Balancing objectives of Sablefish fishing and conserving Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in the Northeastern part of the NPFC Convention Area

Members of the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC) are required to take action to prevent Significant Adverse Impacts (SAIs) to Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs). In response, the NPFC has been developing approaches to quantitatively define VMEs and assess SAIs. This spatial optimization analysis aims to balance the objectives of protecting VMEs from SAIs in the eastern part of the NPFC’s Convention Area while reducing impacts to Canada’s Sablefish fishery. Specifically, this working paper provides an update to the proposed process for spatial optimization outlined in NPFC-2020-SSCBFME01-WP13(Rev 1) and draws on results from updated methods proposed to identify VMEs and areas likely to be VMEs. Our spatial optimization analysis provides results from a range of scenarios with differing conservation targets and parameters to be selected by managers and demonstrates how areas for protection can be identified.