What is Critical Habitat���and how can that help the southern orca community in the Pacific NW, Part 1
Interview with Erich Hoyt, Research Fellow, Whale and Dolphin Conservation and Program Lead, Critical Habitat and Marine Protected Areas. His answers draw on his book Marine Protected Areas for Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises (Routledge, Taylor & Francis 2011, 477 pages) which is a world handbook for conservation and planning.
1) What is critical habitat?
Erich Hoyt: For whales and dolphins, critical habitat consists of the areas that they use to feed, mate, reproduce and socialize, as well as the areas that protect essential ecosystem functions and the habitat that support their prey. So with fish-eating killer whales, their critical habitat area must consider the salmon prey that they depend upon.
In the U.S., critical habitat has a legal definition under the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 as:
���... specific areas within the geographical area occupied by the species, at the time it is listed ... on which are found those physical or biological features (I) essential to the conservation of the species and which may require special management considerations or protection; and (II) specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed upon a determination by the Secretary to be essential for the conservation of the species.���
In order to determine whether an area meets this definition, the ���authorities��� are required to:
������ consider those physical or biological features that are essential to the conservation of a given species including space for individual and population growth and for normal behavior; food, water, air, light, minerals, or other nutritional or physiological requirements; cover or shelter; sites for breeding, reproduction, and rearing of offspring; and habitats that are protected from disturbance or are representative of the historical, geographical and ecological distribution of a species.���
2) How is this [critical habitat] different from things like marine protected areas or national marine sanctuaries?
Erich Hoyt: A marine protected area (MPA) is a generic term for hundreds of designations with different names and degrees of legal protection that aim to protect habitat in some part of the ocean. Marine reserves, marine parks, special areas of conservation, marine national monuments, national marine sanctuaries ��� are all MPAs. National marine sanctuaries are the U.S. high profile protected areas that try to balance human uses (often difficult!) with protection for the species and ecosystem. By contrast, the U.S. legislation on ���critical habitat��� is a quieter designation that focuses on the recovery of a named species.
3) Southern Residents face many different threats: prey depletion, increasing ocean noise, toxic contamination, and more. Their critical habitat designation covers only a fraction of their entire range. In what ways do you think that expanding critical habitat could directly or indirectly address these different threats to help the population avoid extinction?
Erich Hoyt: Regarding the US designation of critical habitat for the Southern Resident killer whales, where the boundaries are drawn for critical habitat is important, and critical habitat can include areas outside the immediate geographical areas most used by the species, as noted above. It is hard to determine boundaries for many wide-ranging species yet we have more precise data on the movements of the Southern Community orcas than most other whales and dolphins. By expanding critical habitat, we get not only a larger potential area for the whales, but we get much greater awareness and attention to the conservation of the whales.
It���s worth mentioning an educational charity, The Whale Trail, which focuses mainly on the survival of the Southern Community orcas by building awareness and links to local people through land-based whale watching. The Whale Trail for its part has extended its network of land-based sites along the outer coast of Washington State, Oregon and California as far south as Monterey Bay, where the Southern Community has been seen. This is a recognition by The Whale Trail and its partners, including scientists, government departments and conservation groups, that the range of the Southern Community includes not only all of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, but that it extends from Vancouver Island to at least Monterey Bay.
�� Erich Hoyt 2015, may be used with permission
1) What is critical habitat?
Erich Hoyt: For whales and dolphins, critical habitat consists of the areas that they use to feed, mate, reproduce and socialize, as well as the areas that protect essential ecosystem functions and the habitat that support their prey. So with fish-eating killer whales, their critical habitat area must consider the salmon prey that they depend upon.
In the U.S., critical habitat has a legal definition under the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 as:
���... specific areas within the geographical area occupied by the species, at the time it is listed ... on which are found those physical or biological features (I) essential to the conservation of the species and which may require special management considerations or protection; and (II) specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the species at the time it is listed upon a determination by the Secretary to be essential for the conservation of the species.���
In order to determine whether an area meets this definition, the ���authorities��� are required to:
������ consider those physical or biological features that are essential to the conservation of a given species including space for individual and population growth and for normal behavior; food, water, air, light, minerals, or other nutritional or physiological requirements; cover or shelter; sites for breeding, reproduction, and rearing of offspring; and habitats that are protected from disturbance or are representative of the historical, geographical and ecological distribution of a species.���
2) How is this [critical habitat] different from things like marine protected areas or national marine sanctuaries?
Erich Hoyt: A marine protected area (MPA) is a generic term for hundreds of designations with different names and degrees of legal protection that aim to protect habitat in some part of the ocean. Marine reserves, marine parks, special areas of conservation, marine national monuments, national marine sanctuaries ��� are all MPAs. National marine sanctuaries are the U.S. high profile protected areas that try to balance human uses (often difficult!) with protection for the species and ecosystem. By contrast, the U.S. legislation on ���critical habitat��� is a quieter designation that focuses on the recovery of a named species.
3) Southern Residents face many different threats: prey depletion, increasing ocean noise, toxic contamination, and more. Their critical habitat designation covers only a fraction of their entire range. In what ways do you think that expanding critical habitat could directly or indirectly address these different threats to help the population avoid extinction?
Erich Hoyt: Regarding the US designation of critical habitat for the Southern Resident killer whales, where the boundaries are drawn for critical habitat is important, and critical habitat can include areas outside the immediate geographical areas most used by the species, as noted above. It is hard to determine boundaries for many wide-ranging species yet we have more precise data on the movements of the Southern Community orcas than most other whales and dolphins. By expanding critical habitat, we get not only a larger potential area for the whales, but we get much greater awareness and attention to the conservation of the whales.
It���s worth mentioning an educational charity, The Whale Trail, which focuses mainly on the survival of the Southern Community orcas by building awareness and links to local people through land-based whale watching. The Whale Trail for its part has extended its network of land-based sites along the outer coast of Washington State, Oregon and California as far south as Monterey Bay, where the Southern Community has been seen. This is a recognition by The Whale Trail and its partners, including scientists, government departments and conservation groups, that the range of the Southern Community includes not only all of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, but that it extends from Vancouver Island to at least Monterey Bay.
�� Erich Hoyt 2015, may be used with permission
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