A voluntary conservation agreement reduces the risks of lethal collisions between ships and whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary (Québec, Canada): From co-construction to monitoring compliance and assessing effectiveness

Abstract

Lethal collisions with ships are limiting the recovery of several at-risk whale species worldwide. In the St. Lawrence Estuary (Quebec, Canada), the endangered blue whale and of special concern fin whale are among the migratory species subject to collisions with large ships. In 2011, a working group composed of representatives from the maritime industry, the government, non-governmental organizations, and academia was created to explore solutions to mitigate ship-whale collisions in the St. Lawrence Estuary. Adopting an adaptive risk management framework, the working group took advantage of the best available scientific data and tools to co-construct realistic collision mitigation options and evaluate their likely benefits for whale conservation and costs for the industry. In 2013, the working group recommended the implementation of voluntary measures to mitigate collision risks, consisting of a slow-down area, a no-go area, and a caution area; a recommended route was added in 2014. Along with the voluntary framework, the working group agreed to continuously monitor compliance with and assess effectiveness of these mitigation measures. After the fourth year of implementation, voluntary measures showed encouraging results, with a reduction of up to 40% of lethal collision risks with fin whales in the highest density area. This reduction in risk is mainly related to ship speed reduction in the slow-down area from 14.1 ± 2.6 knots in 2012 to 11.3 ± 1.7 knots since 2014. The presence of a mandatory pilotage area overlapping with the slow-down area was instrumental to facilitate communication about the mitigation measures, with the pilotage corporation sitting as a regular member of the working group. This resulted in significantly slower speeds in the slow-down area for ships with a pilot from the pilotage corporation onboard compared to those without (-0.8 knots, p-value < 0.001). It is also likely to explain the weaker compliance of the maritime industry with the no-go area located outside of the mandatory pilotage area. Other factors of success include: the continuous dedication of the government to a voluntary and transparent participatory process; the use of available data, tools and institutions; the presence of an environmental certification program representative in the working group; and the adoption by consensus of an adaptive risk management approach. The traditional regulatory approach to conservation is often blamed for its focus on deterring negative behaviors, doing nothing to encourage and reward positive ones. In agreement with other case studies, the benefits of the voluntary measures implemented in the St. Lawrence Estuary include the pro-active commitment from the industry (which is likely to reduce conflicts with regulators), the greater flexibility and freedom that allowed to come up with cost-effective and tailored-made mitigation measures, and the fast achievement of conservation gains. More importantly perhaps, the human and working capital built throughout the concertation process have the p...

Characterizing Exposure to and Sharing Knowledge of Drivers of Environmental Change in the St. Lawrence System in Canada

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The Role of Slower Vessel Speeds in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Underwater Noise and Collision Risk to Whales

“…Some studies have attempted to quantify the speed-risk relationship for specific whale species (Conn and Silber, 2013) or the hydrodynamic and impact forces in relation to speed (Silber et al, 2010). Others (e.g., Wiley et al, 2011;Chion et al, 2018) have evaluated the relative risk reduction that might be achieved by speed restrictions based on these speed-risk relationships. In addition to studies based on collisions, studies based on observations of whales close to vessels have inferred greater collision risks with increases in speed (Gende et al, 2011;Harris et al, 2012).…”

Active Whale Avoidance by Large Ships: Components and Constraints of a Complementary Approach to Reducing Ship Strike Risk

“…Pilots in Southeast Alaska have found that, upon boarding the ship, communicating with the bridge team that whales may be encountered, emphasizing the importance of whale avoidance, and discussion of avoidance techniques has increased situational awareness of whales while in transit (similar to communicating local knowledge of navigational hazards) and, importantly, often reduced resistance to implementing proactive avoidance maneuvers or temporary reductions in ship speed. A recent study in the St. Lawrence Estuary demonstrated the value that marine pilots can have in implementing strike-risk reduction efforts, in part, through elevating its importance for the larger bridge team (Chion et al, 2018).…”