2. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme 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

3. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme The challenge of change 1.Changes in values 2.Ecosystem concerns 3.NGO participation 4.Management objectives 5.Enforcement

4. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme NASA

5. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Changes in values

6. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme

8. Ecosystem concerns Ecosystem concerns Cascading 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 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.

9. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme NGO Participation 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

10. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Management objectives: challenge of climate change Shift from maintaining the status quo to managing dynamic systems Reflect ongoing changes in species and habitats Incorporate dynamic conservation designations Maintain functioning ecosystems

11. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Where to begin?

12. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Callum Roberts, University of York Some places are especially important

13. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Recent scientific insights relevant to conservation of oceanic predators

14. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme 1. Ocean conditions can be monitored

15. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme 2. Animals’ movements can be tracked http://www.toppcensus.org/

16. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme 3. Habitat use is not random

17. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme 4. Pelagic predators often concentrate where food is abundant

18. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme 5. Some pelagic habitats are persistent

19. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme 6. Other pelagic habitats move

20. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme 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

21. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Pelagic MPAs need to: 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

22. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Pelagic MPAs need: Practical An effective legal basis Compliance mechanisms Political buy-in from key players

23. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme How to monitor and enforce pelagic MPAs On board observers Fish and other species tracking Electronic log books Catch documentation schemes Vessel monitoring systems Satellite surveillance Vessel registration requirements

24. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Monitoring dynamic boundary areas MODIS Ocean Color 17-24 Jan ‘04 MODIS Ocean Color 9-16 Jan ‘04

25. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme http://www.toppcensus.org/web/ Ocean tracking network

26. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Enforcing dynamic boundary areas 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

27. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Challenges to sustainability on the high seas The “Final Frontier” Regulatory gaps –Unregulated activities –No procedures for prior impact assessment or MPAs –Geographic gaps Implementation gaps Governance gaps

28. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme

29. Opportunities to improve management of oceanic top predators 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

30. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Concluding remarks 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?

31. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme For More Information: 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

32. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme More information available from: kgjerde@it.com.pl www.iucn.org/marine kgjerde@it.com.pl

33. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Thank You!

34. The World Conservation Union – Global Marine Programme Acknowledgements: Elliott Norse, MCBI and Darius de Sola Pool, my son