The management of fishing must be undertaken within the context of the ecosystem(s) that support the exploited stocks, a management approach termed Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management (EBFM). The WA Department of Fisheries (DoF) recognizes the inherent complexity in attempting to implement an EBFM system, including the need to consider a much wider range of processes, issues and data than is required for singe-stock management. Research on the implementation of EBFM is being undertaken in a project funded by the WA Marine Science Institution (WAMSI). This project aims to (1) develop mechanisms and processes for integrating EBFM into "mainstream" fisheries management, including the WA Government’s Integrated Fisheries Management (IFM) initiative, and (2) to source, identify and integrate appropriate supporting research. It is expected that EBFM will eventually subsume both traditional fisheries management and IFM. Ultimately, this project will provide stakeholders, including the broader WA community, with a much improved understanding of what EBFM means and how it could be achieved, which will engender within the WA community a greater understanding of sustainable management of marine ecosystems. This presentation provides an overview of how DoF and partners are progressing the implementation of EBFM.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) conducts research and undertakes monitoring surveys of the marine and freshwater environment in support of sustainable fisheries, healthy aquatic ecosystems and living resources, and safe and effective marine services. In an effort to effectively inform and ensure Canadians feel engaged in the delivery of its science mandate, DFO produces Fieldnotes, an annual compendium of planned science field operations in the North Pacific and Arctic oceans, as well as in the coastal and interior waters of British Columbia and Yukon.

These are the results of the annual DFO survey of key fish stocks. This survey tracks Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s implementation of its Sustainable Fisheries Framework policies.

The 2019 amended Fisheries Act (FA) contains a provision that will require DFO to have a public facing Registry to provide public access to records relating to fish and fish habitat protection and pollution prevention, including: • Ministerial agreements • Standards and Codes of practice • Ministerial orders • Fisheries Act Authorizations • Permits for designated projects • Fish habitat restoration plans This work supports the Government’s goals around transparency, access, and accountability in federal decision-making. The new online version of the [FA Registry](https://far-rlp.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/) is now available to Canadians. This latest release includes the Fisheries Act Authorizations (updated automatically.) The FA Registry is currently accessible through the [Common Project Search Portal](https://common-project-search.canada.ca/), a one-stop online location for Canadians to search and browse through DFO authorizations as well as projects and assessments submitted to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and Transport Canada. DFO will be undertaking continuous development of the Fisheries Act Registry. This release is the second step towards implementing the full FA Registry that will provide additional content as well as new features to the FA Registry, increasing transparency and proactive disclosure as well as improving digital capacity and service for Canadians. Click here to visit the [Fisheries Act Registry](https://far-rlp.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/).

The Oceans Act (1997) commits Canada to maintaining biological diversity and productivity in the marine environment. A key component of this is to identify areas that are considered ecologically or biologically significant. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science has developed guidance on the identification of Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) (DFO 2004) and has endorsed the scientific criteria of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for identifying ecologically or biologically significant marine areas as defined in Annex I of Decision IX/20 of its 9th Conference of Parties. These criteria were applied to the Newfoundland and Labrador (NL) Shelves Bioregion in two separate data-driven processes. The first process focused on the area north of the Placentia Bay-Grand Banks (PBGB) Large Ocean Management Area (LOMA) (DFO 2013). The second process focused on the PBGB area (DFO 2019), where EBSAs had previously been identified using a more Delphic approach (Templeman 2007). In both cases, an EBSA Steering Committee, comprised of experts in oceanography, ecosystem structure and function, taxa-specific life histories and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) guided the process by advising or aiding in the identification, collection, processing and analysis of data layers, as well as participating in the final selection of candidate EBSAs (Wells et al. 2017, Ollerhead et al. 2017, Wells et al. 2019). All information was compiled in a GIS and a hierarchical approach was used to review individual data layers and groupings of data layers. Peer review meetings were held for both processes, during which candidate EBSAs were reviewed and the final EBSAs were agreed upon and delineated. In the northern study area, a total of fifteen EBSAs were identified and described; three of these areas are primarily coastal areas; seven are in offshore areas; four EBSAs straddle coastal and offshore areas; and one is a transitory EBSA that follows the southern extent of pack ice. In the PBGB study area, fourteen EBSAs were identified in two different categories: seven based on coastal data and seven based on offshore data. In comparing the new PBGB EBSAs to those identified in 2007, nine of them overlap spatially and are based on similar features; however, there were some variations in the boundaries. Two of the EBSAs that were identified in 2007 were no longer considered EBSAs in 2017, but portions of both of these areas were captured in part by other EBSAs. Five new EBSAs were identified in areas not previously considered. References: DFO, 2004. Identification of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Ecosystem Status Rep. 2004/006. DFO. 2013. Identification of additional Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas (EBSAs) within the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves Bioregion. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2013/048. DFO. 2019. Re-evaluation of the Placentia Bay-Grand Banks Area to Identify Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas . DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Sci. Advis. Rep. 2019/040. Ollerhead, L.M.N., Gullage, M., Trip, N., and Wells, N. 2017. Development of Spatially Referenced Data Layers for Use in the Identification and Delineation of Candidate Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas in the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves Bioregion. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2017/036. v + 38 p Templeman, N.D. 2007. Placentia Bay-Grand Banks Large Ocean Management Area Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas. Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2007/052: iii + 15 p. Wells, N.J., Stenson, G.B., Pepin, P., and Koen-Alonso, M. 2017. Identification and Descriptions of Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas in the Newfoundland and Labrador Shelves Bioregion. DFO Can. Sci. Advis. Sec. Res. Doc. 2017/013. v + 87 p. Wells, N., K. Tucker, K. Allard, M. Warren, S. Olson, L. Gullage, C. Pretty, V. Sutton-Pande and K. Clarke. 2019. Re-evaluation of the

WAMSI Node 4.1 focussed on: 1) developing a means (mechanisms and processes) of integrating Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) into “mainstream” fisheries management, including the WA Government’s Integrated Fisheries Management (IFM) initiative, and; 2) to source, identify and integrate appropriate supporting research. Ultimately, this project will provide stakeholders, including the broader WA community, with a much improved understanding of what EBFM means and how it could be achieved in WA. The key outcome will be the development of a risk assessment system that encompasses each of the ecological, social and economic aspects of fisheries management. The West Coast Bioregion was used as a case study, with a report to be available for download.

DFO’s Oceans and Coastal Management Division (OCMD) in the Maritimes Region has updated its fisheries landings maps for 2010–2014. These maps will be used for decision making in coastal and oceans management, including mitigating human use conflicts, informing environmental emergency response operations and protocols, informing Marine Stewardship Council certification processes, planning marine protected area networks, assessing ecological risks, and monitoring compliance and threats in coral and sponge closures and Marine Protected Areas. Fisheries maps were created to identify important fishing areas using aggregate landed weight (kg) per 2 x 2-minute grid cell for selected species/gear types. This dataset has been filtered to comply with the Government of Canada's privacy policy. Privacy assessments were conducted to identify NAFO unit areas containing data with less than five vessel IDs, license IDs and fisher IDs. If this threshold was not met, catch weight locations were withheld from these unit areas to protect the identity or activity of individual vessels or companies. Maps were created for the following species/gear types: 1. Atlantic Halibut 2. Bluefin Tuna 3. Bottom Longline Groundfish 4. Bottom Trawl Groundfish 5. Cod 6. Cod, Haddock, Pollock 7. Cusk 8. Dogfish 9. Flatfish 10. Gillnet Groundfish 11. Greenland Halibut 12. Groundfish 13. Groundfish (quarterly composites Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 14. Hagfish 15. Herring 16. Large Pelagics 17. Mackerel 18. Monkfish 19. Offshore Clam 20. Offshore Lobster 21. Grey Zone Lobster 22. Other Crab 23. Other Tuna 24. Pollock 25. Porbeagle, Mako and Blue Shark 26. Red Hake 27. Redfish 28. Scallop 29. Scallop (quarterly composites Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) 30. Sculpin 31. Sea Urchin 32. Shrimp 33. Silver Hake 34. Skate 35. Snow Crab 36. Squid 37. Swordfish 38. White Hake 39. Wolffish

WAMSI Node 4.1 focussed on: 1) developing a means (mechanisms and processes) of integrating Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) into “mainstream” fisheries management, including the WA Government’s Integrated Fisheries Management (IFM) initiative, and; 2) to source, identify and integrate appropriate supporting research. Ultimately, this project will provide stakeholders, including the broader WA community, with a much improved understanding of what EBFM means and how it could be achieved in WA. The key outcome will be the development of a risk assessment system that encompasses each of the ecological, social and economic aspects of fisheries management. The West Coast Bioregion was used as a case study, with a report to be available for download.