Spatial Planning in Canada s Maritimes Region. Maritimes Region

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1 Spatial Planning in Canada s Maritimes Region Glen Herbert, Scott Coffen-Smout Smout,, and Tanya Koropatnick Oceans and Coastal Management Division Ecosystem Management Branch Fisheries and Oceans Canada Maritimes Region BIO Dartmouth, NS Agenda Introduction Challenges and opportunities for MSP in Canada DFO Maritimes Region s view of MSP Work to date Spatial conservation action plan On-going data collection and analysis Case studies: Spatial planning in practice Next steps

2 Challenges and Opportunities for MSP in Canada No federal oceans-related acts explicitly recommend or exclude the use of MSP DFO Minister has authority to implement MSP relative to MPAs, fisheries, aquaculture, habitat protection, and pollution prevention Other oceans-mandated Ministers have authority to implement MSP for maritime transport, cables, oil and gas exploration and development, ocean dumping, marine conservation areas, and marine wildlife areas etc. Collaborative approach is required due to multiple jurisdictions DFO Maritimes Region View of MSP MSP is a tool for collating information for assessment, monitoring, and reporting that supports informed decisions and actions for effective integrated management

3 Work on MSP in DFO Maritimes Region ESSIM spatial conservation action plan Data collection and analysis to support regionwide, long term MSP (e.g., MPA network planning) Human use atlas GIS decision support tool Small scale msp : Planning and coordination User-user conflicts User-environment conflicts Spatial Conservation Action Plan (SCAP) SCAP was one of the first action plans under the ESSIM strategic plan. The aim was to: Define and build common understanding of spatial conservation planning Synthesize existing information on areas of conservation value and existing sites Identify areas of convergence and perform gap analysis Build agreement on areas of conservation priority and suggest options/tools Inform ongoing initiatives (ex. MPA Action Plan) and steward implementation by relevant legislative authority or through community led conservation approaches

4 Gap Analysis Areas of conservation value Existing management areas (Big) gap analysis

5 Draft socio-economic principles for conservation planning Design a process in which stakeholders can see how their input is being used Plan at a regional scale (to maximise opportunities for meeting objectives) Seek to incorporate areas nominated by communities and resource users Seek to minimise total area protected while meeting objectives (find( areas with best bang for the buck ) Seek to minimise socio-economic impacts on resource users Seek opportunities to allow sustainable activities to occur while e meeting objectives Build on and enhance existing conservation measures where possible Select appropriate tool and level of protection for conservation need Don t focus only on where activities should be avoided; also look k for areas where certain uses are appropriate - how and when are key Spatial Data Collection / Analysis

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11 Highest intensity bottom trawls (all species) Highest intensity longline (all species) Spatial Data Collection / Analysis GISMO: GIS for Management of the Ocean Spatial decision support tool for integrated management and conservation planning Data in the geodatabase are aggregated based on planning units (2 minute grid cells for the offshore)

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15 Case Studies: msp msp in Practice 1) User-user conflict: Submarine cables and fisheries interactions 2) User-environment environment conflict: Ballast water exchange near the Gully MPA 3) User-environment environment conflict: Fisheries and coral conservation Submarine Cables and Fisheries Interactions Recent submarine cables in Maritimes Region Hibernia Atlantic (NS-US US-Ireland) in 2000 Persona/Eastlink (NS-NL) NL) in 2007 Canada Express (NS-UK) in 2012 NS-NL NL energy cable by ? 16? Potential for lost fishery access and cable faults Established Joint Fisheries-Cables Industry Working Group 2005 Demonstrates: the importance of early information sharing the need to facilitate inter-governmental coordination for cable regulation and route planning

16 Browns Bank Fishery Impacts Browns Bank Segment = 78.1 km Buried = 52.4 km (67.1%) Exposed = 25.7 km (32.9%) DFO Science Branch estimates that, on average,, 4.5% of the annual scallop biomass landed on Browns Bank ( ) is from the 1/2 nautical mile area straddling the cable route. Analysis of groundfish fishery indicates most overlap with <65 otter trawl gear. Canada Express Environmentally sensitive areas Crab landings Shrimp landings

17 Ballast Exchange Near the Gully MPA

18 Fisheries and Coral Conservation Lophelia CCA (2004) Georges Bank Size: 15 km 2 Objective: Protect Lophelia pertusa reef Legislation: Fisheries Act closure Restrictions: No bottom fishing Historic Fisheries ( Trawler) 13 km Source: Dave Kulka, DFO-Newfoundland

19 Proposed Boundaries Lophelia Closure

20 Next Steps Update / expand mapping of human activities in the region Work with industry and other subject-matter experts to verify the adequacy of spatial data and maps Communicate/share spatial information to regulators, industry, and the general public (e.g., multipurpose marine cadastre, georeferenced pdfs) Apply spatial analysis tools (e.g., spatial risk assessment, intensity of use metrics, cumulative impacts analyses, future scenarios modelling) to identify user-user and user-ecosystem conflicts and compatibilities in marine space Work with other regulatory authorities to coordinate sectoralbased spatial planning and regional environmental assessments Continue to update spatial information for adaptive management