Taylor Reid Sutherland’s proposal, titled “Integrating Depth Distribution Data into Canadian Shark Conservation Policy,” aimed to address the critical issue of declining shark populations in Canada and worldwide. Her work recognizes the severe threats faced by sharks due to high exploitation rates, climate change, and by catch, resulting in their decline and endangerment.

The proposal’s novelty lies in its innovative approach to address the limitations of SSFM and its integration of previously understudied vertical distribution data. It aims to balance creativity with logic and rationale to adapt to the current climate crisis and growing human population’s impact on marine ecosystems.

Proposal Inspiration
I live in a community that relies on the ocean and have experienced firsthand the services that the sea provides in terms of culture, economy, transportation, and food security. Like many others in the region, I have grown up boating, swimming, surfing, and fishing in and along the Northumberland Strait and Bay of Fundy. After over a decade of watching shark documentaries with my father and learning about the various species present near my home, I was inspired to advocate for these misunderstood animals. While popular culture and fear-mongering media often portray sharks ferocious hunters who intentionally attack humans, I am interested in the critical roles they play in maintaining marine ecosystem function and the health of the global ocean. In particular, I focus on how protecting and conserving sharks can promote marine ecosystem function and global ocean health.

Title of Policy Proposal
Integrating Depth Distribution Data into Canadian Shark Conservation Policy

Need/Opportunity for Action
Sharks have remained among the most severely threatened marine animals for a number of years as high exploitation rates and low resilience to harvest have resulted in precipitous declines around the world [1]. Shark fisheries, climate change, and bycatch can lead to pressures on global shark populations that force shifts in growth and reproduction rates, movement and feeding habits, and habitat destruction; potentially even resulting in localized extinction events [2]. Nearly 1/3 of all shark species found around the world are currently threatened with extinction [3] and in Canada alone, several species are listed by the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as endangered and threatened [4]. Despite differences in management and policy by nation regarding shark conservation and protection, there is a growing impetus to internationally implement more effective strategies and mitigate the anthropogenic and climate associated risks to these animals. To maintain ocean health, stable shark populations are necessary, and to maintain stable shark populations, changes in conservation and management strategies must be made at national and regional levels. To develop more effective protection and conservation protocols for sharks in Atlantic Canada, it is imperative to consider the efficacy and application of various potential management frameworks. Single species fisheries management (SSFM) and ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) are two competing approaches to contemporary marine management and spatial planning. The former in particular has been employed by nations including Canada in the face of various conservation concerns throughout the past number of decades—however, it must be recognized that SSFM caters to limited set of management objectives [5]. In the context of ocean resilience and shark conservation, there is an opportunity nested within this conservation crisis to depart from standard SSFM practices and employ contemporary EBFM frameworks.

Proposed Solution/Policy Change
To improve the efficacy of current shark conservation protocols in Canada, I propose two departures from existing regional and national strategies: 1. Collect depth distribution data and integrate it into management and conservation efforts Existing literature regarding the species distribution of sharks around the world predominantly focuses on the horizontal axis—or where and how shark species are moving across the surface of the earth. A lesser studied component of species distribution occurs along the vertical plane, or in the ways that different shark species occupy the water column at varying depths. In order to understand the ecological roles of these animals as well as the extent of the threats that they face, knowledge of both their species-specific horizontal and vertical distributions are vital [6]. Vertical movement data can help marine scientists and managers identify species-specific aggregations and overlap in the water column across both space and time, which can then offer insight into potential similarities and differences between these species in terms of their respective behaviours and interactions [6]. Depth distribution data can additionally elucidate species’ capture probabilities due to overlap between shark habitat and fishing gear, and partnered with equipment selectivity research, vertical distribution can inform potential mitigation measures to reduce the bycatch of threatened species while maintaining and even promoting the more efficient capture of target species. Through shark derby data, fisheries capture and landing data, and tagging data from privately funded research programs (i.e., OCEARCH) and government tracking initiatives (i.e., DFO), insight regarding the depth distribution of sharks can be obtained and cross-referenced with expected ecological behaviours of various shark species from the literature. This information can then be used to inform region-specific, novel, and adaptive management and monitoring efforts for shark protection and conservation in Canada. 2. Facilitate a shift from SSFM to EBFM strategies for conservation and management The most common application of EBFM frameworks is the correction of deficiencies created by SSFM-rooted conservation and management efforts [5]. Though SSFM can be successful when strict regulations are adhered to, this approach has become outdated and exclusive of modern resource reliance and conflicts, new ecological stressors, and continuously evolving human dynamics [5]. A proposed solution to the complexity of the 21st century marine management landscape is EBFM: a systemic approach to fisheries management that prioritizes ocean resilience and sustainability while recognizing the physical, biological, economic, and social interactions related to a specific ecosystem, including humans [5]. Not only does EBFM accommodate the integration of vertical distribution data into shark conservation policy and management decisions, but it considers total ecosystem productivity and overall health—a requirement for managing mixed-fishery ecosystems that SSFM largely ignores [5]. Observations suggest that shark species sharing similar depth preferences are likely to also demonstrate similar behaviours and biological requirements and can hence be managed in similar ways [6]. These findings substantiate the need for holistic consideration of management landscapes on the East Coast based on overall ecosystem health and function rather than individualized species needs, as is the case with SSFM. By extrapolating data collected in a global study of species-specific shark depth distribution [6] and cross-referencing with species-specific behavioural normatives from ecological literature, a depth profile for sharks in Atlantic Canada may be modelled and used to inform regional EBFM strategies to promote the conservation and protection of endangered sharks. If successful, this methodology can be extrapolated to the national level—contributing to the health of the global ocean and by extension, humanity.

Novelty/Creativity of Proposed Solution/Policy Change
While the impetus to conserve and protect the world’s shark populations continues to rise to the forefront of contemporary marine management concerns across the globe, a lack of novel initiatives to accomplish this goal persists. For decades, marine conservation has relied on single species fisheries management or SSFM. Today, the world’s oceans continue to experience the consequences of using outdated and ineffective tools like SSFM in attempt to reach critical conservation targets. An emerging strategy to address the limitations of SSFM is ecosystem-based fisheries management or EBFM—a framework that factors in a broader range of environmental parameters as well as human dimensions into conservation and management landscapes. In fact, EBFM is most commonly employed to correct deficiencies created by ineffective SSFM strategies. In addition to the innovation of EBFM approaches over SSFM, my proposal also suggests that vertical distribution data be considered in conservation and management decisions regarding shark species. To date, just one study is published in ecological literature pertaining to multi-axal shark species distribution. In fact, depth data has not yet been applied in conservation and governance contexts within the peer-review canon. While ambitious in its two-fold novelty, my proposal balances creativity and originality with logic and rationale—aiming to address a gaping disparity in policy and management structure regarding shark conservation. The current climate crisis, resource exploitation rates, and unprecedented human population of the planet demand ingenuity and resolve, and marine managers like me must be prepared to think critically and creatively to adapt.

Lay Abstract
Global shark populations provide a number of services that include acting as indicators of overall ocean health and maintaining both diversity and regulation within the marine food chain. However, their populations face precipitous decline due to overexploitation, environmental degradation, climate change, and bycatch with several species indigenous to Atlantic Canada listed by the Species at Risk Act (SARA) and Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as threatened and endangered. An under-acknowledged component of shark ecology is their species-specific vertical distribution throughout the water column. While current single species fisheries management (SSFM) practices prioritize the individualized needs of endangered sharks based on species-specific behaviours and requirements, ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) strategies offer a more holistic approach to conservation and management that considers overall ecosystem health and function. Evidence has been found in the only known global study of vertical distribution among shark species to support ecosystem-based approaches to conservation and management efforts over species-specific strategies, as significant overlap in species-specific water column usage has been observed. This overlap suggests that shark species sharing similar depth preferences demonstrate similar behaviours and biological requirements and can hence be managed in similar ways (i.e., with EBFM frameworks instead of SSFM).