Shellfish restoration: assessing needs, opportunities and outcomes

1. Fisheries and Oceans Pêches et Océans Canada Canada Shellfish restoration: assessing needs, opportunities and outcomes Thomas Landry1, Marc Ouellette1, Brian Leung2, Andrea Locke1 and Mark Hanson1 1Gulf Fisheries Center, Fisheries and Oceans Canada , 2Department of Biology, McGill University

2. American Oyster Crassostrea virginica QuahaugMercenaria mercenaria S-S ClamMya arenaria Giant ScallopPlacopecten magellanicus Atlantic Canada

3. Malpeque disease • 1915/35 - PEI • 1957 - NB • 1957 - NS MSX • 2002 • Bras d’Or Lakes, NS Invasive species in the sGSL Styela clava Ciona intestinalis Botryllus schlosseri Botrylloides violaceus Carcinus maenas Codium fragile Shellfish restoration(sGSL): historical • Alleviate the pressures: • Disease outbreaks • Malpeque disease • QPX • Haemic neoplasia • MSX (Bras d’Or Lakes, NS, 2002) • Overexploitation • Habitat alterations • Inter-specific competition • Invasive species

4. Shellfish Restoration(goals) « To return or make as before, to re-establish something, to bring back; the return of degraded ecosystem to a former state by calculated interventionsand/or by controlling anthropogenic effects  » Biomass Cultural Ecology Economic Environment Social objectives (technique, protocol...) measure of success (monitoring...) « realistic expectation! »

5. ecological and biological functions ecological services anthropogenic issues water quality sanitation filtration turbidity sedimentation nutrients eutrophication fishery spat (fertilisation, genetics) reproduction aquaculture refuge biodiversity habitat nursery productivity physical filter sedimentation Ecosystem Services(e.g. oyster reef) other: substrate stabilisation (erosion); chemical buffer (pH)

6. Ecosystem Services ”Everyone in the world depends on nature and ecosystem services to provide the conditions for a decent, healthy, and secure life” (MEA 2005) Ecosystem Functions (aquatic) • Provisioning • food • (harvest and culture) • water • energy... • Supporting • nutrients cycling • sediments cycling • primary production • ... What do we value? (environmental, socio-economical & cultural) • Regulating • climate • habitats • ... • Cultural • aesthetic • recreational • ... (adapted from Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005)

7. Environmental state ”Humans have made unprecedented changes to ecosystems in recent decades to meet growing demands for food, fresh water, fibre, and energy” (MEA 2005) Drivers (human activities) Pressures Responses State (aquatic ecosystems) Impacts (ecosystem services)

8. State of the environment ”State (changes) = multiple pressures & cumulative environmental effects from various types and intensity of human activities” • Coastal activities: • forestry • agriculture • peat moss • mining • energy production • municipality waste • land transportation • marine transportation • fishery • fish plants • aquaculture • residential / leisure • - marina • - golf courses • - coastal landscaping

9. Soft-shell clam Mya arenaria Northern quahaugMercenaria mercenaria Blue mussel Mytilus edulis American oyster Crassostrea virginica (Newell 2004) Bivalves(ecological functions as filter feeders)

10. Steps in model development (from FAO, 2008; modified by them from Dambacher et al. 2007) Ecosystem Models “will frequently be the best sources of [resource management] information… In their absence, managers and decision-makers will have no choice but to fall back on their own mental models which may frequently be subjective, untested and incomplete, a situation which clearly needs to be avoided.”Source: FAO (2008) Fisheries Management. 2. The ecosystem approach to fisheries. 2.1. Best practices in ecosystem modelling for informing an ecosystem approach to fisheries. FAO Fisheries Technical Guidelines for Responsible Fisheries. No. 4 Suppl. 2, Add.1.

11. Issues that could be addressed by ecosystem modelling • The effects of physical/environmental factors on resources, e.g., changes in nutrient loading • Consequences of changes in ecosystem state, e.g., regime changes to alternative stable states • Does manipulation of bivalve biomass drive the ecosystem to a less productive/less desirable state? • The importance of other anthropogenic effects, e.g., introduction of AIS • The effects of habitat modification (restoration or loss)

12. Modelling options • MANY different tools exist – we are considering: • Ecopath • Mass-balance model, based on carbon • Understand energy flows in system • …with Ecosim • Simulation testing of alternatives, builds on Ecopath model • Use to examine implications of management decisions • Models to examine the relationships between subsets of components of the ecosystem or validate the Ecopath • e.g., empirical modelling based on applied limnology

13. Management question • Question: What is the effect on ecosystem services or valued ecosystem components (e.g., water clarity, fish production, etc.) … of changes in these inputs?: • Manipulation of primary producers (reflecting changes in nutrient inputs) • Enhancement or harvest of bivalve biomass (production) and effects of bivalve species composition (e.g., mussels vs. oysters) • Are there alternative stable states? • What are the feedback loops?

14. Decision Process Management’s ‘6 tenets’ (Elliott 2002) Our actions have to be: • environmentally sustainable; • technologically feasible; • economically viable; • socially desirable; • legally permissible; and, • administratively achievable.

15. Decision tools Bioeconomics Risk analysis Adaptive management Consistent with ecosystem management

16. Bioeconomics Environment is not independent of social drivers Economic models in the context of physical and biological constraints Systems thinking – flow and cycles of energy and matter

17. Risk analysis Uncertainty always exists Decisions need to be made Make choices based on available data and risk preference

18. Adaptive management Use management as experiments Accept losses in some areas to reduce uncertainty Improve global system How do we make it fair and appealing given localized stakeholders?

19. Adaptive bioeconomic risk analysis Complexity of Interactions

20. Conceptualizing Interactions – Framework Products Industrial Activities Inputs By-Products • Energy • Capital • Personnel • Environmental Services • Finished Product • Environmental Impacts • Pollution • Climate Change • Invasive Species • Habitat Loss/degradation • Overexploitation

21. Conceptualizing Interactions – Framework Industry 1 Outputs Inputs Outputs of Industry 1 Inputs to Industry 2 Outputs Inputs Industry 2

22. Adaptive bioeconomic risk analysisAnswering the right questions How do we optimize the system? How can we best use the flows of matter? Can we engage/coordinate stakeholders and make the system equitable and sustainable? What are the best suite of options? What are the costs and benefits of each? Are there business opportunities? What are the risks, uncertainties and limitations?

23. Successful Shellfish RestorationExpectations  Resources Expectations: Ecosystem ApproachResources: Stakeholders Engagement