Critical Habitat Orders

Critical Habitat of the Northern Bottlenose Whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) Scotian Shelf Population Order

The recovery goal, set out in the Recovery Strategy, is to achieve a stable or increasing population of the Northern Bottlenose Whale, Scotian Shelf population and to maintain, at a minimum, its current distribution. Efforts to achieve this recovery goal are ongoing and involve a number of recovery objectives outlined in the Recovery Strategy. Current threats to the Northern Bottlenose Whale, Scotian Shelf population, as identified in the Recovery Strategy, include acoustic disturbance, entanglement in fishing gear, oil and gas activities, vessel strikes, changes to food supply, and contaminants. While there has been measurable progress towards meeting the recovery goal, objectives and performance indicators presented in the Recovery Strategy, additional information on ecology, population dynamics, distribution, and anthropogenic threats is required. Protection of critical habitat is an important component of ensuring the recovery of the Scotian Shelf population of Northern Bottlenose Whales, particularly given the small size of the population and the high proportion of individuals that concentrate year-round in the same three submarine canyons.

Consultation period: 2017-12-16 to 2018-01-15

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Director
SARA Directorate
Department of Fisheries and Oceans
200 Kent St.
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0E6
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