Species at Risk in British Columbia: the Emerging Provincial Approach

1. Species at Risk in British Columbia:the Emerging Provincial Approach Ted Down, Biodiversity Branch Environmental Stewardship Division Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection

2. Conservation and management of aquatic resources: a shared responsibility. Governance under the Canadian Constitution: • Federal government responsible for coastal and inland fisheries > source of DFO authority over fish and fish habitat conservation; • Provincial government ‘owns’ majority of land base and has authority to allocate a variety of natural resources (land, water, trees, minerals).

3. Shared responsibility (con’t). • Province delegated authority to manage freshwater fisheries ca. 1901; • Recognition of shared interests and responsibility led to the signing of the Canada-BC Agreement on the Management of Pacific Salmon Issues in 1997; • Sub-agreements on information sharing; habitat management; a steelhead protocol and the Watershed-based Fish Sustainability Planning tool also developed.

4. Shared responsibility (con’t). • SARA is federal legislation and consistent with commitment under National Accord; • Province has significant interests based on its authority over many of the affected species and the land-base; • Province is developing a strategic approach on species-at-risk and discussing a bilateral agreement with federal agencies; • Partnership with federal agencies (and others) on species at risk issues is already a standard approach.

5. Biodiversity Strategy (the health care system) -establishes goals and objectives for BC’s living resources -Two major projects underway: 1) Mapping (species distribution) 2) Threats & tools analysis. • Species at Risk Strategy (the emergency ward) • legislative amendments (SARA equivalency?) • species status (COSEWIC/CDC) • recovery planning: species & ecosystems • Monitoring Plan • state of the environment type reporting • audit role • Alien Species Strategy • strategy and action plan • Forest & Range Practices Act • protecting fish & fish habitat on crown forest lands • standards development, IWMS • watershed recovery efforts through FIA? • Living Rivers Strategy • co-ordination of watershed planning and restoration? • Streamside Protection Regulation • protecting fish & fish habitat in urban environments

6. Defining the Problem:What are the Challenges? • British Columbia is the most biologically diverse province in Canada. • Low elevation, southern ecosystems are species rich and also the most heavily used by humans • Almost 11% of BC species are considered at risk • 115 BC species are currently listed in SARA Schedules • BC has a global responsibility for maintaining a large number of species

8. Existing Commitments • BC endorsed the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in Canada in 1996 • Key commitments: • Participation in the Canadian Endangered Species Conservation Council • Recognition of Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) • Establish complementary legislation and programs to provide for effective protection of species at risk

9. Current Tools • Forest and Range Practices Act • Parks and Protected Areas • Land Use Planning • Partnership • Support

10. Partnerships • Recovery teams are our key partner in recovery planning • 30 recovery teams active in BC • Aligning our partnerships with federal agencies, First Nations, conservation organizations and academic institutions

11. Developing a BC Strategy • An integrated approach to species at risk is required that meets national and international commitments and expectations while providing certainty and predictability for economic development opportunities; • Options for such an approach being developed.

12. Goal (draft) Maintain and restore the natural diversity of ecosystems, fish and wildlife species and their habitat by: • ensuring that the identification of species at risk is science-based and timely; • seeking to prevent the loss of any species as a result of human activity; • recovering species at risk through effective scientific and socio-economic decision-making that results in healthy, self-sustaining populations within an ecosystem context.

13. Objectives (draft) • Implement a science-based, coordinated approach to identification and listing of species at risk • Support initiatives that protect and manage species at risk and prevent non-listed species from becoming at risk • Implement a science-based, coordinated approach to recovery • Develop policy and legislation to support listing, protection and recovery objectives

14. 1. Identification and Listing • Support the collection, archiving and reporting of inventory data on species and ecosystems at risk • Support the Conservation Data Centre as the mechanism for status assessment at the provincial scale • Support the national COSEWIC ranking process

15. 2. Protection and Management • Develop and support mechanisms to protect and manage species at risk • on Crown lands outside of protected areas • within provincial parks and protected areas • on private land

16. 3. Recovery • Develop a standardized approach to recovery planning that is integrated with national approaches and meets SARA requirements • Facilitate the formation and operation of multi-stakeholder recovery teams and action groups

17. 4. Policy and Legislation • Examine legislative amendments to meet obligations under the Accord and to harmonize with SARA • Maximize partnerships with the federal government • Develop policy and procedures to ensure timely and consistent decisions on listing, recovery and protection of species at risk

18. The Path Forward • Coordinated BC Approach Required • Prevent further extinctions and extirpations • Fulfill international and national commitments • Buffer economic risks of trade and market actions creating uncertain investment climate

19. Nationally-listed freshwater fish species in BC • Endangered • Enos Lake Benthic & Limnetic Sticklebacks • Paxton Lake Benthic & Limnetic Sticklebacks • Vananda Watershed Benthic & Limnetic Sticklebacks • Nooksack Dace • Salish Sucker • Morrison Creek Lamprey • Speckled Dace • Special Concern • White Sturgeon • Umatilla Dace • Columbia Mottled Sculpin • Giant Stickleback • Charlotte Unarmoured Stickleback • Threatened • Cowichan Lake Lamprey • Shorthead Sculpin • Cultus Lake Pygmy Sculpin

20. Recovery planning for freshwater fish (non-sport) species in BC • Challenge: • Majority of species indigenous to BC (primarily Georgia Basin). • Limited expertise available. • Taxonomic uncertainty, limited information in some cases. • Multiple and varied threats. • Approach: • A single technical recovery team assembled to produce strategies for each of the non-sport COSEWIC-listed species in order of perceived priority (sticklebacks first, Salish sucker / Nooksack dace second). • Regional implementation teams to be assembled to develop recovery action plans & implement.

21. Stickleback Species Pairs in BC Recent parallel sympatric evolution of limnetic and benthic species in 6 lakes in B.C. Benthic species: Larger, feeds on benthic inverts Limnetic species: smaller, feeds on zoolplankton

22. Paxton and Vandana Hadley Enos

23. Threats: 1) Exotics – predators; possible habitat change/bioturbation (e.g. crayfish) 2) Habitat impacts – water quality issues (e.g. Enos Lake – increased turbidity) - Threats related to: urban development, forestry, mining and water management. - Water quality or habitat degradation that leads to loss of reproductive isolating mechanisms appear to be the problem.

24. Salish Sucker and Nooksack Dace Salish sucker (Catostomus sp.) Nooksack dace (Rhinichthys sp.) (Mike Pearson photos)

25. (Mike Pearson 2002)

26. Critical Habitat Nooksack Dace: -require riffles for spawning as well as adult rearing -slow marginal habitat for juvenile rearing Salish Sucker: -require riffles for spawning -adults rear in slow marshy habitat -juvenile habitat is poorly documented (Mike Pearson 2002)

27. White sturgeon- large, long-lived, late maturing...

28. Commercial harvest 1880-1990 Flow regulation Commercially extinct by 1917. A variety of issues involved in population declines…. Gravel mining

29. Age Frequency Genetic Stock Structure Lower Fraser N=50,000 (>50cm) Fraser Canyon N=970 (>50cm) Mid-Fraser N=3700 (>50cm) Upper Fraser N~400 (>50cm) Nechako N=570

30. Recovery Planning • Initiated for Columbia & Nechako sturgeon in 2000 (Kootenay Plan completed earlier by USFWS) • Will take an adaptive management approach • Long-term goal is restoration of self-sustaining population in the watershed. Two committees direct process: (1) Recovery Team to provide technical basis. (2) Action Planning Team to act as advisors and advocates. a

31. Large-lake Ecosystem Recovery Projects:

32. Declines in spawner numbers to spawning channel at Meadow Creek from 2 million to a few hundred thousand indicated a major ecosystem change. Fertilization program initiated in 1992…..