Assessing Risk of Extinction of Marine Fishes in Canada—The COSEWIC Experience

Abstract

Canada's Species at Risk Act (SARA; 2003) legally established the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) with a mandate to assess the status of wildlife species it considers to be at risk. Species assessed by COSEWIC as at risk are then considered by the federal government for conservation action, including listing on SARA's Schedule I. COSEWIC‘s Marine Fishes Specialist Subcommittee focuses on five groups of high vulnerability: anadromous species, elasmobranchs, long‐lived species, species of large maximum size, and species that have shown severe decline. COSEWIC‘s assessment protocol uses quantitative criteria based on those developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) but also considers life history and other biological information in assigning status. Published assessments cover 61 marine fish species: one extirpated, 14 endangered, 14 threatened, 16 special concern, 7 not at risk, and 9 data deficient. Questioned by some stakeholders, COSEWIC's assessment protocol represents a stable, documented framework that should give consistent results. Assessments show a broad pattern of severe declines across a wide range of species that might be expected to stimulate strong coordinated conservation action. Few marine fish species have been listed on SARA Schedule I. Conservation action for COSEWIC‐assessed species has been strong in some cases but not in others.