List of Wildlife Species at Risk (Decisions Not to Add Certain Species) Order — •
Striped Bass ( Morone saxatilis ) (Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population) The Minister of the Environment has recommended, on the advice of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, that the Striped Bass (Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population) not be added to the List set out in Schedule 1 to SARA. In November 2004, COSEWIC assessed the Striped Bass (Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population) and classified it as threatened. Although this population spawns at a single location, meeting COSEWIC’s criteria for classifying a species as endangered because of its small distribution area it was classified as threatened “because of the high degree of resilience evident from recent spawner abundance estimates”. COSEWIC identified threats that included bycatch in commercial Gaspereau and Rainbow Smelt fisheries as well as illegal fishing. The Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population of Striped Bass was historically an important commercial and recreational species. Climatic constraints, past overfishing, illegal fishing, incidental catch in commercial fisheries, habitat alteration and the presence of contaminants have all been identified as probable causes of this population’s decline. All commercial fisheries for this population have been closed since 1996. In addition, all recreational and Aboriginal food, social and ceremonial fisheries have also been closed since 2000. Live release of incidentally caught Striped Bass of this population is also mandatory. Listing the Striped Bass (Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population) as threatened would trigger automatic prohibitions under sections 32 and 33 of SARA, which would result in significant socio-economic impacts on communities. The closure of some coastal fisheries would create a loss of profits for fish harvesters, the fish processing sectors and recreational fisheries. It is anticipated that such impacts on the Rainbow Smelt, Gaspereau and American Eel fisheries could result in an annual loss of profits for the industry that is estimated to range from $134,000 to $671,000. Listing the Striped Bass (Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population) as threatened with a more flexible harm threshold would mitigate some of these impacts. However, this approach would result in additional costs related to the development and implementation of a recovery strategy and action plan required under SARA and would not result in a substantially different biological outcome in terms of the long-term recovery of this population. The scientific assessment of the potential for recovery of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population of Striped Bass concluded that recovery is feasible so long as no additional activities cause mortality beyond current levels. The directed fishery for Striped Bass in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence continues to be closed. Recent studies confirm that the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population of Striped Bass is recovering under the current prohibition. Since the last COSEWIC assessment, a number of management measures have been implemented under the Fisheries Act to ensure this population’s recovery. The recovery is underway as a result of the use of existing legislation and tools. The scientific assessment of the potential for recovery of the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence population of Striped Bass has identified additional management measures that can be implemented to further reduce bycatch in certain fisheries. The implementation of these mitigation measures should improve the potential to achieve the recovery targets for this population. DFO will implement these measures to enhance this population’s recent gains and to achieve reference levels indicative of long-term recovery. Furthermore, this assessment has identified the following measures that can sufficiently address the activities that result in the highest mortality level: • Increased enforcement patrols throughout the fishing seasons along the rivers in the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence to reduce illegal fishin