Review of the 2008 Statement of Canadian Practice with Respect to the Mitigation of Seismic Sound in the Marine Environment

In 2008, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) published 'The Statement of Canadian Practice with respect to the Mitigation of Seismic Sound in the Marine Environment' (SOCP). The implementation of the SOCP has become a requirement by government agencies responsible for regulating geophysical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDFO - Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat. Research Document Vol. 2020; no. 2020/041
Main Authors Moulton, V D, d'Entremont, A, Christian, J R
Format Report
LanguageFrench
Published Ottawa Fisheries and Oceans Canada 01.01.2020
Subjects
Ambient noise
Anthropogenic factors
Legislation
Literature reviews
Manuals
Marine
Marine fishes
Marine invertebrates
Marine mammals
Mitigation
Noise
Noise reduction
Oil and gas exploration
Rare species
Scientific advice
Seismic activity
Sonar arrays
Turtles
Underwater noise
Canada Coasts
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Summary:In 2008, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) published 'The Statement of Canadian Practice with respect to the Mitigation of Seismic Sound in the Marine Environment' (SOCP). The implementation of the SOCP has become a requirement by government agencies responsible for regulating geophysical exploration using air sources (commonly referred to as 'airguns') in Canada. The SOCP was, in large part, based on a 2004 peer-reviewed report 'Review of Scientific Information on Impacts of Seismic Sound on Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Turtles and Marine Mammals' and an assessment by technical experts of the best available and internationally-recognized techniques to mitigate the effects of seismic sound in the marine environment at that time. The objective of this document is to provide a literature overview and an analysis of the recent science (since the 2004 peer-reviewed report), related Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat (CSAS) processes, regional Canadian mitigation and monitoring practices, and relevant international guidelines and protocols to determine if the 2008 SOCP requires updates to protect marine species. Based on the analysis of this information, we provided 29 recommendations for changes to the 2008 SOCP, which addressed all components of the SOCP. These recommendations and the associated rationale were discussed at a CSAS meeting held in Halifax, Nova Scotia on 28-30 May 2019 and are included as an appendix to a DFO Science Advisory Report (DFO 2020).
ISSN:1499-3848
2292-4272