Action Plan for the Northern Abalone in Canada [Final] 2012: Appendix II

Was the coast-wide closure to Northern Abalone harvesting maintained and enforced?

Yes

See comments under ‘Protection’.

Was the coast-wide closure an effective measure contributing in halting the population decline?

Yes and No

The coast-wide closure limited mortality on Northern Abalone from legal fishing and the rate of decline in total abalone density has slowed since 1990. However, Lessard et al. (2007) found that illegal harvest is still ongoing and is a major source of mortality of Northern Abalone. Densities of mature abalone have declined 44% since 1990.

Was a proactive protective enforcement plan implemented?

Yes

Annual compliance promotion work plans are prepared for all abalone-related activities based on C & P’s ‘three pillars’
Coastwide proactive protection measures included the following:
- Preventative enforcement patrols and intelligence gathering
- Community stewardship and conservation activities, including community-based CoastWatch programs

How many reports relating to abalone harvesting were provided to enforcement officers and the toll free enforcement line (Observe-Record-Report)?

>135 calls received

Fishery officers have received over 135 calls pertaining to abalone from the public via the ORR line over the past decade. This also indicates that the secretive and covert nature of abalone harvesting keeps it out of the public sight. Those that partake in abalone harvesting are closely knit and highly secretive. Separate tips to the ORR led to the biggest poaching bust in B.C. in 2006.
Additionally, information from the public is often received during patrols and by visiting DFO detachments. Reports from the public are an important source of intelligence that have led to the arrest of abalone harvesters and those involved in illegal buying and selling Northern Abalone.
Abalone patrols by stewardship groups directly resulted in 2 reports (2005, 2008).

To what degree were these reports investigated and resulted in charges and convictions?

Extensive

Fishery officers responded to over 90% of the reports received. All other complaints of abalone harvest were investigated by Fishery Officers to determine whether a violation had occurred.
Over twenty charges have been laid under various Acts of Parliament. Over twenty-five charges are pending. Alternative approaches including restorative justice-style sentencing applied to half of the charges.

How many hours were spent on enforcing abalone closures?

Thousands

Over 8700 patrol hours have been dedicated to enforcing abalone closures since 2004.

What were the trends in enforcement hours and resulting charges and convictions over the period before and during implementation of the recovery strategy?

Increasing

Prior to the closure of the fishery and the implementation of SARA and the recovery strategy, hours were tracked for species at risk as a whole. The number of occurrences increased during the implementation of the recovery strategy (98 occurrences from 2004 to present, compared to 35 in 1998- 2004). This is likely due to increased public awareness as a result of increased officer presence and education in communities.
Coast Watch programs, stewardship groups and patrols have been initiated (using species at risk funding) to assist in outreach regarding reporting of potential incidents, and over 190 on the water monitoring patrols have taken place (2005 to 2008). Fines as high as $35 000 have been ordered in addition to confiscation of vehicles and vessels. This is a rise over smaller fines imposed pre-SARA.

Was a long-term communications strategy implemented?

Yes

A communications strategy was developed and adopted (see Section 2.4.1)

How many and what kind of communication materials and/or actions were produced and/or undertaken?

Yes

Many communications materials and actions have been undertaken, including the examples below:

• 3 Abalone Websites: Fisheries and Oceans Canada Abalone home page; Oceanlink with Bamfield and Nisga’a Abalone projects; Haida Gwaii Abalone Stewards
• 13 news releases regarding charges and convictions
• Promotion of ORR# and Coast Watch - DFO Stop Abalone Poaching brochure, Occurrence reporting forms (DFO and HGAbS), Boat decals (1-800 ORR) (developed by HGAbS, KASP)
• 3 School curricula developed by: HGAbS (Grades 4 & 7) ; BMSC ; and Nisga’a
• Annual community TV channel announcements - developed by KASP
• Annual Newsletters with updates on stewardship activities and promoting protection of abalone – HGAbS (10 newsletters 2004-2009), HASP, Metlakatla and Abalone Recovery, an update on the recovery of abalone in British Columbia in 2003 and 2004
• 33 media stories (listed in ‘Abalone Recovery’, an update on the recovery of abalone in British Columbia in 2003 and 2004)
• From 2004-2009, HGAbS created and distributed abalone awareness materials: ~127 T-shirts, 120 toques, 4 banners, 400 keychains, 108 waterbottles, 100 boat decals, 1000 temporary tattoos, 10,000 glossy brochures, 4 newspaper articles, 10 minute video, stickers, posters and other materials
• Public outreach at annual community events - HGAbS (2/ year)
• Workshops - HGAbS (5 Coast Watch); BHCAP (1)
• Presentations: public - HGAbS (annually in two communities), BHCAP (1); schools - KASP, Metlakatla, HGAbS

How many people, and where, did the communications activities reach?

>27,000

Results from HSP project reports submitted for 2006-2008 estimate that over 27,000 people were reached in course of awareness and education stewardship activities
Communications materials were developed and distributed to target audiences (e.g. Fishers, Restauranteurs, Public, and Schools)

What indications for increased awareness (e.g., did visits to the abalone web site increase, what level of participation at workshops?) and/or reductions in illegal harvest were a result of communications efforts?

Positive

February 2006 poaching bust based on tip(s) from the public
From Jan 1st, 2009 to March 30, 2010, the DFO Pacific Region Abalone website has been visited 2282 times.
HGAbS – 1 Workshop and 4 public presentations had ~161 participants total; BHCAP – 2 workshops 55 participants total
Annual AbRIG meetings (hosted by DFO) are attended by representatives from member organizations

What significant new knowledge was gained through research that would directly contribute to the rebuilding of the Northern Abalone population?

Positive, results being applied

A) Recovery efforts confirmed that transplanted surf abalone increased individual growth rates
B) Aggregated, transplanted surf abalone tend to remain at the new sites and spawn successfully.

How many population rebuilding initiatives were undertaken?

~8

A) Transplant of surf abalone to more favourable habitats in terms of exposure.
B) Northern Abalone were aggregated to provide threshold numbers for successful spawning HGAbS aggregated 1600 individuals over 8 sites (in 2002)
C) Outplanting of hatchery raised Northern Abalone derived from wild brood stock:
>107, 000 juveniles, >7.7 million larvae (2003 to 2009)
D) From 2006-2008, 5 projects to create ‘residences’ to aggregate abalone were funded under the federal Habitat Stewardship Program for Protection of Species at Risk

Was there an observed increase in juvenile abundance and/or recruitment as a result of rebuilding experiments?

Yes

There appears to be good representation up to the 10 mm size. There is a gap from 10mm to ~40 mm where mortality appears to be high. Further investigation is needed to confirm mortality (vs. hiding or moving into areas not surveyed) and sources of mortality. A joint research effort is underway to address these issues.
Preliminary results from outplanting indicate that survival is low and predator removal does not improve success. Further results from outplanting are pending under a 2009-10 NSERC-funded project lead by Thompson Rivers University.

Does rebuilding appear to be a viable, or promising strategy to recover the wild abalone population?

Yes – locally

Aggregation efforts are promising. Further research will help to overcome high post-settlement mortality, possibly from trophic cascades as the result of the removal of a keystone predator from the community.

What reports (technical or primary publications) were prepared that provide results of surveys and biological studies?

Primary publications, DFO Science Reports

See Reference list for published reports and papers on Northern Abalone since 2004.
For example;
Hankewich, S., and J. Lessard. 2008
Hankewich et al. 2008
Jamieson et al. 2004.
Lessard, J. et al. 2007.
Lessard, J. and A. Campbell 2007

Was baseline abundance data established in each of the biogeographic zones?

Yes

Index sites were established on the West Coast of Vancouver Island in 2003, Queen Charlotte and Johnstone Straits in 2004, and Georgia Basin in 2009. Index site surveys in the North and Central Coasts and Haida Gwaii have continued every 5 years, the most recent surveys in 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Habitat Description and Associations

• Where do you tend to find abalone?
• What does typical abalone habitat look like?
• Does this differ in different areas?
• Can you describe the characteristics of areas where you have seen abalone? (abalone size, density, location, environmental conditions, etc.)
• Are there some areas that are more productive than others?
• Are there any areas that appear to be only juvenile or small abalone? Especially large abalone? Or unique in some way?
• What other species do you find associated with abalone? How have you seen these other species interacting with abalone?
• What do you see feeding on abalone?
• What is the relationship of abalone to kelp? How often do you find abalone in kelp patches? Are they small or large abalone? Are you seeing any changes in kelp patches? How do you think this affects abalone?
• Is there anything that might make abalone leave an area?

Spawning/ Mating and Behaviours

• Have you ever seen abalone spawning or mating? If so, can you tell us what you saw and describe the habitat? What time of year did it happen?
• Do you have any idea of what might trigger a spawn? Are there any specific conditions you think they need?
• Do abalone seem to move seasonally? If so, during what times of the year? Where do they go? How far? What are they doing?

Trends in Abundance

• How is abalone abundance today compared to when you were younger?
• If you have seen a decline, can you describe how it happened? (e.g. When do you think it started? Was it sudden or gradual? Over what time span? Was it widespread? Or did it affect different areas differently or at different times?)
• What do you think the causes of the decline are?
• Did your parents or grandparents ever tell you anything about how abundant abalone used to be in the past? Or anything else about abalone that you remember?

Abalone transplanting

• What are traditional ways of looking after seafoods like abalone? Do you know of any rules about harvest or use?
• Have you heard of people moving abalone to ‘seed’ them or try to get them to spread to other areas?

Management, monitoring and protection

• Are there any particular areas that you think should be protected or monitored? Any areas that you would consider critical for their survival?
• Have you witnessed any illegal harvest of abalone? Are there areas where this is more of a problem than others?
• Do you have any ideas about what might most help the abalone to recover? What are some ways they could be protected from further decline?