In 2011, Canada committed to implementing an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) under the Aichi targets. While EAFM has long been a departmental direction for DFO, implementation has been opportunistic and inconsistent rather than comprehensive, which is why Canada ultimately failed to meet its target by the 2020 deadline. In 2022, the adoption of the KMGBF renewed Canada’s commitment to a number of targets which explicitly include the adoption of an ecosystem approach to fisheries management.
Last year, DFO began developing a national implementation plan for EAFM. This national implementation plan will guide DFO’s future decision making on fisheries management, the ocean ecosystem, and the livelihoods that depend on it. If applied consistently and effectively, this approach will incorporate critical ecosystem variables, such as climate and predator-prey dynamics, into Canada’s fisheries science and stock assessments, leading to well informed decisions and adaptive management.
It is critical that the necessary resources be put in place to ensure DFO can effectively implement EAFM across fisheries and regions. Specifically, the Green Budget Coalition is recommending funding to support three key areas of work: 1) develop full ecosystem assessments for each region – a key EAFM necessity as identified by the DFO EAFM expert working group, 2) develop regional data and code repositories to support consistent and efficient EAFM implementation at the regional scale (e.g., Duplisea et al.), and 3) ensure sufficient capacity to incorporate ecosystem variables into single-stock science and management processes.
Recommended Investment:
$40 million over five years [DFO]