Maritimes Region and Gulf Region
Regional Advisory Process (RAP)
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has the mandate for the management and conservation
of Canadian marine and freshwater aquatic resources and their habitat. This mandate requires that
technical knowledge and advice be provided to management and regulatory agencies within DFO and
elsewhere on the conservation requirements for these resources. The Regional Advisory Process (RAP)
was established in 1993 to provide peer reviewed information on the status of the fisheries and marine
mammal resources in the Atlantic zone, and was expanded in 1997 to include the Central & Arctic and
Pacific regions. In the Maritimes Region and the Gulf Region, the RAP addresses issues in the southern
Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Bay of Fundy, on the Scotian Shelf and on Georges Bank.
The Maritimes RAP also undertakes the review of technical analysis relating to regional habitat and
fisheries management issues.
The principles that guide RAP are:
- being timely, responsive and flexible to client needs,
- employing the most appropriate and credible scientific methods,
- providing technical review on the full range of regional resource management issues,
- involving industry, stakeholders, and outside scientific experts in the review process,
- providing a visible and public document trail, and
- fostering interaction with the other regional RAPs, as well as facilitating the advancement
of resource science through zonal and national meetings and workshops.
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