Aquatic monitoring in Canada: overview and need, particularly the nearshore

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Aquatic monitoring in Canada overview and need,
particularly the nearshore

• Nearshore Marine Monitoring Workshop
• February 7, 2006

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Presentation Outline

• DFO Science Monitoring
• Why DFO Science invests in monitoring?
• Types of monitoring and relevance
• Where DFO monitors
• Link to stock assessment and data management
• Potential improvements
• Challenge of increasing costs
• Meteorological versus aquatic monitoring
• New needs and increasing demands for monitoring
• Recommendations of Monitoring Team
• Recommendations specific to nearshore
• Next steps

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Why DFO Science Invests in Monitoring?

• Basis for stock assessments
• Assess species at risk and impacts of
  aquaculture, habitat loss, invasive species,
  resource extraction
• Basis for status of ecosystems
• Describing environmental change
• Sea level, sea ice
• Warming of oceans
• Earth-ocean climate system
• Commitments to Conference of the Parties to the
  Climate Change Convention and Convention on
  biological diversity

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Types of Monitoring
Water level, bathymetry
Ecological integrity and biodiversity
Population abundance, distribution and health
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DFO Monitoring Expenditures 56M
000s 2004-2005
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Partner Monitoring Expenditures 31M
000s 2004-2005
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DFO Monitoring for Fisheries (000s)
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DFO Monitoring for Environment (000s)
Note scale is 1/3 previous slide
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Aquatic Monitoring
Locations with One Observation per Year
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Locations with One Observation per Year
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Biological Monitoring Gulf Region
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Monitoring of Pacific Salmon
Yellow Intensive surveys Green Indicator
surveys Red Discontinued surveys
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Aquatic Monitoring
Locations with Several Observations per Year
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Aquatic Monitoring
Locations with Continuous Observations (note
weather buoys)
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Meteorological and Hydrological Monitoring
Locations with Continuous Observations
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Trend in Marine Observations
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Possible Areas for Improvement

• New technologies, e.g. Argo floats
• Partnerships and role of academia
• Fisheries sampling, need to harmonize within DFO
• Government of Canada vessels
• Ecosystem Status Reports
• Communications to raise visibility of monitoring

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Areas Where Monitoring NeedsAre Increasing

• The North
• Species at risk 145 aquatic species
• Oceans Act IM, MEQ, LOMA, MPA
• Fish habitat coastal and littoral Areas
• Secondary production food webs
• Aquatic invasive species
• Ecosystem health - eutrophication
• Information access and integration

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Recommendations of Monitoring Team

• Commit to well-defined level of funding
• Improve vessel reliability
• Address areas for improvement
• Set standards for quality
• Improve systems to archive data from partners
• Develop plan to address new monitoring needs
• Request monitoring funds in new programs (e.g.
  OAP)
• Facilitate growth of a national monitoring
  program
• Improve public knowledge in media and web

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Concerns for Nearshore

• Nearshore habitats not well-sampled
• Need inventory of current field study sites
• Standards for data quality and archiving
• Clarify roles of academia, NGOs, governments
• Integrate distribution and access of information
• Establish nearshore report cards

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Next Steps

• Complete report and publish (CSAS)
• Define DFOs monitoring envelope
• Develop plan to address new monitoring needs
• Develop standards and protocols
• Ensure monitoring meets the standards
• Pursue inter-governmental discussion
• Develop topics for strategic investment (e.g.
  International Biological Programme II)