Stratégie révisée de gestion des phoques de l'Atlantique

Thumbnail image

Download files

Language of the publication
French
Date
2025
Type
Report
Author(s)
  • Stratégie révisée de gestion des phoques de l'Atlantique
Publisher
Center for Science Advice (CSA), National Capital Region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Abstract

Since its adoption in 2003, the Atlantic Seal Management Strategy (ASMS) Precautionary Approach (PA) framework has been used to provide advice on sustainable harvest levels for Atlantic seals and other marine mammal stocks in Canada. To account for differences in the current state of knowledge and the level of uncertainty associated with estimates of stock status, two categories are distinguished within the ASMS, ‘Data Rich’ and ‘Data Poor’. For a stock considered Data Rich, harvest advice is made using a population model that describes the dynamics of the stock. Under the ASMS Data Rich PA framework, five recommendations were made, including to use estimated environmental carrying capacity (K) instead of maximum population size observed or estimated (Nmax) for the reference abundance level (Nref) where K can be reliably estimated. Changes were also made to the timeframes used for the Harvest Control Rules (HCRs) in the Healthy (15 years) and Cautious Zones (1.5 generations) in keeping with the PA. Simulations will be required to evaluate whether or not these timeframes are appropriate for Atlantic seals under the established risk tolerance levels for preventable decline under the PA Policy. For a stock considered Data Poor, total removals are estimated using the Potential Biological Removal (PBR) approach which is a product of three parameters: a minimum estimate of abundance (Nmin), one-half of the maximum intrinsic rate of population growth (Rmax), and a recovery factor (FR). Under the ASMS Data Poor PA framework, five recommendations were made for refining PBR calculation, including guidelines on estimating Nmin, the value to be used for Rmax, and the criteria for the selection of the FR. Both the Data Rich and Data Poor PA frameworks described in the ASMS are consistent with the intent of the DFO PA Policy. The ASMS was revised to fill gaps and clarify details from the previous approach. The revised ASMS PA framework can be generalized to extend to other marine mammal stocks in Canada. Variations in the timeframes for the HCRs could be evaluated using simulations for marine mammals with different life histories.

Description

1 online resource (13 pages) : illustration, tables, photograph

Subject

  • Animal populations,
  • Sealing,
  • Resources management

Pagination

13 pages

Identifiers

Government document number
Fs70-6/2025-005F-PDF
ISBN
9780660757650
ISSN
1919-5117

Report

Report no.
2025/005

Citation(s)

MPO. 2025. Stratégie révisée de gestion des phoques de l'Atlantique. Secr. can. des avis sci. du MPO. Avis sci. 2025/005.

Download(s)

URI

Collection(s)

Fisheries

Full item page

Full item page

Page details

Date modified: