Atlantic Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus): recovery strategy

Official title: Recovery Strategy for the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus), Northwest Atlantic population, in Canada

(Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus),

Northwest Atlantic Population in Canada

Atlantic Walrus

Atlantic Walrus

About the Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series

What is the Species at Risk Act (SARA)?

 SARA is the Act developed by the federal government as a key contribution to the common national effort to protect and conserve species at risk in Canada. SARA came into force in 2003 and one of its purposes is “to provide for the recovery of wildlife species that are extirpated, endangered or threatened as a result of human activity.”

What is recovery?

In the context of species at risk conservation, recovery is the process by which the decline of an endangered, threatened, or extirpated species is arrested or reversed, and threats are removed or reduced to improve the likelihood of the species’ persistence in the wild. A species will be considered recovered when its long-term persistence in the wild has been secured.

What is a recovery strategy?

A recovery strategy is a planning document that identifies what needs to be done to arrest or reverse the decline of a species. It sets goals and objectives and identifies the main areas of activities to be undertaken. Detailed planning is done at the action plan stage.

Recovery strategy development is a commitment of all provinces and territories and of three federal agencies -- Environment Canada, Parks Canada Agency, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada -- under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk.  Sections 37–46 of SARA (http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/the_act/default_e.cfm) outline both the required content and the process for developing recovery strategies published in this series.

Depending on the status of the species and when it was assessed, a recovery strategy has to be developed within one to two years after the species is added to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk.  Three to four years is allowed for those species that were automatically listed when SARA came into force.

What’s next?

In most cases, one or more action plans will be developed to define and guide implementation of the recovery strategy. However, in the case of an extirpated species for which recovery is deemed not feasible, no further action is anticipated.

The series

This series presents the recovery strategies prepared or adopted by the federal government under SARA. New documents will be added regularly as species get listed and as strategies are updated.

To learn more

To learn more about the Species at Risk Act and recovery initiatives, please consult the SARA PublicRegistry (http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/) and the web site of the Recovery Secretariat (http://www.speciesatrisk.gc.ca/recovery/default_e.cfm).

Recovery Strategy for the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus), Northwest Atlantic Population, in Canada

February 2008

Recovery of this species is considered not technically or biologically feasible at this time

Recommended citation:

Department of Fisheries and Oceans.  2008. Recovery Strategy for the Atlantic walrus (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus), Northwest Atlantic population, in Canada.  Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series.   Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Ottawa.  x + 11 pp.

Additional copies:

You can download additional copies from the SARA Public Registry (http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/)

Cover illustration: J.Domm for Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Également disponible en français sous le titre

« Ministère des Pêches et des Océans. 2008.Programme de rétablissement du morse de l’Atlantique (Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus), population de l’Atlantique Nord-Ouest, au Canada»

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, 2008. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-0-662-46922-3

Catalogue no.   En3-4/42-2007E-PDF

Content (excluding the cover illustration) may be used without permission, with appropriate credit to the source.

Declaration (recovery not feasible)

This recovery strategy for the Atlantic walrus (Northwest Atlantic population) has been prepared in cooperation with the jurisdictions responsible for the species, as described in the Preface.  The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has reviewed and accepts this document as its recovery strategy for the Atlantic walrus (Northwest Atlantic population) as required by the Species at Risk Act.

The recovery of the Atlantic walrus (Northwest Atlantic population) in Canada is neither technically nor biologically feasible at this time by human assisted means.  The population has been extirpated and therefore no longer exists in the wild in Canada but occasional individuals, probably migrants from adjoining populations, are still observed in its historical distribution. These individuals are potential re-colonizers. Accordingly, recovery efforts targeted towards other species in the same geographic area or experiencing similar threats, and general conservation programs in the same geographic area, would help provide the conditions for recovery through natural processes.

The feasibility determination will be re-evaluated as warranted in response to changing conditions and/or knowledge, in particular every five years as part of the mandatory report on implementation of the recovery strategy.

Responsible Jurisdictions

Under the Species at Risk Act, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is the responsible jurisdiction for the Atlantic walrus.

Authors

 

This document was prepared by Howard Powles (University of Ottawa) and has benefited from reviews by federal and provincial government officials.

 

 Strategic Environmental Assessment Statement

 

In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals, the purpose of a SEA is to incorporate environmental considerations into the development of public policies, plans, and program proposals to support environmentally sound decision making.

 

Recovery planning is intended to benefit species at risk and biodiversity in general. However, it is recognized that strategies may also inadvertently lead to environmental effects beyond the intended benefits. The recovery planning process based on national guidelines directly incorporates consideration of all environmental effects, with a particular focus on possible impacts on non-target species or habitats. The environmental considerations for this strategy are summarized as follows:

 

Because the Atlantic walrus(Northwest Atlantic population)is extirpated and recovery is not considered to be feasible, no further recovery action is considered appropriate at this time.  Accordingly, this recovery strategy will have no effect on the environment.

 

Residence 

 

SARA defines residence as: “a dwelling-place, such as a den, nest or other similar area or place, that is occupied or habitually occupied by one or more individuals during all or part of their life cycles, including breeding, rearing, staging, wintering, feeding or hibernating” [SARA S2(1)].

 

Residence protection is a SARA requirement that is separate from recovery strategy development as it relates to the general prohibitions under the Act (Section 33). To facilitate protection, residence descriptions, or the rationale for why the residence concept does not apply to a given species, are posted on the SARA public registry: http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/plans/residence_e.cfm.  

 

In the case of an extirpated species for which the recovery strategy does not recommend its reintroduction into the wild in Canada, the prohibition pertaining to the damage or destruction of residence does not apply [SARA S33].

 

Preface

 

The Atlantic walrus in Canada was originally treated by COSEWIC (in both April 1987 and May 2000) as two separate populations: Eastern Arctic population (Not at Risk) and Northwest Atlantic population (Extirpated). Recently (April 2006) COSEWIC reassessed the species over its entire range as a single designatable unit with a Special Concern status, however, the Northwest Atlantic population is the population which is on the federal List of Wildlife Species at Risk (i.e., Schedule 1 of SARA) and therefore a recovery strategy is required for that population.

 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has led the development of this recovery strategy for the extirpated Atlantic walrus (Northwest Atlantic population) .  The development of the recovery strategy has involved: (i) the preparation of a draft addressing SARA requirements for recovery strategies for extirpated species; (ii) the circulation of this draft for review and comment by other jurisdictions of Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland & Labrador; (iii) public consultations on the draft strategy via the SARA public registry; and (iv) the production of the final version. 

 

The determination that recovery is not feasible, including the justification, was reviewed as part of the review and consultation process for the recovery strategy.  The final decision and wording of the determination were the responsibility of DFO and took account of the comments received.

 

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