Leatherback turtle in Atlantic Canada (Dermochelys coriacea) recovery strategy: chapter 4


3. Critical Habitat

Critical habitat as defined under section 2 of SARA is the "habitat necessary for the survival and recovery of a listed wildlife species and that is identified as the species' critical habitat in the recovery strategy or in an action plan for the species".

While the state of knowledge on habitat requirements of leatherback turtles in Canadian waters is increasing as new scientific evidence becomes available, it is currently not possible to identify critical habitat for this species. As set out in SARA , if information is inadequate to identify critical habitat within the recovery strategy, a schedule of studies must be prepared. Such a schedule, when implemented, will yield new information to enable the species' critical habitat to be described.

Appendix II includes a list of research and monitoring activities that collectively, constitute a schedule of studies. It is hoped that the results of this work will allow Fisheries and Oceans to be able to identify the critical habitat for Atlantic leatherback turtle in a recovery action plan, which will be developed once the activities outlined in the Appendix has been completed.

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