CANADA Food for all Small fish wih big influence
Phoo: WWF-Canada, Naional Geographic Sock /Paul Nicklen Pacific herring, Briish Columbia Why do forage fish maer? F orage fish, such as herring and capelin, are small o inermediae size marine prey species ha are eaen by a huge range of marine predaors, including whales, seals, big fish like una and cod, and seabirds. These big predaors are key elemens in ocean healh, and hey need a lo of food. Vulnerable Forage fish are ofen he mos abundan componen of marine ecosysems by number and weigh. However, hey remain very vulnerable o overfishing. Worldwide, wice as many small, low-rophic level fish socks have collapsed compared o large predaory fish socks (Pinsky e al., 2011). Here is why: Forage fish abundances can flucuae grealy from year o year because of changes in environmenal condiions. Inense fishing can exacerbae he rae of decline (Essingon e al., 2015). Even when heir abundance decreases, forage fish remain easy o harves as hey aggregae in large shoals (Essingon e al., 2015). Convenional managemen approaches do no accoun for he large naural flucuaions or he role forage fish play in marine ecosysems. (Pikich e al., 2012). nic puffin, Wiless Bay Ecological Reserve, Newfoundland Commercial forage fish species cach and value 2014 in Canada ATLANTIC HERRING ATLANTIC MACKEREL CAPELIN ALEWIFE SMELT PACIFIC HERRING meric onnes housand dollars NS QC NB NFL PEI BC 0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 120,000 Informaion from hp://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/sas/commercial/sea-mariimes-eng.hm Cover: Alanic puffin, Wiless Bay Ecological Reserve, Newfoundland Phoo: WWF-Canada/Frank Parhizgar 2 2016 Food for all
More valuable in he waer In emperae and high laiude ecosysems, like Canada, he economic value of forage fish as prey for oher commercially harvesed species, such as Alanic cod and bluefin una, is more han double he value of he direc forage fish cach (i.e., fisheries ha specifically arge species such as herring) (Pikich e al., 2014). Moreover, forage fish suppor many seabird and whale populaions ha in urn suppor vial ourism indusries. Phoo: WWF-Canada/ Gilber Van Ryckevorsel Norhern bluefin una, Nova Scoia Norhern BC Norhern Gulf Newfoundland Direc cach value of forage fish (CAD/km 2 ) 67.58 31.80 4.33 Toal supporive (value of oher commercial fish dependen predaors of forage fish, CAD/km 2 ) 507.80 193.47 13.43 Norhern Briish columbia Newfoundland Norhern Gulf of S. Lawrence Direc cach of forage fish vs supporive value of commercial fish One-hird for he birds rule When forage fish abundance falls below approximaely one-hird of he long-erm biomass, he breeding success of several seabird populaions worldwide sars o decline (Cury e al., 2011). In Alanic Canada, norhern ganne breeding failure is direcly linked o he decline of Alanic mackerel heir favourie prey during he chick-rearing period (Guillemee e al., in prep). For hese birds, compeiion from fisheries has increased over ime as he mackerel sock has declined. This sock is currenly overfished: he Toal Allowable Cach is currenly 10 imes higher han he level proposed by scienific advisors (DFO, 2009). One adul ganne can consume up o 438g of mackerel daily. In he Gulf of S. Lawrence, he oal mackerel requiremen of hese birds is esimaed o be 8,000 /yr Guillemee e al., in prep). Norhern ganne, Newfoundland Phoo: WWF-Canada/Alan Burger 2016 Food for all 3
Dependen predaors The greaer is dependence on forage fish, he more vulnerable a predaor is o changes in forage fish abundance. Consequenly, a reducion in available prey hrough fishing, naural environmenal flucuaions, climae change or a combinaion of hese facors can induce changes hroughou he food web, alering he funcion and srucure of marine ecosysems (Pikich e al. 2012). Phoo: WWF-Canada /Alan Burger There are four classificaions of dependen predaors: Alanic puffin, Wiless Bay Ecological Reserve, Newfoundland Exreme dependence High dependence Moderae dependence Low dependence > 75 per cen of heir die is composed of forage fish 50 per cen o < 75 per cen 25 per cen o < 50 per cen < 25 per cen of heir die Humpback whale Fin whale Minke whale Capelin Harbour seal Greenland halibu Common mures Gannes Puffins Razorbills Gulls Shearwaers Fulmars feed Mackerel Mesopelagics Shor-finned squid Large Alanic cod American plaice Harp seal Arcic cod Alanic Herring Bluefin una Harbour porpoise Swordfish Large Alanic cod Blue shark Demersal piscivores fish Silver hake Dogfish Seabirds Porbeagle shark Fin whale Pollock Humpback whale Small Alanic cod Halibu Whie-sided dolphin Sei whale Pacific Herring Copper rockfish Quillback rockfish Tiger rockfish China rockfish Yelloweye rockfish Lingcod (adul) Chinook salmon Sellar sea lion Harbour seal Pacific cod (adul) Coho salmon Gulls Grebes Cassin s aukle Tufed puffin Common murre Rhinoseros auckle Marbled murrele Pigeon guillemo Merganser Pelagic cormorans Sooy shearwaer Norhern fulmar Double-cresed cormoran Common loon Dogfish Turbo (adul) Piscivorous rockfish (adul) Halibu (adul) Humpback whales feeding in coasal waers near Prince Ruper, Briish Columbia. Phoo: WWF-Canada/Chad Graham 4 2016 Food for all
Canadian forage fisheries assessmen In 2012, he Lenfes Forage Fish Task Force, a group of 13 prominen fisheries scieniss from around he world, published a comprehensive repor on forage fish fisheries (Pikich e al. 2012). The group synhesized exising lieraure, examined curren and pas managemen pracices, and compiled empirical daa from case sudies on he impacs of forage fish fisheries on ecosysem dynamics and predaor dependence. The repor provided a se of recommendaions based on a hree-iered managemen framework low, inermediae and high according o he amoun of informaion available for a paricular fishery or ecosysem. Fisheries were evaluaed agains wo main caegories: 2. Dependen predaors, including informaion abou populaion abundance, rends and foraging grounds. The overall managemen sraegy goal was o regulae fishing inensiy so ha here was a low risk of significanly affecing dependen predaors (see able 7.1, p.90 in Pikich e al. 2012). Based on his framework, an assessmen marix was developed o evaluae Canadian forage fish fisheries (Table 1). A fishery here refers o he individual managerial uni/ componen as defined by curren managemen. For each fishery, a summary card was compiled wih he relevan informaion used in he assessmen and scoring. 1. Forage fish sock dynamics and fisheries, including informaion abou populaion abundance, saus, rends, environmenal drivers and monioring Score (Low o High) 0 1 2 Monioring (LENFEST) Environmenal drivers (LENFEST) Monioring and enforcemen are no sufficien Environmenal drivers have no been examined Some monioring and enforcemen so ha caches are likely o be wihin limis Some environmenal drivers of forage fish produciviy were idenified Fishery-independen index None Parial (spaial, emporal) Reference poins defined None/obsolee Parial/ohers Yes Harves Conrol Rules Toal allowable Cach (TAC) is specified bu no HCRs are in place/available Defined HCRs are in place o keep he sock flucuaing around a arge level Sock Saus Criical Zone Cauious Zone Healhy Zone Predaors (LENFEST) Predaors populaion (LENFEST) Predaors/foraging (LENFEST) Table 1: Three-iered assessmen marix wih score crieria (from 0 o 2) used o evaluae Canadian forage fish fisheries. Each crieria were eiher direcly aken from he Lenfes Forage Fish Task Force recommendaions (able 7.1, p.90 in Pikich e al., 2012) or adaped based on bes pracices and he Canadian Fishery Decision-Making Framework Incorporaing he Precauionary Approach (DFO, 2016). Dependen predaors have no been idenified Evidence is insufficien o judge he saus and rends eiher known or likely o be dependen upon forage fish. Spaial paerns of foraging are no known. Dependen predaors have been idenified so ha effecs of forage fish on heir abundance can be prediced on he basis of food web models Populaion saus and rends of dependen predaors are moniored bu wih considerable uncerainy. Spaial paerns of foraging are known and sufficien o suppor predicions abou he effecs of localized depleion. High abiliy o monior and enforce regulaions Environmenal drivers are well known and are accouned for Annual and complee spaial coverage (as much as possible) The HCRs are expeced o keep he sock flucuaing a or above a arge level consisen wih ecosysem needs The funcional responses of dependen predaors o forage fish abundance are well defined based on empirical evidence from he relevan ecosysem so ha effecs of fishing can be deermined wih a high degree of cerainy Populaion saus and rends are measured wih high cerainy and a frequen inervals. Localized forage fish requiremens of dependen predaors can be esimaed wih high precision. 2016 Food for all 5
Fishing boas harvesing Alanic herring from a fixed weir, Bay of Fundy Phoo: WWF-Canada/Barre&MacKay Resuls of he assessmen Only he main forage fish commercially harvesed in Alanic Canada (14 herring, four capelin, and one mackerel socks/ unis) were analyzed, for a oal of 19 socks/unis. In Pacific Canada, herring is he main commercial forage fish species harvesed. I is currenly managed as five major and wo minor sock areas, among which Haida Gwaii and he Wes Coas of Vancouver Island are currenly closed o fishing. Pacific sardine and surf smel were also subjeced o small commercial fisheries, bu no caches have been recorded since 2013. In oal, across Canada, 27 fisheries were assessed. Monioring Mos fisheries are managed under an Inegraed Fisheries Managemen Plan wih monioring requiremens ha may have included logbook reporing, dockside monioring and a-sea observer coverage. If monioring was no explicily raised as a poenial issue in he Deparmen of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) proceedings and scienific repors, he fishery received a high score. Unrepored and unmanaged caches from bai and recreaional fisheries remain a serious concern for he Alanic mackerel fishery in he Mariimes. Environmenal drivers Environmenal condiions were rarely considered in curren populaion assessmens of fisheries, and when daa were available, hese condiions were largely overlooked in advising managemen. Fishery-independen surveys Fishery-independen surveys provide he basis for esimaing populaion biomass, developing populaion models, esimaing reference poins and developing harves conrol rules. Currenly, larger herring fisheries and he Alanic mackerel fishery have dedicaed surveys; however, one hird of he fisheries (9/27) are no regularly assessed and curren scienific informaion is insufficien o advise fisheries managemen. Reference poins Nearly hree-quarer of he fisheries (20/27) do no have defined reference poins according o he Precauionary Approach. Harves conrol rules Toal allowable caches (TAC) were developed for several socks, bu here are no generally pre-agreed upon harves conrol rules in place for managing he fisheries in he differen sock saus zones (when available) according o he Precauionary Approach. Sock saus Tweny-one fishery sock sauses remain unknown according o he Precauionary Approach, including he four capelin fisheries in Alanic Canada and herring fisheries in Newfoundland and Briish-Columbia. Three fisheries are in he criical zone, including he wo spring Alanic herring sock componens in he Gulf S. Lawrence and Alanic mackerel across he Mariimes region. Oher fisheries of concern include he Alanic herring Souhwes Nova Scoia/Bay of Fundy, Alanic herring in Forune Bay, N.L. and he Pacific herring in Haida Gwaii. For all hese fisheries, an imporan facor in he decline was aribued o changes in he environmen. Predaors In each marine ecoregion of Canada here was a leas one ecosysem-model ha provided some informaion on dependen predaors. However, many op predaors, like whales and seabird species, remain aggregaed ino larger funcional groups, such as he baleen whales, he oohed whales and seabirds, and in some ecoregions, forage species were aggregaed, so ha he predaors funcional responses o forage fish abundance remain poorly undersood. 6 2016 Food for all
Predaor populaions Fishery-independen surveys for finfish, marine mammals and seabirds are conduced annually by DFO. The populaion sauses and rends of dependen predaors are moniored bu remain largely unreliable for some species. Predaors/foraging Based on available daa, he spaial paerns of foraging by dependen predaors were no sufficienly undersood for predicing he poenial effec of localized depleion (i.e., when inense harvesing reduced forage fish abundance levels in a defined area and ime period); hence, all fisheries received a low score. Final score (over 18 poins) in percenage for he 27 fisheries included in he assessmen High (61-100) 6 7 Medium (31-60) 1 3 5 8 11 16 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 12 13 17 2 4 9 10 14 LOW (0-30) 15 18 CAPELIN ATLANTIC HERRING PACIFIC HERRING ATLANTIC MACKEREL LEGEND Landings in meric onnes () < 1,000 1,000-10,000 > 10,000 Saus Healhy Cauious Criical Unknown Fishery 1 Capelin Newfoundland, NAFO 2J3KL 14 Alanic herring, S. Mary s Bay-Placenia Bay 2 Capelin Gulf, NAFO 4R 15 Alanic herring, Souhern Labrador, NAFO 2* 3 Capelin Newfoundland, NAFO 3Ps 16 Alanic herring, Souhwes New Brunswick migran juveniles** 4 Capelin Gulf, NAFO 4ST 17 Alanic herring, Whie Bay - Nore Dame Bay 5 Alanic herring, Souhwes Nova Scoia/Bay of Fundy, NAFO 4WX 18 Alanic herring, Concepion Bay-Souhern Shore 6 Alanic fall herring, Wes of Newfoundland, NAFO 4R 19 Alanic spring herring, Souhern Gulf of S. Lawrence, NAFO 4TVn 7 Alanic fall herring, Souhern Gulf of S. Lawrence, NAFO 4TVn 20 Pacific herring, Srai of Georgia 8 Alanic herring, Bonavisa Bay - Triniy Bay 21 Pacific herring, Prince Ruper Disric 9 Alanic herring, Norhern Gulf of S. Lawrence, NAFO 4S 22 Pacific herring, Cenral Coas 10 Alanic herring, Coasal (Souh Shore, Easern Shore and Cape Breon) Nova 23 Pacific herring, Area 2W Scoia spawning, NAFO 4VnWX 24 Pacific herring, Area 27 11 Alanic spring herring Wes of Newfoundland, NAFO 4R 25 Pacific herring, Haida Gwaii 12 Alanic herring, Offshore Scoian Shelf Banks Spawning, NAFO 4VsWX 26 Pacific herring, Wes Coas Vancouver Island 13 Alanic herring, Forune Bay and Pass Island/Cinq Cerf, NAFO 3Ps 27 Alanic mackerel, NAFO 3 and 4 *Exploraory fishery wih a separae quoa, bu he sock may belong o Whie Bay-Nore Dame Bay **Managed by he U.S.A. 2016 Food for all 7
Phoo: WWF-Canada/ Gilber Van Ryckevorsel WWF-Canada recommendaions RECOGNIZE he imporance of forage fish in he ecosysem and heir criical role in mainaining populaions of oher commercial and non-commercial species. IMPLEMENT a modern, ecosysem-based fisheries approach one ha considers he needs of muliple species, as opposed o a single sock o ensure he long-erm viabiliy of forage fish socks and dependen predaors. URGENTLY Address issues relaed o unrecorded landings in he recreaional and bai fisheries, specifically for he Alanic mackerel fishery in Alanic Canada and implemen recreaional cach conrol regulaions similar o hose in Pacific Canada Quanify predaor-prey dynamics affeced direcly or indirecly by forage fish fisheries, focusing on species a risk and predaors wih high-o-exreme dependence (over 50 per cen of heir die composiion) References Cury, P. M., Boyd, I. L., Bonhommeau, S., Anker-Nilssen, T., Crawford, R. J. M., Furness, R. W., Sydeman, W. J. 2011. Global seabird response o forage fish depleion - One-hird for he birds. Science, 334: 1703 1706. DFO. 2009. Poliique sur la pêche des espèces fourragères. hp://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/peches-fisheries/fish-ren-peche/sff-cpd/forage-fra.hm DFO. 2014. Assessmen of he Alanic Mackerel Sock for he Norhwes Alanic (Subareas 3 and 4) in 2013. DFO. 2016. hp://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/peches-fisheries/fish-ren-peche/sff-cpd/precauion-fra.hm Essingon, T. E., Moriary, P. E., Froehlich, H. E., Hodgson, E. E., Koehn, L. E., Oken, K. L., Sawiz, C. C. 2015. Fishing amplifies forage fish populaion collapses. Proceedings of he Naional Academy of Sciences, 112: 6648 6652. Guillemee, M., Grégoire, F., Bouille, D., Rail, J-F, Bolduc, F., Pelleier, D. On breeding failure of seabirds in relaion o fish depleion: is here a single hreshold of food abundance? Manuscrip in prep. Pikich, E., Boersma, P.D., Boyd, I.L., Conover, D.O., Cury, P., Essingon, T., Heppell, S.S., Houde, E.D., Mangel, M., Pauly, D., Plaganyi, E., Sainsbury, K., and Seneck, R.S. 2012. Lile Fish, Big Impac: Managing a Crucial Link in Ocean Food Webs. Lenfes Ocean Program. Washingon, DC. 108 pp. Pikich, E. K., Rounos, K. J., Essingon, T. E., Sanora, C., Pauly, D., Wason, R., Munch, S. B. 2014. The global conribuion of forage fish o marine fisheries and ecosysems. Fish and Fisheries, 15: 43 64. Change for Rounos, K. J. 2016. Defining Forage Species o Preven a Managemen Dilemma. Fisheries, 41: 16-17. Pinsky, M. L., Jensen, O. P., Ricard, D., Palumbi, S. R. 2011. Unexpeced paerns of fisheries collapse in he world s oceans. Proceedings of he Naional Academy of Sciences, 108: 8317 8322. Rounos, K. J. 2016. Defining Forage Species o Preven a Managemen Dilemma. Fisheries, 41: 16-17. Acknowledgemens Wih special hanks o Jeffrey Huchings (Dalhousie Universiy), Jason Simms (DFO, Newfoundland), Laura Hussey-Bond (DFO, Mariimes), Chrisina Bourne (DFO, Newfoundland), Mahieu Bergeron (DFO, Quebec), and Sam Andrews for reviewing his documen and providing commens. 1986 Panda symbol WWF-World Wide Fund For Naure (also known as World Wildlife Fund). WWF is a WWF Regisered Trademark. Alanic mackerel, Canada Apply he precauionary principle by seing reference poins and pre-agreed harves conrol rules o ensure boh he susainabiliy of he arge species and he food supply for predaors APPLY Canada s Policy on New Fisheries for Forage Species (April 2009) o all exising Canadian forage fisheries. PROTECT he healh of forage fish socks by increasing research capaciy and monioring programs o: Idenify environmenal facors o enable forecass of sock dynamics Underake fishery-independen monioring, such as acousic surveys, o provide adequae informaion for developing populaion models and seing limi reference poins Define areas of poenial localized depleion, and where necessary applying spaial managemen o minimize effecs on dependen predaors, paricularly on more spaially consrained species, such as seabirds WWF-Canada, 410-245 Eglinon Avenue Eas, Torono, ON M4P 3J1 Canada Toll-Free: 1-800-267-2632 Email: ca-panda@wwfcanada.org Websie: wwf.ca Donae: wwf.ca/donae WWF-Canada is a federally regisered chariy (No. 11930 4954 RR0001), and an official naional organizaion of World Wide Fund For Naure, headquarered in Gland, Swizerland. WWF is known as World Wildlife Fund in Canada and he U.S. Published (June 2016) by WWF-Canada, Torono, Onario, Canada. Any reproducion in full or in par of his publicaion mus menion he ile and credi he above-menioned publisher as he copyrigh owner. ex (2016) WWF-Canada. No phoographs from his producion may be reproduced. All righs reserved. 2016 FOOD FOR ALL CAN WWF.CA