Other effective area-based conservation measure promotes recovery in a cold-water coral reef

Beazley, Lindsay; Kenchington, Ellen; Korabik, Michelle; Fenton, Derek; King, M.

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01485

Cited by 10 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The Lophelia Coral Conservation Area, despite being the smallest of the closures at 15 km 2 , has large potential as a seed source to all of the other protected areas in the network and to adjacent habitats on the Scotian Slope. Increasing its size would render further protection to this area which also protects the only known cold-water coral reef in eastern Canada (Beazley et al, 2021a). Metaxas et al (2019) showed connectivity to the Corsair and Georges Canyons Conservation Area from canyons to the south, hypotheses not tested in this analysis.…”

Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 91%

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Climate-Change Refugia for the Bubblegum Coral Paragorgia arborea in the Northwest Atlantic

2022

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The large, habitat-forming bubblegum coral, Paragorgia arborea, is a vulnerable marine ecosystem indicator with an antitropical distribution. Dense aggregations of the species have been protected from bottom-contact fishing in the Scotian Shelf bioregion off Nova Scotia, Canada in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Recently, basin-scale habitat suitability ensemble modeling has projected an alarming loss of 99% of suitable habitat for this species across the North Atlantic by 2100. Here, a regional reassessment of the predicted distribution of this species in the bioregion, using both machine learning (random forest) and generalized additive model (GAM) frameworks, including projection to 2046−2065, was undertaken. Extrapolation diagnostics were applied to determine the degree to which the models projected into novel covariate space (i.e., extrapolation) in order to avoid erroneous inferences. The best predictors of the species’ distribution were a suite of temporally-invariant terrain variables that identified suitable habitat along the upper continental slope. Additional predictors, projected to vary with future ocean climatologies, identified areas of the upper slope in the eastern portion of the study area that will remain within suitable ranges for P. arborea at least through to the mid-century. Additionally, 3-D Lagrangian particle tracking simulations indicated potential for both connectivity among known occurrence sites and existing protected areas, and for colonization of unsurveyed areas predicted to have suitable habitat, from locations of known occurrence. These results showed that extirpation of this iconic species from the Scotian Shelf bioregion is unlikely over the next decades. Potential climate refugia were identified and results presented in the context of protected area network design properties of representativity, connectivity, adequacy, viability and resilience.

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Section: Implications For Conservationmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Smaller aggregations of Paragorgia spp. are similarly protected in the Corsair and Georges Canyons Conservation Area (Metaxas et al, 2019), in the Gully Marine Protected Area (Breeze and Fenton, 2007), and the Lophelia Coral Conservation Area, at the mouth of the Laurentian Channel (Beazley et al, 2021a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate-Change Refugia for the Bubblegum Coral Paragorgia arborea in the Northwest Atlantic

2022

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“…Bottom trawl closures have been implemented in response to observed or potential CWCS damage in various jurisdictions (e.g., Huvenne et al 2016;Dunham et al 2018;Beazley et al 2021). Closures can be effective at preventing future damage, but available time series of CWCS communities before and after trawling restrictions indicate persistent impacts and slow recovery (Huvenne et al 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Closures can be effective at preventing future damage, but available time series of CWCS communities before and after trawling restrictions indicate persistent impacts and slow recovery (Huvenne et al 2016). Many CWCS have long lifespans and slow growth rates (e.g., Sherwood and Edinger 2009;Dunham et al 2015;Neves et al 2015), and while some studies have found evidence of recovery measured by abundance, recruitment, and associated diversity (Asch and Collie 2008;Beazley et al 2021), many others have found that CWCS in previously trawled areas show limited regrowth or recolonization in the medium term (5-13 years after protections were implemented; Althaus et al 2009;Williams et al 2010;Huvenne et al 2016;Malecha and Heifetz 2017). Modelling in Alaska shows that recovery of 80% of CWCS biomass after trawling disturbance would require a minimum of 20-30 years (Rooper et al 2011), which is consistent with some seamount observations 30-40 years after protection (Baco et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of collaboratively developed management measures to reduce coral and sponge bycatch in a fully monitored multispecies trawl fishery

Gale

Forrest

Rooper

et al. 2022

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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To protect cold-water corals and sponges from fishing damage, management changes were made in 2012 to the groundfish bottom trawl fishery British Columbia, Canada. The Groundfish Trawl Habitat Agreement restricted the spatial footprint of the fishery and introduced a cold-water coral and sponge bycatch quota, which was among the world’s first. Using 12 years of catch records from the fishery, we found a 31% decrease in overall frequency of encounters of cold-water coral and sponge, a 76% decrease in mean catch weight, and an 89% decrease in total annual catch. We tracked changes in the relative utilization of fine-scale fishing grounds (“fishing opportunities”) and found evidence of active avoidance of areas with high cold-water coral and sponge density. The habitat agreement appears overall to have been successful at reducing impacts to cold-water coral and sponge, although we identified several areas of potential conservation concern where effort and catch have not decreased. Non-spatial management measures in a complex multispecies fishery can result in spatial changes in fishing behaviour, with positive conservation outcomes for bycatch species.

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“…The inclusion of OECMs in the targets of the CBD represents a new opportunity to recognize the delivery of biodiversity conservation in place by a wider range of spatial management practitioners (Alves-Pinto et al, 2021;Beazley et al, 2021;Gurney et al, 2021;Jonas et al, 2021;Rodríguez-Rodríguez et al, 2021;Shackell et al, 2021;Agung et al, 2022;Gissi et al, 2022). Many sectors with established management frameworks use area-based management measures that result in co-benefits for local biodiversity and could qualify as OECMs (Reimer et al, 2021), including in the fisheries sector.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reaching Global Marine Biodiversity Conservation Goals With Area-Based Fisheries Management: A Typology-Based Evaluation

et al. 2022

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In 2010, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Aichi Biodiversity Target 11, calling for conserving 10% of the ocean through marine protected areas (MPAs) and “other effective area-based conservation measures” (OECMs), explicitly recognizing that other types of spatial conservation measures beyond areas designated as MPAs may also achieve biodiversity gains. Eight years later, CBD Parties adopted a definition and criteria for OECMs, and by early 2022, only a few OECMs had been reported. The OECM definition clearly requires that the measures be area-based and likely to contribute to conservation. However, conservation need not be their primary objective. Guidance on the extent and limits of what these “area measures” might include is needed. Clarity would assist countries in delivering on the CBD’s Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, with decadal goals incorporating an area-based conservation target, in which OECMs will play a crucial role. To achieve greater recognition of OECMs, countries require sector-specific guidance to guide recognition, listing, and ongoing implementation of OECMs. Here, we evaluate how well area-based fisheries management measures meet the OECM criteria as well as sustainable use principles, broader ecosystem management objectives, and more general biodiversity conservation goals. We systematically review case studies across a broad range of spatial management approaches to provide evidence of correspondence with the OECM criteria, arguing that many with primary objectives related to fisheries sustainability provide co-benefits for biodiversity, and hence biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. This review highlights how fisheries measures can help achieve a number of Sustainable Development Goals alongside the global targets for biodiversity of CBD.

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Other effective area-based conservation measure promotes recovery in a cold-water coral reef

Cited by 10 publications

References 31 publications

Climate-Change Refugia for the Bubblegum Coral Paragorgia arborea in the Northwest Atlantic

Climate-Change Refugia for the Bubblegum Coral Paragorgia arborea in the Northwest Atlantic

Evaluation of collaboratively developed management measures to reduce coral and sponge bycatch in a fully monitored multispecies trawl fishery

Reaching Global Marine Biodiversity Conservation Goals With Area-Based Fisheries Management: A Typology-Based Evaluation

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