David L. VanderZwaag

Ocean Tracking Network Canada: A Network Approach to Addressing Critical Issues in Fisheries and Resource Management with Implications for Ocean Governance

Abstract The Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) Canada is an integrative seven-year research program initiated in 2010 with academic, government, and industry partners. The team makes use of novel biotelemetry (primarily acoustic telemetry curtains), biologging, and oceanographic technologies to better understand changing ocean dynamics and their impact on ocean ecosystems, animal movements, and ecology and the dynamics of marine animal populations, many of which are commercially important. The network is organized around three ocean arenas (i.e., the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific) where specific research projects will occur. However, all projects will contribute toward addressing a single unifying nationalscale question—what are the movements of continental shelf marine animals, how do these movements affect species interactions, and what are the consequences of environmental variability/change and human activities on these species’ distributions and abundance? Taxa that will be tracked include diadromous (e.g...

The Precautionary Principle and Marine Environmental Protection: Slippery Shores,Rough Seas, and Rising Normative Tides

Law and policy implications of the precautionary principle in the field of marine environmental protection are explored in this paper in a three-part analysis. First, seven slippery aspects of the precautionary principle are highlighted, including confusion in terminology, definitional variations, definitional generalities, the spectrum of precautionary measures available, ongoing philosophical tensions and competing socioeconomic interests, debate over who should be responsible for making precautionary decisions, and limited interpretation by international tribunals. Second, the rather feeble precautionary responses to the tempestuous issues of climate change, hazardous chemicals, and overfishing are described. Third, the potential for the precautionary principle to synergize with human rights norms, such as the emerging right to a healthy environment, and other principles of sustainable development is discussed.

Canada's Marine Species at Risk: Science and Law at the Helm, but a Sea of Uncertainties

This article examines, through a three part format, Canadas legislative “lifeboat” for saving species from extinction, the Species at Risk Act (SARA), and how it has fared in its first two years of implementation with a focus on efforts to protect marine fish species. Part I explores how SARA has notionally placed science and law at the helm in the quest to protect endangered and threatened species. COSEWIC, a committee with scientific expertise, has been established to assess the status of wildlife species. SARA provides nine major legal levers for protecting listed species, including general prohibitions against harming species or damaging their residences. Part II highlights the sea of uncertainties being faced in implementation practice. Uncertainties include: contested listing criteria; politically dependent listing decisions; hazy general prohibitions; leeway for incidental harm permitting; recovery strategy and action plan fogginess; critical habitat issues; unsettled relationships with other federal laws; and methodological tensions in how risks should be managed. Part III seeks to chart a course for future legislative and institutional reforms. Besides amendments to SARA, the paper advocates the urgent need to move from “deathbed treatment” to proactive encouragement of biodiversity health through such initiatives as fully implementing Canadas Oceans Act, establishing a network of marine protected areas, and modernizing Canadas antiquated Fisheries Act.

Envisioning the Future of Aquatic Animal Tracking: Technology, Science, and Application

Electronic tags are significantly improving our understanding of aquatic animal behavior and are emerging as key sources of information for conservation and management practices. Future aquatic integrative biology and ecology studies will increasingly rely on data from electronic tagging. Continued advances in tracking hardware and software are needed to provide the knowledge required by managers and policymakers to address the challenges posed by the worlds changing aquatic ecosystems. We foresee multiplatform tracking systems for simultaneously monitoring the position, activity, and physiology of animals and the environment through which they are moving. Improved data collection will be accompanied by greater data accessibility and analytical tools for processing data, enabled by new infrastructure and cyberinfrastructure. To operationalize advances and facilitate integration into policy, there must be parallel developments in the accessibility of education and training, as well as solutions to key governance and legal issues.

Invasive seaweeds: global and regional law and policy responses.

Abstract We consider law and policy responses to invasive seaweeds at global and regional levels. Key global regimes considered include the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Ramsar Convention and the Bonn Convention on Migratory Species. Contributions from the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Maritime Organization are also considered in the global context. At a regional level, examples of efforts in North America and Europe are offered to illustrate challenges and opportunities for regional responses to invasive seaweeds. We conclude with law and policy recommendations, most notably the need to approach the issue of invasive seaweeds in a manner consistent with the precautionary principle.

Arctic waters: Needs and options for CANADIAN‐AMERICAN cooperation

Abstract Four major factors bid the United States and Canada to move toward more formalized arrangements for cooperative ocean management in the Arctic. Ocean currents in the Beaufort Sea region have the potential of transporting marine pollutants from one country to the other. Living resources, such as bowhead and beluga whales, undertake extensive transboundary migrations. Alaskan and Canadian Inuit depend heavily on renewable marine resources and raise the need for ocean management on an ecological basis. Cost savings could occur by coordinating development of offshore cold‐water technologies and shipping safety systems. This paper suggests six options for moving toward a more regionalized approach to the management of Arctic waters: a Beaufort Sea Boundary Agreement, a Beaufort Marine Cooperation Agreement, a Northwest Passage Agreement, an Equal Access Agreement, a Marine Mammal Cooperation Agreement, and an Arctic Regional Action Plan.

The Conservation of the Greenland Shark (Somniosus microcephalus): Setting Scientific, Law, and Policy Coordinates for Avoiding a Species at Risk

Sharks are among the most ancient predators on Earth, having roamed the oceans for more than 400 million years. Previously abundant and widespread, many populations have dwindled to a small fractio...

The Ocean and International Environmental Law: Swimming, Sinking, and Treading Water at the Millennium

Various images help capture the status and trends of international law and policy efforts to protect the ocean environment. While “treading water” and “sinking” partly describe legal conditions at the millennium, this paper examines seven challenges in the international environmental law field which at the very least promise to make for a “hard swim” in coming decades. Those challenges include: coping with the proliferation of negotiated instruments; overcoming political opposition to environmental commitments; clarifying the jurisprudential underpinnings of international environmental law; sorting out the relation of environmental ethics, science and the rule of law; fleshing out the principles of sustainable development; addressing practical problems of implementing international responsibilities; and visioning future paths of ocean governance. This paper was co-authored with Douglas Johnston, University of Victoria.

Sustaining Atlantic Sturgeon: Stitching a Stronger Scientific and Governance Net

This research was supported by the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) through a network project grant (NETGP #375118-08) from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) with additional support from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI, Project #13011), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC #871-2009-0001). The authors thank Andrew McMaster, Senior Policy Analyst, International Affairs Directorate, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, for his assistance and valuable comments. Any errors remain the authors’ responsibility. ∗ Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. ∗∗ Professor, Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Canada. ∗∗∗ Doctoral Student, Marine & Environmental Law Institute, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. †Professor, Department of Biology, Mount Allison University, Sackville, Canada. ††M.Sc. Student, Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Canada. †††Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Ecology of Coastal Environments, Department of Biology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Canada. #M.Sc. Student, Department of Biology, Mount Allison University, Sackville, Canada. ##Professor and Canada Research Chair in Ocean Law and Governance, Marine & Environmental Law Institute, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.

Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations

The research described in this monograph focused on four principal questions: 1. What are the potential transboundary effects of the proposed Fundy tidal power project and how adequate is the scientific information underlying these predictions? 2. What is the nature and adequacy of the legal and institutional frameworks for environmental decisionmaking in Canada and in the United States? 3. How well is scientific information incorporated into the environmental assessment practices of Canada and the U.S., particularly in regard to indirect and transboundary effects? 4. What institutional changes may be appropriate to improve transboundary environmental decisionmaking?