Kristina M. Gjerde, JD High Seas Policy Advisor IUCN Global Marine Program

1. THE CHALLENGE OF CHANGE:Managing for Sustainability of Oceanic Top Predator Species:Changes in values, ecosystem concerns, NGO participation, management objectives and enforcement Kristina M. Gjerde, JD High Seas Policy Advisor IUCN Global Marine Program Santa Barbara, CA 12-14 April 2007

2. Changes in values Ecosystem concerns NGO participation Management objectives Enforcement The challenge of change

3. NASA

4. Changes in values

7. As many as 73 million sharks are killed worldwide each year Fewer big sharks mean that bay scallops and other shellfish harder to find at the market Overfishing the largest predatory sharks along the US Atlantic Coast has led to an explosion of their ray, skate, and small shark prey species “Large sharks have been functionally eliminated from the east coast of the U.S., meaning that they can no longer perform their ecosystem role as top predators,” says Baum. Ecosystem concernsCascading Effects of the Loss of Apex Predatory Sharks from a Coastal Ocean Myers, R. A., Baum, J. K., Shepherd T. D., Powers, S.P. Peterson, C.H.. 2007. Science 315:1846-1850

8. UN Fish Stocks Agreement negotiation Apply an ecosystem and a precautionary approach Ensure long-term sustainability Minimize waste, discards, catch of non-target species and impacts on endangered species Protect biodiversity Cooperate or don’t fish NGO Participation

9. Shift from maintaining the status quo to managing dynamic systems Reflect ongoing changes in species and habitats Incorporate dynamic conservation designations Maintain functioning ecosystems Management objectives:challenge of climate change

10. Where to begin?

11. Some places are especially important Callum Roberts, University of York

12. Recent scientific insights relevant to conservation of oceanic predators

13. 1. Ocean conditions can be monitored

14. 2. Animals’ movements can be tracked http://www.toppcensus.org/

15. 3. Habitat use is not random

16. 4. Pelagic predators often concentratewhere food is abundant

17. 5. Some pelagic habitats are persistent

18. 6. Other pelagic habitats move

19. 7. Many top pelagic predators cross national boundaries Two populations of bluefin tuna in the North Atlantic that share common feeding grounds as adolescent and adults but sort to western breeding grounds (orange) and the Mediterranean Sea (White). Block, et al. Nature, 2005

20. Scientific Protect key places where species feed, mate, spawn, calve, rear young, etc. Protect key migratory routes Protect future habitats thru networks Monitor animal movements and/or habitats in real-time Pelagic MPAs need to:

21. Practical An effective legal basis Compliance mechanisms Political buy-in from key players Pelagic MPAs need:

22. On board observers Fish and other species tracking Electronic log books Catch documentation schemes Vessel monitoring systems Satellite surveillance Vessel registration requirements How to monitor and enforce pelagic MPAs

23. Monitoring dynamic boundary areas MODIS Ocean Color 17-24 Jan ‘04 MODIS Ocean Color 9-16 Jan ‘04

24. Ocean tracking network http://www.toppcensus.org/web/

25. Managers set boundaries and broadcast them frequently Fishing operations seek and get the broadcast messages Vessel monitoring systems, event data recorders and/or radar satellites broadcast data on vessels’ positions to enforcement officials Rebuttable presumption of violation for vessels observed within boundaries Enforcing dynamic boundary areas

26. The “Final Frontier” Regulatory gaps Unregulated activities No procedures for prior impact assessment or MPAs Geographic gaps Implementation gaps Governance gaps Challenges to sustainability on the high seas

28. Existing Regional Fisheries Bodies UN Fish Stocks Agreement Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Convention on Migratory Species Convention on Biological Diversity United Nations General Assembly Opportunities to improve management of oceanic top predators

29. MPAs are a vital tool, not a panacea Need improved high seas governance and fisheries management Reduce overcapacity, legal overfishing, illegal fishing Increase responsibility, selectivity, precaution We can now identify where not to fish Perhaps we should identify where to fish? Concluding remarks

30. Norse, E., L. Crowder, K. Gjerde, D. Hyrenbach, C. Roberts, C. Safina, and M. Soulé (2005). “Place-based Ecosystem Management in the Open Ocean”, from Marine Conservation Biology: The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s Biodiversity. Island Press http://ioc3.unesco.org/marinesp/files/PlaceBased%20Management.pdf Gubbay, Susan (2006). Marine Nature Conservation in the Pelagic Environment: A Case for Pelagic Marine Protected Areas? WWF http://www.ngo.grida.no/wwfneap/Projects/Reports/WWF_Pelagic_MPAs.pdf Hyrenbach, D., K. Forney, and P. Dayton (2000). “Marine protected areas and ocean basin management”. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 10:437-458. http://swfsc.nmfs.noaa.gov/prd/PROGRAMS/CMMP/reports/mpa_pdf.pdf Kimball, Lee (2005). The International Legal Regime of the High Seas and the Seabed Beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction and Options for Cooperation for the Establishment of Marine Protected Areas in Marine Areas Beyond the Limits of National Jurisdiction. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity. http://www.iucn.org/themes/marine/pdf/cbd-ts-19.pdf Davis, J. Using Marine Reserves to Protect Highly Migratory Species: Scientists Discuss Potential Strategies, Including Mobile MPAs MPA News, Vol. 8, No. 8 March 2007 For More Information:

31. More information available from:kgjerde@it.com.plwww.iucn.org/marine

32. Thank You!

33. Acknowledgements:Elliott Norse, MCBIand Darius de Sola Pool, my son