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Fisheries and Oceans Canada: Offsets and the Fisheries Protection Program

Presentation for Biodiversity Offsets in Canada Institute of the Environment, University of Ottawa

February 13-14, 2014

The Fisheries Act

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• New Fisheries Protection Provisions:

• Purpose of decision-making to provide for sustainability and ongoing productivity of fisheries

• Prohibition against causing serious harm to fish that are part of or support a commercial, recreational or Aboriginal fishery

• Framework for decision-making

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New national policy on fisheries protection

• Policy goal: provide for sustainability and ongoing productivity of fisheries • discusses key elements of the Fisheries Protection Provisions • interprets “serious harm to fish” and the scope of application • describes the factors to be considered prior to authorizing projects that cause serious harm to fish

How offsetting fits into fisheries protection at DFO • general advice and project reviews to

help proponent’s avoid serious harm to fish

• where serious harm to fish is unavoidable, offsetting is a required

• Offsets become a condition of authorization and failure to comply is enforceable

• offsetting can range from localized improvements to habitat to more complex measures to address factors limiting production

New guidance on offsetting • aims to maintain or enhance sustainability and

ongoing productivity of fisheries through avoiding, mitigating and offsetting

• outlines the proponent’s responsibility to avoid and, when it is unavoidable, to engage affected parties to select appropriate offsets

• recognizes the importance, and challenges of,

determining equivalency, effectiveness, and identifying appropriate options in some environments

• designed to provide flexibility in offset choices guided but is guided by clear principles and informed by science

Offsetting

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Prod

uctiv

ity

Time

incr

ease

de

crea

se

Offset plan

Mitigation

residual effects

Target: achieve at least original level of productivity

total serious harm

to fish

mitigable

effects

offset of residual serious harm

to fish

Net effect

Original impact (affected site)

Simultaneous impact & offset

Adapted from: ICMM IUCN (2012) Independent report on biodiversity offsets. Prepared by The Biodiversity Consultancy.(Figure 1).

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Developing an offset plan 1. Characterize the residual serious harm to fish

2. Select offsetting measures

3. Determine the amount of offsetting required

4. Establish the monitoring and reporting of conditions

5. Submit plan to DFO

Guiding principles of offsetting

1. Support fisheries management objectives or local restoration priorities

2. Benefits from offsetting measures should balance project impacts 3. Offsetting measures should provide additional benefits to the fishery

4. Offsetting measures should generate self-sustaining benefits over the long term

Ways to offset

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before

after

Habitat restoration

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before after

Habitat creation

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Additional possibilities

• Chemical or biological manipulations

• Complementary measures (collection of data, research)

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Summary • The Fisheries Act and associated policies have

provided an opportunity to revise the way DFO thinks about offsetting

• The emphasis is on outcomes that maintain or enhance fisheries productivity

• Development of more detailed guidance is ongoing with continued collaboration from scientists, regulatory partners and stakeholders

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Thank you

• For more information: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/pnw-ppe/index-eng.html

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