stock, Lower, Target) as outlined in the PA Policy for Pacific Herring stocks;
• Describe Upper Stock Reference (USR) point options consistent with the PA Policy, including the biological considerations and rationale for each option;
• Describe the proposed criteria for selecting USRs;
• Present updated historical operating model trends for major assessment areas (1951-2021), following methods of Benson et al. 2022;
• Evaluate USRs using the existing stock assessment and simulation-evaluation modelling frameworks and comment on the suitability of each option and on the current status for major herring stocks relative to the USRs, and;
• Examine and identify sources of uncertainties in the data and methods related to the model (e.g. model parameter estimates, assumptions regarding catch, productivity, and population status).

Expected Publication

• Science Response

Expected Participation

• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) (Science and Fisheries Management)

References

• Benson, A.J., Cleary, J.S., Cox, S.P., Johnson, S., and Grinnell, M.H. 2022. Performance of management procedures for British Columbia Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) in the presence of model uncertainty: closing the gap between precautionary fisheries theory and practice. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2022/048. viii + 71 p
• Cleary, J.S., Hawkshaw, S., Grinnell, M.H., and Grandin, C. 2019. Status of B.C. Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) in 2017 and forecasts for 2018. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2018/028. v + 285 p.
• Kronlund, A.R., Forrest, R.E., Cleary, J.S., and Grinnell, M.H. 2018. The Selection and Role of Limit Reference Points for Pacifc Herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia, Canada. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2018/009. ix + 125p.
• DFO. 2009. A fishery decision-making framework incorporating the Precautionary Approach.
• DFO. 2017. The Selection and Role of Limit Reference Points for Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii) in British Columbia, Canada. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2017/030.