What is an EOAR?
An Ecosystem Overview and Assessment Report (EOAR) is a technical document with the aim at providing integrated oceans management (IM) partners and stakeholders with relevant information on marine and coastal ecosystems, including the status and trends, an impact assessment and recommendations to management – based on the best science and knowledge available – in order to support IM planning and further decision-making
By providing the basic information that management needs, the EOAR can also serve to engage IM stakeholders, support the identification of ecosystem objectives, identify science gaps, in terms of knowledge and monitoring, and suggest ways to fill gaps.
Why Complete an EOAR
An Ecosystem Overview and Assessment Report fulfills a portion of the first step in the Integrated Management process “Defining and assessing a management area” as laid out in the Policy and Operational Framework for Integrated Management (2002). The social, economic and cultural aspects of a management area will be discussed in other documents (e.g. Socio-Economic Overview and Assessment Report). The Government of Canada’s Marine Protected Area Policy and Operational Framework (in press) also requires that an EOA be completed as an initial step in assessing a Marine Protected Area- Area of Interest.
What is the objective of the study?
The objective is to do a thorough examination of the existing information relating to the Northumberland Strait and come to some conclusions as to why environmental changes and resource declines in the central part of the Northumberland Strait have become progressively more evident in recent years.
Who is responsible for conducting this EOAR?
In response to environmental changes and resource declines in the central part of the Northumberland Strait in recent years a working group was established to study the state of the ecosystem, an investigative approach referred to as the Northumberland Strait Ecosystem Initiative. In support of this Northumberland Strait Ecosystem Initiative, a Government/Stakeholder Working Group was established in the fall of 2005 by DFO. The mandate of this Group is to bring focus to increasing concerns over disturbing changes in the state of Northumberland Strait ecosystem and the aquatic resources that it supports. This Northumberland Strait Ecosystem Initiative Working Group has engaged the consulting services of AMEC Earth and Environmental to prepare the EOAR.
What is the schedule?
The tentative schedule is available on the home page. The final conclusions should be available in the first quarter of the 2006-2007 fiscal year.
This appears to be a lengthy process. How will the public be kept informed as the different steps of the EIA proceed?
Throughout the Northumberland Strait EOAR process the public will be kept informed of the process with a series of mail-outs, focus group meetings, and web site postings at a bilingual web site: www.northumberlandstraiteoar.com.
What issues are being covered in the EOAR process?
The EOAR is a wide-ranging document covering topics such as the physical system, biological systems, traditional and local knowledge, ecosystem description, socioeconomic conditions and an ecological overview.
How is AMEC recording the input received from the aboriginal community, stakeholders and the public as the EOAR process goes forward?
All comments, observations and questions will be recorded to an issues tracking database that references the issue, date, source of concern, and steps to address the matter. The database is posted to the web site and updated frequently.
