Water Blogged

Putting a value on nature

2013-05-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

I've harped on about the value of the natural world in previous posts. I recently came across a TED talk that really pins down not only the value of nature's services, but also the hidden costs of their use to society. But I'll let the gentleman in question, Pavan Sukhdev, speak for himself. Enjoy:

The Business of Marine Reserves: Achieving Financially Sustainable Ocean Conservation

2013-05-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

Rod Fujita is Director of Research and Development, Oceans Program, with the Environmental Defense Fund. This piece was originally published on May 1 on the Environmental Defense Fund blog.

Ocean conservationists have been arguing for a long time that marine reserves are a good investment, because they help sustain many ecosystem services, including fisheries and tourism. Various studies have helped to quantify the value generated by marine reserves, but a new study puts it all together and presents a convincing value proposition for marine reserves. Now all we need are investors who can appreciate that value proposition and make it work economically, and the right combination of rules and governance that will make these new kinds of markets – ecomarkets – viable.

The benefits of marine reserves often outweigh the costs of establishing and maintaining them. You would think that there would be great demand for them, but instead the pace of marine reserve establishment has been slow and conflict-ridden. Why? Because many groups of people benefit from the status quo, and would suffer short-term economic harm from marine reserves. Also, the benefits of marine reserves take several years to accrue, while the costs are immediate. And while some of the benefits are fairly concrete and flow to discrete user groups – like lower fishing costs and higher fishery yields near the borders – others are less concrete (e.g., biodiversity and aesthetics) and flow to many user groups (e.g. tourists and people who like natural environments), including some (e.g., future generations) that don't have much say in present day decisions.

So theoretically, marine reserves can pay for themselves and then some. But right now, few people want to invest in them. How do we change that?

Investors need to know what the return is likely to be on their investment, and they need to capture that return directly. They need to know that the risks of losing their money or not making the expected return are fairly well characterized and manageable. And the return must be commensurate with the risks. User groups which would suffer short term costs need assurance that they will benefit over the longer term and may need alternative ways to make money and feed their families while the benefits of marine reserves accrue.

This recent study represents one of the best available estimates of the potential return on investments in marine reserves (see our study for ideas on how to use actual markets to capture economic benefits of keeping ocean ecosystems healthy and intact). But a business case must address these other factors if it is to attract investors. And because marine reserves protect public trust resources in the ocean, where rights and responsibilities are unclear, certain enabling conditions must be in place for a marine reserve business case to be viable.

Capturing the benefits:

Right now, an investor would not be able to capture all the benefits of a marine reserve since they flow to several different economic sectors – fisheries, tourism, perhaps pharmaceutical development from marine natural products, etc. New governance entities, with management and exclusion rights over the marine reserve and adjacent areas influenced by the reserve, could capture these benefits of its stewardship activities, charge use and lease fees to other beneficiaries, and generate an investible revenue stream. These substantial rights and benefits must be attached to serious stewardship responsibilities, including rigorous performance monitoring and accountability.

Characterizing and managing risks:

Investors are used to taking risks, but they like to know what they are and how they can be mitigated. The marine reserve business plan should describe factors that affect risk, such as the strength of the governance system, the resilience of the ecosystem, the relative influence of factors that can be controlled versus factors that cannot be controlled, etc. and articulate mitigation strategies.

Transition costs:

While fishermen and other users of marine resources stand to benefit from reserves over the longer term, they bear the direct costs of marine reserves in the short term, and unfortunately, the dynamics of most fisheries strongly encourages short-term thinking and action. This is because most fisheries are not managed at all, and thus have no limits on catch and are open to anyone who wants to fish. Not surprisingly, this often results in the rapid depletion of fish stocks. Even in relatively well managed fisheries with catch limits, fishermen tend to race to maximize catch if the number of fishermen is not limited, resulting in short seasons, overfishing, and poor economic performance. Marine reserves, under these circumstances, are often perceived as another drag on business rather than as an investment in the future of the fishery because the short term costs are much more salient than the longer term benefits.

Fixing fishery management so that fishermen can prosper by adhering to catch limits and other regulations intended to conserve fish stocks and maximize yield over the long term can not only improve the conservation and economic performance of fisheries; it can also reduce the transition costs associated with establishing marine reserves (because fishermen are better off economically). Fixing fishery management requires a different kind of capital — capital that does not expect a return, such as philanthropic grants — since fishermen and society at large reap the benefits rather than the investor. Microfinance for alternative livelihood ideas that are rooted in real demand and local capacity, and that are attuned to local norms and practices (e.g., by lending to groups of people who hold each other accountable for paying back the loan), may also help to alleviate transition costs and reduce opposition to marine reserves.

Many studies show that marine reserves generate many kinds of benefits, some of which can produce revenue directly (e.g., carbon credits and tourism use fees) and others that need new kinds of markets to evolve in order to generate revenue. But demonstrating economic value is the first step along a path to financially sustainable ocean conservation that includes reducing transition costs by fixing fisheries and empowering appropriate institutions with rights and holding them accountable to stewardship activities and performance metrics so that they will generate value from intact ecosystems and capture that value.

Meet the Chefs!

2013-04-25T14:07:00.003-07:00

Lana Gunnlaugson is the National Manager for SeaChoice.

On Friday, May 3rd, 12 top chefs are coming to Vancouver to join forces in support of making National Sustainable Seafood Day official in Canada. Each chef is preparing a unique “Best Choice” seafood culinary creation that is not to be missed. Trust me, I've seen the line-up of dishes and my mouth is already watering! And not only will chefs be attending, but the fishers and aquaculture producers will be there to share their seafood solution stories for our oceans. And the icing on the cake will be hearing our keynote speakers, David Suzuki and Chef Barton Seaver.

The chefs involved with this event are key ocean ambassadors that have the power to influence not only their restaurant's menu and customers, but as celebrity chefs they influence food lovers and communities at large across the nation. We hope you will be able to join us for this special seafood celebration to toast these amazing chefs for making the commitment to serve ocean-friendly menus and keep our oceans healthy for today and tomorrow. Oh, and definitely take 2 seconds to sign your name to the petition in support of National Sustainable Seafood Day.

Introducing the chefs:

Chef Ned Bell – YEW Restaurant and Bar (Vancouver)

The co-host and heart behind this event, Chef Bell is not only helping to bring us this amazing event, but he has been behind the scenes from the beginning to make National Sustainable Seafood Day official in Canada. Executive Chef of YEW Restaurant and Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, Chef Bell will be working his culinary magic to feature two inspirational global solutions – Selva prawns and yellowfin tuna – both generously donated by Blueyou.

Chef Robert Clark – (Vancouver)

Co-founder of Ocean Wise and the annual Spot Prawn Festival in Vancouver, winner of the Murray A. Newman Award in recognition of his invaluable contribution to Pacific Northwest aquatic ecosystems, and an advocate of sustainable seafood, Chef Rob Clark will be joining us to prepare a local favourite – the BC spot prawn. There couldn’t be a better pairing for this ocean-friendly treat which is kindly supplied by Organic Ocean.

Chef Robert Wong – Szechuan Chongqing (Vancouver)

Fourth generation chef, and 2006 winner of the “Best Sichuan Dish” from Hong Kong Tourism, Robert Wong is the head chef of Szechuan Chongqing, the first Chinese restaurant to go ocean-friendly with Ocean Wise in Canada this past year. Chef Wong will be preparing scallops, which have generously been donated by Taylor Shellfish Farms.

Chef Benedict Genaille – (Vancouver)

Instructor at the Thompson Rivers University's Aboriginal Cuisine course, Chef Genaille will bring his passion for food by preparing Kanata cuisine which uses Canadian First Nations food in traditional recipes with modern flair. Chef Genaille will be preparing a smoked sablefish dish, with the sablefish donated by the Canadian Sablefish Association .

Chef Kyle Groves – Catch Restaurant and Oyster Bar (Calgary)

Chef Kyle Groves is traveling from Alberta to prepare a landlocked closed-containment farmed salmon tasting, which is generously being supplied by Albion Fisheries and the Freshwater Institute. Chef Groves once listed sustainable seafood as one of the five ingredients he couldn’t live without – which makes him the perfect match for this seafood celebration!

Chef Jason Bangerter – Luma (Toronto)

Executive Chef Jason Bangerter joins us all the way from Toronto to prepare lobster from our east coast. Chef Bangerter was trained in London and has cooked at Michelin-starred restaurants in France and Switzerland. His contribution is guaranteed to please with this Canadian east coast ingredient kindly donated by Sing Lobster.

Chef Barton Seaver – (Washington)

Chef Barton Seaver is joining us all the way from the US to celebrate sustainable seafood. Cookbook writer and National Geographic Fellow Barton Seaver has dedicated his culinary career to helping us restore our relationship to the ocean. Chef Seaver will be serving oysters kindly supplied by Taylor Shellfish Farms.

Chef Craig Dryhurst – YEW Restaurant (Vancouver)

Executive Sous Chef Craig Dryhurst from the Four Season Vancouver Hotel's YEW restaurant is pairing up with Chef Seaver to shuck up the mouth-watering oysters donated by Taylor Shellfish Farms.

Chef Quang Dang – West Restaurant (Vancouver)

Executive Chef Quang Dang has worked in some of Vancouver's finest kitchens while competing in international food competitions such as Bocuse D'Or in Lyon, France. Chef Dang joins us to prepare BC albacore tuna kindly donated by North Delta Seafoods and the Canadian Highly Migratory Species Association.

Chef Chris Whittaker – Forage Restaurant (Vancouver)

Chef Whittaker is representing the BC Chefs' Table Society as he prepares mussels generously supplied by Taylor Shellfish Farms. Chris has been a key ocean ambassador over the years with his involvement in the Canadian Chefs' Congress, local Spot Prawn Festival and most recently the opening of the Vancouver restaurant Forage.

Chef Frank Pabst – Bluewater Restaurant bar + cafe (Vancouver)

One of Canada's most accomplished chefs and widely recognized for his leadership in responsible seafood practices, Chef Frank Pabst joins us to prepare a personal favourite, the Pacific sardine, which has kindly been donated by North Delta Seafoods and the Canadian Highly Migratory Species Association.

Chef Lee Humphries – C Restaurant (Vancouver)

Chef Humphries is the Executive Chef at C Restaurant where his passion for local and sustainable ingredients inspire his culinary creations. Chef Lee is serving up Canadian closed-containment sturgeon and caviar which has kindly been donated by Northern Divine.

Little bird in a big ocean

2013-04-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

In the black hours of early morning, a tiny bird emerges from its shallow burrow on the top of a wind-swept rocky island and launches itself out over the wild Pacific Ocean. This female Cassin's auklet is not much to look at – barely larger than a robin and considerably less colourful, with only a tiny white eyebrow as a marking. She has been described as a 'flying tennis ball', built more for diving than for flying, but she has a long way to go to find food for her chick. While her mate rests for the day, she takes her turn at flying out to the edge of the deep water, a one-way trip of up to 100 km. It will be dark again before she returns from her exhausting flight with food for her young safely tuck away in a special pouch in her throat.

The food in question is tiny plankton more commonly known as krill – the same food source that helps sustain massive humpback whales. The continental slope or 'drop off', where the ocean plunges to over a kilometer in depth is an ideal place for such a meal. Cold, nutrient-rich water wells up from the ocean floor each spring to meet the sun, resulting in massive blooms of plankton. It's no accident that Cassin's auklets chose to nest on the Scott Islands, as they are some of the few safe places to nest within flying distance of these rich waters. In fact, the tiny islands are home to almost two million of these birds, over half the world's population!

The larger and brighter the krill that the tiny bird can find, the better, as these provide more energy for her growing chick which have just over a month to grow before they leave their burrows. But there are many dangers in these waters. Tiny, brightly-coloured pieces of plastic may look like food to the mother bird, who will bring them back to her young. Not only do they take up space in her pouch that could otherwise be filled with krill, but they do the same in her chick's stomach, robbing the chick of the nutrients it needs to grow.

Ships that travel through areas where great flocks of auklet moms feed can scatter them, causing birds to waste valuable energy. But these ships hold a far more deadly risk for the little bird: oil. It doesn't take much – less than a drop to destroy the waterproof coating on her feathers her only protection against the frigid waters of the north Pacific. A bird her size would die of cold in a day once her feathers became oiled. One spill near the Scott Islands could easily wipe out a third of the world's population of these birds.

And last, but not least, there's the larger man-made problem of climate change. Years when water temperatures are warmer in the spring have proven to be disastrous for these birds in particular, as their plankton of choice (large copepods) come to the surface for a very limited time. If these copepods aren't around when the chicks need them most, they are far less likely to survive. In fact, the Cassin's auklet population on their main colony, Triangle Island, has declined by 40% over the past 20 years.

Last year was a good one for our mom and her chick survived. As the waters of the north Pacific warm and the bad years become more common, these tiny birds need all the help they can get.

But it's not all bleak for these birds. Over the past few years, the Canadian Wildlife Service has been in the process of setting up a marine National Wildlife Area (NWA) that covers much of the waters around the Scott Islands, the goal of which is to preserve the ocean ecosystem that the birds need to survive and manage the risks posed by human activities. You can read more about this area and its proposed regulations here.

The NWA has the potential to provide meaningful protection for these birds, but there are still some areas where it could be improved:

Improving monitoring and compliance of oil pollution is an important step, but with upwards of one third of the world's Cassin's auklets vulnerable, the risk of even a small spill is unacceptable. Large ocean-going vessels like freighters should be required to avoid the areas where these birds are known to feed during the breeding season when they are concentrated in these areas.
The birds are here because of the fish and other creatures they rely upon for food. Stronger measures are needed to protect forage fish in the waters around the islands from industrial activity.
Central no-take areas, closed to all types of extraction should be set up as an insurance policy for the rich and productive ecosystem that the birds call home.

Please add your voice to those demanding stronger protection for this amazing area.

Living Oceans Society continues to work with the Canadian Wildlife Service to develop a management plan and identify research priorities for the Scott Islands. Please help support our work – Donate today!

Canada must do more to protect coastal waters from increasing industrialization

2013-03-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

The following article appeared in the Vancouver Sun on Monday, March 25, 2013 and can be viewed in its original context here. Art Sterritt is executive director of Coastal First Nations; Michael Uehara is president and CEO of the King Pacific Lodge.

This is a story of failure, opportunity and the path to redemption in managing Canada's oceans.

The federal government has failed to honour commitments dating back to the 1997 Oceans Act to protect Canada's natural marine heritage. And this neglect is endangering not only our ocean ecosystems but also sustainable jobs and prosperity on all three coasts, now and for generations to come.

These are the sober conclusions of the auditor general's office. In a report published last month, the A-G's commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, Scott Vaughan, noted that despite many fine words, Canada has formally protected just one per cent of its coastal waters. This leaves our coastal ecosystems vulnerable to increasing industrialization. Other jurisdictions have demonstrated that 10 per cent is achievable: California recently protected 14 per cent of its ocean environments and Australia has protected 38 per cent. President Barack Obama also recently announced a major expansion of West Coast marine sanctuaries.

Vaughan's conclusions did not surprise observers on this side of the country. Most have known for years that British Columbia's ocean environments and coastal communities are tied to an environment that is increasingly at risk.

Shipping and transportation, oil and gas, renewable energy and tourism: these are some of the industries expanding their use of our northern coastal waters. And this is happening just as the North Pacific, like all oceans, shows signs of stress: declining fish stocks, rising levels of noise and pollution, algal blooms and the effects of global warming.

Some of these industries are in balance with the natural capital that supports $1 billion a year in ocean activities on the North Coast, according to new research from the University of British Columbia and WWF Canada. Some, however, are not.

At risk are glass sponge reefs found nowhere else; forests of giant kelp; grey, humpback and orca whales; vast colonies of seabirds and the marine ecosystems that sustain this wealth of life - and us.

Despite our government's oceanic failures, there is light on the horizon. Polls continue to show Canadians of all backgrounds and political leanings value our fisheries and marine wildlife. And our governments, like those of many other countries, know the way forward.

What's needed is marine-use planning with broad participation and effective follow-up measures to protect our most valuable ocean areas and the future of our coastal communities. Without this, issue-by-issue conflicts will proliferate, further threatening our coasts and coastal economies, with no agreed way to reconcile the competing demands of ocean users. The furor surrounding pipelines and oil tanker traffic is one example.

The good news is our province and Coastal First Nations, who negotiated the Great Bear Rainforest agreement, are showing leadership in an innovative partnership for ocean planning that includes site recommendations for a comprehensive network of marine protected areas. Launched in 2011, the Marine Planning Partnership for B.C.'s North Coast (MaPP) provides a collaborative opportunity for planning human uses and marine conservation around Haida Gwaii, the North Coast, Central Coast and northern Vancouver Island.

The B.C. government and First Nations have shown leadership by initiating marine-use and conservation planning for our north coast. We encourage whatever government takes office in May to continue this work.

We also call on the federal government to heed the words of the environment commissioner and re-engage with its provincial partners. Once MaPP completes its planning phase later this year, federal support will be critical to expand the plan to federally regulated activities. Only then will we and our children give this story a happy ending.

Giant squid - one big happy species!

2013-03-20T13:54:00.001-07:00

It is not our custom on here on Water Blogged to feature widely popular marine species. Most of our previous posts about specific creatures have focused on the lesser-known/appreciated ocean-dwellers like hagfish, sculpins and sleeper sharks. My colleague, Carrie, once wrote an excellent piece on the truly under-appreciated eelgrass. However, today's news is so exciting that it warranted a post about a creature that has captured the imagination of humans around the world for centuries.

A recent genetic study of preserved specimens of giant squid from around the world suggests that these animals are not only a single species, but in fact a single global population!

The Kraken as Seen by the Eye of Imagination by Edward Etherington

Now, this may not be a revelation to some. In fact most people have probably never wondered how many species of giant squid were lurking in the deep, but zoologists have been pondering this question for over one hundred and fifty years. Dutch naturalist Japetus Steenstrup orriginally first described this magnificent creature, which he concluded was the basis of many an ancient mythical sea monster, and bequeathed it a Latin name Architeuthis dux. Since then, only a handful of 'giant squid' have been found, but as many as eight separate species have been suggested. The current study goes a long way towards proving that this enigmatic giant represents a single species of a single population world wide.

This is really pretty astounding when you think that these creatures have been found as far away as Australia and the North Sea. How does a global population like this behave? How many of them are there? How long do they live? So many questions, and remarkably few answers, especially considering that most of what we know of this species is based on the odd individual washing ashore. In fact, it wasn't until 2004 that Japanese researchers captured the first images of a live squid. What we do know is that they can grow as long as 43 feet, they are thought to live between 300 and 1000 meters and they are preyed upon by sperm whales and occasionally pilot whales.

Anyway, the Japanese researchers who photographed the giant squid in 2004 were persistent, and after hundreds of dives over the next two years they finally captured video of another live squid in 2006. This is now all over the internet in some form or other, but there's a clip below.

I find it heartening that in our 'information age' there are still so many things left to discover about the world, and it would seem that many of those things can be found in the ocean.

Harper government’s muzzling of scientists a mark of shame for Canada

2013-03-18T10:11:00.001-07:00

The following commentary appeared in the Toronto Star on Friday, February 15, 2013. It can be viewed in its original context here. Jeffrey Hutchings is Killam Professor in the Faculty of Science at Dalhousie University and the president of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution.

“In my view, scientists should stick to science.”

This was a Conservative MP's response to my testimony at a 2012 parliamentary committee after I'd chaired a Royal Society of Canada expert panel on how climate change, fisheries, and aquaculture affect Canadian ocean biodiversity. Among other things, our report concluded that constructive and respectful debate on salmon aquaculture is hindered by a lack of full disclosure of diseases on fish farms, a concern echoed by Justice Bruce Cohen in his October 2012 report on Fraser River sockeye salmon.

I was making the point that science plays a key role in informing, strengthening, and assessing the effectiveness of science-based management practices and government policy. Judging from his unsolicited advice that I should “stick to science,” Manitoba MP and committee member Robert Sopuck didn't see things this way.

Perhaps scientists should be seen, but not always heard. This would be consistent with a recent tightening of the near-Gordian communications knot that controls how federal scientists interact with society .

Since 2006 the federal government has been shortening the leash on its scientists. In some departments researchers are now not allowed to speak about their studies without ministerial (meaning political) permission. And in several documented instances that permission has been refused. In February, Fisheries and Oceans Canada raised additional non-science barriers to the publication of scientific research.

I can personally attest to the destructive nature of such policies. In the late 1990s, one decade before the current communications noose was deployed, government research with which I was involved was censored at an international conference. Our work indicated that seals did not cause the collapse of Canada's cod fisheries. Why was it censored? Our science was at odds with what federal fisheries spokespersons had been saying to Canadians.

Let's be clear. When you inhibit the communication of science, you inhibit science. The legitimacy of scientific findings depends crucially on unfettered engagement, review, and discussion among interested individuals, including members of the public.

And when you inhibit science, you inhibit the acquisition of knowledge. Is this something that best serves society? The Royal Society of Canada and Democracy Watch, among reams of others, think not.

Refreshingly, a Scandinavian with impeccable credentials provides an enlightened perspective. Gro Harlem Brundtland, three times Prime Minister of Norway and chair of the renowned Brundtland Commission on sustainable development, argues that:

“If we compromise on scientific facts and evidence, repairing nature will be enormously costly – if possible at all. Politics that disregard science and knowledge will not stand the test of time.”

If politics that diminish and devalue science should not stand the test of time, then neither should politically motivated barriers to the communication of science.

The Canadian government's current communication controls are clearly not the hallmark of a confident, mature, and progressive society. We can and should do much, much better.

Douglas Adams: Sifting Through the Embers

2013-03-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

Today is significant for at least a couple of reasons that I know of. Firstly it's the 2nd anniversary of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated coastal Japan and washed whole cities into the Pacific Ocean. This tragic milestone was marked by an episode on the Fifth Estate titled Second Wave, which is well worth watching.

The second reason that this date stands out in my mind is because it's the 61st birthday of the great science fiction writer Douglas Adams. Aside from being known for his humorous work, International Towel Day and the number 42, Adams was a passionate environmentalist which led him to do such things as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro dressed as a rhinoceros.

He also co-authored a book (and accompanying radio series) with zoologist Mark Carwardine titled Last Chance to See, in which he traveled around the world to catch a last glimpse of the last remaining members of a few prominent endangered species. The book included a heart-wrenching description of the authors' search for the last few baiji (Yangtze River dolphins) which are now one of the few marine mammals to become functionally extinct in modern times.

The book ends with the following passage, which is one of the best analogies for the global loss of biodiversity and the exponentially increasing cost of conservation that results from our idleness. These species and the conservation world as a whole lost a great champion with Adam's passing.

Sifting Through the Embers
by Douglas Adams

There's a story I heard when I was young that bothered me because I couldn't understand it. It was many years before I discovered it to be the story of the Sybilline books. By that time all the details of the story had rewritten themselves in my mind, but the essentials were still the same. After a year of exploring some of the endangered environments of the world, I think I finally understand it.

It concerns an ancient city – it doesn't matter where it was or what it was called. It was a thriving, prosperous city set in the middle of a large plain. One summer, while people of the city were busy thriving and prospering away, a strange old beggar woman arrived at the gates carrying twelve large books, which she offered to sell to them. She said that the books contained all the knowledge and all the wisdom of the world, and that she would let the city have all twelve of them in return for a single sack of gold.

The people of the city thought this was a very funny idea. They said she obviously had no conception of the value of gold and that probably the best thing was for her to go away again.

This she agreed to do, but first she said that she was going to destroy half of the books in front of them. She built a small bonfire, burnt six of the books of all knowledge and all wisdom in the sight of the people of the city, and then went on her way.

Winter came and went, a hard winter, but the city just managed to flourish through it and then, the following summer, the old woman was back.

“Oh, you again,” said the people of the city. “How's the knowledge and wisdom going?”

“Six books,” she said, “just six left. Half of all the knowledge and wisdom in the world. Once again I am offering to sell them to you.”

“Oh yes?” sniggered the people of the city.

“Only the price has changed.”

“Not surprised.”

“Two sacks of gold.”

“What?”

“Two sacks of gold for the six remaining books of knowledge and wisdom. Take it or leave it.”

“It seems to us,” said the people of the city, “that you can't be very wise or knowledgeable yourself or you would realise that you can't just go around quadrupling an already outrageous price in a buyer's market. If that's the sort of knowledge and wisdom you're peddling, then, frankly, you can keep it at any price.”

“Do you want them or not?”

“No.”

“Very well. I will trouble you for a little firewood.”

She built another bonfire and burnt three of the remaining books in front of them and then set off back across the plain.

That night one or two curious people from the city sneaked out and sifted through the embers to see if they could salvage the odd page or two, but the fire had burnt very thoroughly and the old woman had raked the ashes. There was nothing.

Another hard winter took its toll on the city and they had a little trouble with famine and disease, but trade was good and they were in reasonably good shape again by the following summer when, once again, the old woman appeared.

“You're early this year,” they said to her.

“Less to carry,” she explained, showing them the three books she was still carrying. “A quarter of all the knowledge and wisdom in the world. Do you want it?”

“What's the price?”

“Four sacks of gold.”

“You're completely mad, old woman. Apart from anything else, our economy's going through a bit of a sticky patch at the moment. Sacks of gold are completely out of the question.”

“Firewood, please.”

“Now wait a minute,” said the people of the city, “this isn't doing anybody any good. We've been thinking about all this and we've put together a small committee to have a look at these books of yours. Let us evaluate them for a few months, see if they're worth anything to us, and when you come back next year, perhaps we can put in some kind of a reasonable offer. We are not talking sacks of gold here, though.”

The old woman shook her head. “No,” she said. “Bring me the firewood.”

“It'll cost you.”

“No matter,” said the woman, with a shrug. “The books will burn quite well by themselves.”

So saying, she set about shredding two of the books into pieces which then burnt easily. She set off swiftly across the plain and left the people of the city to face another year.

She was back in the late spring.

“Just one left,” she said, putting it down on the ground in front of her. “So I was able to bring my own firewood.”

“How much?” said the people of the city.

“Sixteen sacks of gold.”

“We'd only budgeted for eight.”

“Take it or leave it.”

“Wait here.”

The people of the city went off into a huddle and returned half an hour later.

“Sixteen sacks is all we've got left,” they pleaded, “times are hard. You must leave us with something.”

The old woman just hummed to herself as she started to pile the kindling together.

“All right!” they cried at last, opened up the gates of the city, and let out two ox carts , each laden with eight sacks of gold. “But it had better be good.”

“Thank you,” said the old woman, “it is. And you should have seen the rest of it.”

She led the two ox carts away across the plain with her, and left the people of the city to survive as best they could with the one remaining twelfth of all the knowledge and wisdom that had been in the world.

"What the hell were you thinking?" A 16-year-old's testimony at Enbridge Northern Gateway JRP

2013-02-19T13:10:00.001-08:00

The following article originally appeared in the Vancouver Observer on February 5th, 2013, and can be viewed in it's original context here

What the hell were you thinking? from Catherine Wallace on Vimeo.

The following transcript is from the presentation of Sam Harrison, who presented at the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel in Vancouver on January 31.

"My name is Sam Harrison. From other people's statements, I take it the norm is to list your credentials and the reasons why the Panel should listen to you in the first few sentences. Well, I don't really have any. I'm 16 years old, halfway through high school, and the leader of a small group lobbying for action on climate change. That's really about it."

"There is one really important reason I hope you will take what I have to say under advisement. I'm a kid. I'm part of the generation that will be left to clean up the mess left behind by my parents' generation. We're the ones who will have to inherit this world from you, so I hope you will listen carefully to why building a pipeline to export 82 million tonnes of carbon dioxide out of BC is a bad idea."

"It's the 21st century and we've reached a pivotal point in human history. We simply can't keep doing what we're doing. There is no debate. Climate change is the issue of our time. It will define who we are and what our legacy will be for the rest of human civilization. We're not living on the planet you were born into anymore. By the time I graduate university five years from now, it's estimated that in the summer, the Arctic ice will be gone."

"We've taken one of the few features that makes planet earth what it is and as a species, we've broken it. By the time I have kids, it's predicted crop yields in much of Africa will have fallen by as much as 25 percent, leaving millions to starve. The continent will be struck by international conflict, fighting over the few sources of fresh water and food that are left."

"By the time my future kids are graduating high school, almost half the species on earth will have gone extinct. If the melting Himalayan glaciers continue and they disappear, the 2 billion people that depend on them for fresh water will have to move. As of now, there are more refugees caused by climate change than by war. This is the planet you have left for us. Is that what you want your generation's legacy to be?"

"Frankly, now much of the science is pointing to the fact that we can't stop these things. The Arctic will melt; the world will experience the next mass extinction. My generation will have to deal with the consequences. Surely, your generation owes it to us to not make it worse."

"The International Energy Agency says we have five years to curb global greenhouse gas emissions. It may just be my youthful naiveté, but if that's the case, expanding our network to extract, sell and burn fossil fuels seems highly impractical which brings us to another point."

"People say, 'Well, if we don't sell it, someone else will. We should sell it while we can and we'll build the Canadian economy.' Frankly, that may be true. Maybe if we don't sell it, someone else will, but that certainly doesn't make it okay. I assure you, no parent ever has said to their kid, 'Don't worry, it's okay to become a drug dealer because if you don't sell drugs, drug addicts will give their money to someone else. You should profit while you can.' That's just wrong.”

"Furthermore, they say it will grow the economy. Well, I have a message for you on behalf of youth all around the world. That is not the economy we want for our future. We simply cannot keep investing in fossil fuel infrastructure. The Enbridge pipeline would export the equivalent of 82 mega tonnes of CO₂ per year. That's more than B.C. emits as an entire province."

"We have quite some progressive policies in place in the B.C. government and allowing this project to go through our province will be going in the exact wrong direction. We need to drastically reduce emissions and becoming a carbon superhighway to the Pacific is not the way to do it. Regardless of where the oil is burned, it will have the same effect on all 7 billion of us."

"Canadians are supposed to be the nicest people on earth. That's one of the stereotypes I actually like about us, but we can't be if our entire economy is based on selling fossil fuels. It's time we draw a line in the sand."

"This is why I've spent my high school career not partying and hanging out with friends, but advocating for political change because I know, even if we don't stop this project, some day when I have kids and they look me in the eyes and ask, “What the hell were you thinking, why didn't you do anything about this” I know I'll be able to look them back in the eyes with absolute confidence and say, “I'm sorry. I tried my very hardest”.

"Will you? Please don't let this pipeline go through."

Love in the Sea

2013-02-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

This being Valentine's Day and all, I thought I'd share some cool stories and videos I've run across recently about love in the sea. And by 'love' I mean of course to say 'sex'.

It all started with a story about the Sex Lives of Barnacles from Discovery News. Barnacles, really? How exciting could that be? Well for one, they have the largest penis relative to their body size! But even more exciting, scientists recently confirmed that intertidal gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes polymerus to their friends) capture sperm directly from the water. Up until now, it was thought that all crustaceans copulated directly in some way.

On the left: A stalked barnacle with a relaxed penis (marked with arrow); On the right: Erect barnacles releasing sperm into water. Image:courtesy of Discovery.com

Unlike the uncharacteristically stand-offish approach taken by barnacles, the video below shows an unusually close encounter between a pair of deep-sea squid. It's very rare to see a pair of squid mating, and the males often use a modified arm instead of a penis. If you like the choreography, check out the 'disco clam' video by New Scientist TV.

But my favorite by far is the video below, which a colleague brought to my attention via a very detailed description of octopus reproduction written by Julie Kalupa of University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. This wonderful video by Lurynn Evans shows a female Giant Pacific Octopus in Puget Sound caring for her ~ 50,000 eggs and their subsequent hatch. Enjoy!

Death, Taxes and MPA's

2013-02-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

With March fast approaching, many of you are probably thinking about the latter of life's two certainties. That's right, the days are getting longer, the flowers are poking through the snow and accountants are sharpening their pencils in preparation for tax season. It's time to dig out your receipts, take stock of your finances and prey that you won't be audited when it's all over.

Audit. The word alone is often enough to raise the blood pressure, especially if you've ever been involved in one. But audits are really an essential part of any financial accountability be it personal, business or government. In fact, there is a whole department within the Canadian government whose business it is to hold the administration accountable for its stewardship of public funds - the Office of the Auditor General.

This past Tuesday, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (who is responsible for audits that relate to environmental issues) released a report on a number of topics including Canada's Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and how the federal government is living up to its commitments around them. The release of this report included a short video that does a great job of explaining the issue in about 3 minutes:

In the Commissioner's Perspective, at the beginning of the report, Scott Vaughn questions how Canada's environmental protection is keeping pace with our economic development. Canada is a trading nation and our economy is largely reliant on exports, including natural resources, as we have been in the past and will likely be in the foreseeable future. However, the past few decades have seen a growing realization among people and governments around the world that international trade and high levels of environmental protection go hand in hand. This is why our own government singed agreements like the Convention on Biological Diversity (which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year), which includes commitments to protect 10% of the world's ocean by 2020.

Over 20 years later, we have effectively protected only about 1% of our oceans and Great Lakes, while countries with similar economies and ocean industries have far exceeded the goal.

In a previous post, I talked about how much of our natural wealth is in the things that we don't export for profit: abundant and diverse wildlife, pristine landscapes, access to clean air, water and food. These things have value far beyond any monetary figure we could place on them - a value that will only increase with time. And as far as money goes, the Commissioner's report points out that protected areas can be a very effective (not to mention cost-effective) way of managing human activities that threaten these values. To use a tax analogy, they are like RRSP's for our natural capital.

The Commissioner's report highlights what many of us already knew: it's time for Canada to honour it's commitments to put its money where it's mouth is. Or should I say our money - it is tax time, after all.

The lowly limpet and the need for full habitat protection

2013-02-07T10:01:00.001-08:00

Will Soltau is Sustainable Fisheries and Salmon Farming Campaign Manager for Living Oceans Society.

I started out to write an Overlooked Species Theater piece about the lowly limpet. But as it unfolded, it became more about overlooked habitat.

The recent re-write of the habitat provisions in our Fisheries Act have been bugging me a lot lately. And I'm not the only one. Justice Cohen took a swipe at the federal government in his report on declining returns of sockeye salmon to the Fraser River. And just the other day the Environment Commissioner wrote, “The Department (of Fisheries and Oceans) has stated that it has not yet fully determined the impact of the changes.” My heartburn comes partly because the changes to habitat protection were wrapped up in an Omnibus Budget Bill and crammed down our collective throats. But it's also because the kind of thinking that only values economic determinants is really short sighted and doesn't make any ecological sense.

According to this type of thinking, the habitat utilized by species important to aboriginal, commercial and recreational fisheries – those with economic value - will remain protected. I think it is entirely possible that, sometime in the future those fisheries with value today could, for some unforeseen reasons, become less valuable in the future. Does that mean they are less important and no longer worthy of habitat protection? And more importantly, I am very sure that species considered to be unimportant today may become extremely important in the future. Examples of this abound and I think there will be more in the future.

Take the lowly limpet for instance. Looking just south of our border the Giant Keyhole Limpet had no commercial value until just recently when it was found to contain a substance very important to the medical field for possible cancer vaccines. Since the substance couldn't be replicated chemically the limpet became so important that it's now in danger of becoming endangered as a victim of overfishing.

There is a lot of new research finding that heretofore unimportant and often undesirable sea creatures can play important roles in the future of our human existence. Isn't protecting habitat for these species just as important as protecting habitat for commercial, recreational and aboriginal fisheries?

Public Interest: a statement to the Joint Review Panel

2013-01-24T14:38:00.002-08:00

Statement to the Joint Review Panel: Kim Wright, January 16th, 2013 in Vancouver B.C.

My name is Kim Wright. I was born in Prince Rupert and I live and work in Vancouver. I have spent my whole life on the coast. I am an environmental and social scientists, educated and employed in the field of environmental conflict analysis and management.

Tonight I wish to speak to you about what is in the public interest and how one might approach making that determination

My personal perspective is informed by many years of working with Canadians who come together to make decisions about the natural resources they share. I have witnessed the positive benefits of collaboration and stakeholder engagement in marine and land use planning. There are many examples from across Canada where sustainable resource use that is compatible with the needs and values of local communities and the environment has resulted from such processes. They are critical for establishing the public interest for current and future generations of Canadians.

I have also been witness to changes in British Columbia's coastal communities over the last forty years; the industrialization of the fishing fleet, boom and bust local economies, declining opportunities for employment and the movement of youth away from their families and home towns into the cities for education and work. I am sympathetic to the need for economic opportunities for all Canadians including those in smaller coastal communities. My friends and colleagues in these communities will all agree that stronger more diverse economic opportunities that are embedded in healthy ecosystems are the long term solution. They believe and I agree that these are their interests.

The National Energy Board defines the public interest as:

inclusive of all Canadians and refers to a balance of economic, environmental and social considerations that changes as society's values and preferences evolve over time.

The real problem is in how, what is in the “public interest”, is established. How are the values and preferences of those who live and work in Coastal British Columbia weighed against Canadians at large? When speaking of “Canadians at large” or even “coastal residents”, defining “society's values” is a challenge.

For the past four years I have been working as the representative of the conservation sector at the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area process (otherwise know by its acronym “PNCIMA”). All levels of government including regional districts and First Nations along with business sectors that operate on the coast met to discuss how to create an integrated plan for Haida Gwaii and the North and Central coasts of BC. This process was designed to allow those who live and work in the region to have a say in how it would be managed. We did not agree on many things at the start, but we were working together to find a path forward and the process of building understanding between us to define common interests was slowly unfolding. What we were doing was jointly identifying ways that we could work together with a spatial plan and ecosystem based management so all our interests could be met, be they conservation, alternative energy, the livelihoods of coastal communities, fishing, recreation or shipping. There would be some compromise on all of our parts, but we were becoming more hopeful that solutions would be found as the process progressed.

In my experience when working at multi-stakeholder tables with a diversity of perspectives and world views represented with people from different cultures, educational levels, and life experiences, nothing can be assumed. Every individual is unique with unique needs, desires and interests. The importance of processes like this Joint Review Panel, for example, that allow individuals to express their values is imperative. In a truly democratic society, there is a level playing field, with the views and needs of common citizens considered side by side with those of the rich or powerful. Every voice and vote is counted. The public interest must be established through a mandatory democratic, collaborative process that includes stakeholder engagement otherwise the possibility that it will be dictated by the few and powerful to meet their own needs is real and true. I experienced this within the PNCIMA process first hand.

In 2011 one of the sectors within the PNICMA advisory committee did not follow the rules of engagement, sidestepped the process, and PNCIMA was truncated prior to completing its work. Those of us who remain committed to collaborative planning must now attempt to find ways to articulate our common interests through processes that are not holistic or integrated across all sectors that utilize the oceans. Establishing the public interests on a case by case basis as each sector puts individual projects forward is not an effective approach. This eliminates the opportunity for all activities proposed or existing in an area to be weighed according to jointly established criteria allowing for decision to be made by all stakeholders with all the possibilities and information on the table and allowing for assessments of cumulative impacts. What is needed is more collaborative and integrated process to identify the common public interests for the Canadians living in British Columbia.

Another consideration that can be paradoxical when identifying the public interest is the one of temporal scale. The evolution of society's values over time will include future generations of Canadians in our definition of the “Public”. The long term impacts of our decisions need to be considered alongside those of the shorter term.

Coastal British Columbian wealth and the wellbeing of the individuals who live there are dependent on the marine environment and the ecosystem services it provides. The economic value of these services is often obvious, such as the provision of food, energy or protection from storms. But the oceans of British Columbia also regulate the climate, provide oxygen, and will be of value for future generations. In decisions such as this one, (regarding whether the Enbridge Pipeline and shipping of bitumen in tankers to China is in the public interest), the need for a healthy environment that will provide for the public's interests in terms of economic, environmental and social value must be considered for current residents, Canadians at large and future generations.

In my estimation, this pipeline and the resulting tanker traffic will not be in the public interest, as what has been heard at these review panels is that the risk of environmental impacts, and the resulting social and economic damage that such impacts would inflict on the neighboring communities, and future generations of Canadians are too high. We have heard the collective voice of Canadians speaking out for their interests, be they Economic, environmental or social, and what we hear is that the costs are far more significant and the benefits few or none for these coastal residents of BC. I believe the numbers of people who have come to these hearings to speak out against this development is evidence in itself of the public interest as represented by those Canadians who stand to lose the most.

Thank you

Incidental catch: in the wrong place at the wrong time

2013-01-21T09:34:00.001-08:00

Will Soltau is Sustainable Fisheries and Salmon Farming Campaign Manager for Living Oceans Society.

A while back I blogged about the outbreaks of the IHN virus at salmon feedlots in BC and how they may have been avoidable if a vaccine was used. As it turns out, 2012 was a bad year for disease outbreaks in the Canadian salmon feedlots on both west and east coasts. A lot of money was invested with no return. More money was spent culling fish under depopulation orders from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. On top of that, Chile rebounded after their three year ISA epidemic and began re-supplying the market, driving prices down and squeezing margins in B.C. And when you add on the cost of a million dollar BC ad campaign with a high rent agency just before and during the downturn, a better example of throwing good money after bad would be hard to find. It's no wonder the salmon aquaculture spin doctors are so snarky these days.

What just recently came to light is the incidental catch associated with one of those disease events. 2.5 tonnes of Pacific herring that were unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time were sucked out of the net pens along with the sick Atlantic salmon. "*The incidental catch of herring at this facility occurred during a planned depopulation to control the spread of Infectious Haematopoietic Necrosis virus (IHNv)."

On top of those culled herring, another 4,003 were incidentally caught at a nearby net pen feedlot during a routine harvest. All this happened in Clayoquot Sound -an area on the west coast where there hasn't been a commercial herring fishery since 2005. "Stock abundance has remained at relatively low levels and there is uncertainty about the cause of its current low productivity. Given that there has been limited stock recovery, even in the absence of commercial fisheries, an assessment to determine appropriate rebuilding and harvest strategies is recommended prior to reopening fisheries in this area." is the quote associated with that link. These kinds of incidental catches can only make rebuilding that much more difficult.

The report on DFO's website clearly show why open net pen salmon aquaculture can never be 'bio-secure'. The two incidents are just the tip of an iceberg that has been floating around for a long time but hasn't seen the light of day until - thanks to supporters like you sending in your comments on the new Pacific Aquaculture Regulations - industry was first required to report their incidental catch in 2011. And there is no likelihood of reducing it until net pens are phased out.

Oh, I imagine the industry spinners will dismiss my comments by saying something like other fisheries are worse than them. Why don't we go after them? It's true, incidental catch occurs in a variety of fisheries but, in some cases, we have been able to collaborate with industry on ways to reduce it. Take the Habitat Conservation Measures we worked out with the BC bottom trawlers. The same cannot be said for the salmon aquaculture industry.

Evolving Technology Closes in on a More Sustainably Farmed Salmon

2012-12-20T15:12:00.001-08:00

Kimberly Irwin is an intern with SeaChoice and Kelly Roebuck is Living Oceans Society's Sustainable Seafood Campaign Manager.

Take a look back 20 years and it is amazing how far we have come in the way of technology – from brick sized analog cell phones to digital smart phones being just one example of many. Industries typically evolve to become more sustainable, relevant and efficient overtime. Aquaculture should be no exception. Yet the majority of salmon farming is still done the same way as it was 20 years ago, in open net-cages that are in direct contact with the marine environment and wild salmon. SeaChoice deems open net-cage farmed salmon to be an ‘Avoid’ due to this farming method's environmental impacts. But what if salmon farming technology evolved? Well savvy innovators are closing in!

Rural West Virginia may seem like an unlikely location for an internationally renowned research facility and salmon aquaculture, but there sits The Conservation Fund’s Freshwater Institute (TCFFI) nestled on 100 acres of farm land. The institute opened its doors in 1987 in the hopes of solving some of the most pressing issues related to the management and efficient use of freshwater resources.

Dr. Steven Summerfelt joined the institute in 1992 as the Director of Aquaculture Research. To Dr. Summerfelt, aquaculture is essentially a water resource management issue. An open net-cage fish farm placed in a pristine water body generates a large amount of pollution, which will in turn affect the viability and usability of that water resource. Closed containment technology protects water resources by reducing the need for freshwater and preventing the release of organic wastes. For over 20 years, Dr. Summerfelt has been designing, testing and implementing land-based re-circulating aquaculture systems (RAS), a technology that has the potential to revitalize and transform the aquaculture industry.

Twenty-first Century Technology

When Dr. Summerfelt began his work at TCFFI, his goal was to design a system that “minimized the water requirement and captured all or most of the waste, in order to gain a smaller environmental footprint.” He wanted to do all of this while raising healthy fish at a rate that met or surpassed that of open net-cage farms.

The design that has been implemented and tested over the last two decades is a virtually closed-loop system. TCFFI’s tanks that hold up to 40,000 gallons of freshwater. Up to 99% of the water in these systems is constantly re-circulated, meaning that an almost negligible amount of water is needed to regularly replenish their supply. All waste solids, nitrogen compounds and carbon dioxide generated by the fish are removed from the water once it exits the tank, and oxygen is replenished to saturation before the water re-enters. The solid biological waste that is removed from the tanks and dried is used as an effective fertilizer on nearby farms.

Each tank is a meticulously controlled environment. Every possible parameter, including water temperature, nutrient content, alkalinity and water movement is closely monitored. By creating a highly controlled environment, the need for vaccinations, antibiotics and pesticides is effectively eliminated. These harsh chemicals are often necessitated in open net-cage aquaculture, where external fluctuations such as sea lice and disease can have unforeseen impacts on fish health and consequently on wild fish.

The Future of Closed Containment Aquaculture

Dr. Summerfelt is also providing expertise to the 'Namgis project, a soon to be operational commercial sized closed containment farmed Atlantic salmon pilot based near Port McNeill British Columbia – literally on the coastal shore and doorstep of BC’s ocean based open net-cage salmon farming industry. The temperate climate and available coastal sites make B.C. an excellent place to develop a closed containment aquaculture industry. Furthermore, the collective expertise amongst industry and First Nations, along with existing support infrastructure could turn B.C. in to the ‘Silicon Valley’ of closed containment aquaculture.

Containment is necessary for sustainable aquaculture,” Dr. Summerfelt stated at the 2011 Seafood Summit. This simple conclusion summarizes over two decades of invaluable research conducted by Steve Summerfelt at the Freshwater Institute, and will have profound implications for the salmon farming industry in the future.

During the months of December 2012 – March 2013, SeaChoice partner, Canada Safeway is the exclusive retailer for the Freshwater Institute’s closed containment Atlantic salmon. Note the product is available in limited stores and quantities throughout BC’s Lower Mainland, Interior and Vancouver Island. Be one of the few to taste the future of farmed salmon today!

Canadian ocean economies at risk from GHG emissions

2012-11-27T09:39:00.000-08:00

The following piece was written by Rashid Sumaila, Director of the UBC Fisheries Centre & Fisheries Economics Research Unit, and originally appeared on the WWF Canada Blog here.

Canada is blessed with the longest coastline in the world and one of the largest ocean estates of any country. Ocean fish stocks are among the planet's most important renewable natural resources.

Beyond playing a crucial role in marine ecosystems, fish support human well-being through employment in fishing, processing, and retail services, as well as food security for many coastal regions. Gross revenues from ocean fisheries worldwide are estimated at about US$85 billion annually, generating economic and household income impacts throughout the world economy of about US$240 billion and US$63 billion annually. The equivalent numbers for Canada are US$2.8 billion, US$9.1 billion and US$2.9 billion. In addition to these commercial values, fish is a good source of protein, micro-nutrients, minerals and essential fatty acids, and globally provides 3 billion people up to 15 per cent of their dietary animal protein needs. In Canada, many coastal communities, especially First Nations groups, rely heavily on fish for food and employment, in addition to their cultural and ceremonial importance.

Ensuring that our oceans and fish stocks are healthy and sustainable long-term is important to the Canadian and global economy and identity. Achieving healthy oceans has always been difficult, as they are plagued by the historical problems of overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction and loss. Global warming, ocean acidification and deoxygenating are new threats. Combined with the longstanding threats, these new issues are creating formidable challenges to this important animal protein source, and the economics of the businesses and communities that depend on them. As amply demonstrated by the collapse of northern cod off Newfoundland, the depletion of fish stocks can have devastating effects on human well-being.

Given the predicted biophysical and ecological effects of the new threats, they will affect the economics of fishing because both the quantity and quality of marine fish catch would be impacted, through changes in: price and value of fish catch; fishing costs; fishers’ incomes; earnings to fishing companies; resource rent (i.e., the surplus after all costs, including ‘normal’ profits, have been covered); and economic impacts throughout the economy. For example, during the 1997/98 El Niño, Chilean and Peruvian pelagic marine landings declined by about 50 per cent, resulting in a drop in fishmeal export values by about USD 8.2 billion. This huge drop generated negative economic effects and caused severe hardship (e.g. lost jobs, incomes and earnings) in the two countries.

To tackle these new threats to our oceans, we need to fill existing knowledge gaps that prevent a comprehensive understanding of the full range of impacts that ocean warming could have on the economics of fisheries. Given that climate change is already affecting fisheries, it is important for both public and private stakeholders to help fisheries address the new threats. Maintaining more abundant populations is a way to increase their capacity to adapt to environmental change. Hence, solving the overfishing problem is fundamental. Governments have generally been reactive rather than anticipatory in their response to declining fishing opportunities, with huge economic consequences. Given the scale of the anticipated effects of ocean warming on fisheries, reactive measures are likely to be very costly.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions would substantially diminish the ecological impacts of ocean warming on fish stocks and thus minimize its economic effects. Also, the cost of adapting to the new threats would be lower with reduced emissions. Thus, it is important for all with interests in the health of our oceans to push for lower greenhouse emissions.

The best laid plans in the absence of planning

2012-11-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

Update: after an overwhelming response from coastal residents and others and discussion with local marine conservation groups, the proponent of the tidal project has withdrawn their application. See this post from the Orca Lab blog for details.

I have always been a big fan of tidal power. The BC coast has great potential for all sorts of 'alternative' power with its high winds relentless waves, and all of those narrow passages that can provide over 12 knots of current twice daily (as was the case in Seymour Narrows the last couple of days). Even when the winds are calm and the waves low, the tidal exchange still reliably generates substantial quantities of energy with relatively little impact.

So if someone told me that there was going to be a tidal generator development in my neck of the woods, I'd be all over it right? Well as it turns out, there is a feasibility study for tidal energy being conducted right now, less than twenty miles from where I'm sitting. The only problem is that the location is in of the worst possible from a marine conservation standpoint.

Location of the proposed tidal power project site in Blackney Pass, B.C.

Site 1 on the chart above is more commonly known as Blackney Pass and is one of the most active areas on the coast for a number of different types of whales. In fact, it is in the very heart of the federally designated 'Critical Habitat' for the threatened northern resident killer whales, and has more recently been a very active area for the recovering local population of humpback whales.

Proposed tidal power site overlaid on northern killer whale critical habitat

The internationally renowned Orca Lab, based on Hanson Island, is directly to the west of the project site. The site represents the center of their study area as Blackfish Sound, and Blackney Pass in particular, are areas where these whales can be reliably seen foraging all summer long. For a more thorough description of why this area is so important to the whales please read this excellent post by the Marine Detective.

The problem is that these whales are over-encumber by a plethora of threats (to which they owe their endangered status), ranging from shortage of prey (salmon) to chemical contaminants that come with the dubious honor of being a top predator. A US government workshop on the environmental effects of tidal energy development, conducted in 2010, identified a range of potential effects that projects like this could have on marine mammals and other large mobile sea creatures. When added to the numerous threats facing the whales, these effects could have a very large cumulative impact – the sum of all the effects of all the pressures on these creatures.

To the marine conservation and research community and the many other environmental stewards in the area, such a proposal in the heart of whale activity is a slap in the face to all they have worked for.

Proper planning is needed if the critical habitat for whales is going to be considered in the sighting criteria for the tidal power producers. Our dependency on fossil fuels as a source of energy, has led to some pretty horrendous environmental problems, not least of all for the ocean and those (such as killer whales) who inhabit it. If sited and operated properly, tidal power can provide a clean and reliable alternative, which reduces our dependence on fossil fuels and our production of atmospheric CO₂ that is threatening our oceans. This is a classic conflict between two groups of people who use the ocean for different purposes. It is also very unfortunate because the groups in this conflict have a great deal in common.

Living Oceans has been involved in ocean planning for several years, representing conservation interests and engaging with other sectors and groups to come up with a comprehensive plan for human uses of the ocean environment. Specifically, a plan that looks at all of the areas important to each group, including marine life, and identifies areas where there might be conflict. This provides certainty for industries that need to know where they can operate, creates recommendations that guide management actions and identifies areas of high ecological importance and historical features to ensure they are safeguarded.

That's the goal anyway, and with examples like this, the need for such a plan is clear.

At a high strategic level, the federally led Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) initiative provides us with part of this plan, though its scope was significantly reduced after industry lobbying last year. The recent Marine Planning Partnership between the provincial government and local First Nations is looking at our use of the marine environment at a finer scale with spatial recommendations that will help alleviate the uncertainty about conflicts between users and their impacts on the local wildlife. Hopefully, through processes such as these, we will in future be able to prevent conflicts like the one between tidal energy and whales, before they arise.

Ghosts on the Coast

2012-10-25T10:39:00.002-07:00

Will Soltau is Sustainable Fisheries and Salmon Farming Campaign Manager for Living Oceans Society.

It's the time of year when ghosts and goblins make their annual appearances around the neighborhood. On the ocean the Flying Dutchman - a ghost ship cursed to forever sail the seven seas and never reach safe haven - is one of the oldest spooky stories. But there are more ghosts on our coast.

Some are closer to port. Derelict vessels abandoned, sinking and threatening to pollute.

Under the waves lost or abandoned traps and nets lie in wait to trap and entangle the unsuspecting.

Then there are the more modern ghosts on our coast. The tonnes of plastic and other waste drifting around in gyres and washing ashore to inter-tidal zones, entangling and getting ingested by all sorts of sea creatures and breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. All of these ghosts impact marine ecosystems and not in good ways. They all have a scary legacy.

Lots of folks want to clean up this ghostly debris from the ocean and we're helping them make a difference through our new Clear the Coast program. Check out the link and see if you want to get involved.

Defend our Coast rally in Sointula

2012-10-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today communities across BC took part in the Defend Our Coast day of action to show growing opposition to tar sands, pipelines and tankers and the risks they pose to our coast, rivers and livelihoods. Rallies were held in 67 communities the province today with participants link arms to symbolize B.C.’s unbroken wall of opposition.

About 40-50 people joined together in Sointula (a town of only about 500 people) to show their solidarity with those in other communities around the province and those who rallied at the Provincial Legislature in Victoria on Monday. Below are a few pictures of the rally, and there are many more from around the province on the Defend Our Coast website.

The Dogfish Days of Summer are Over... (picture heavy)

2012-09-21T09:52:00.000-07:00

Yvonne Etzkorn is the Donor Relations Coordinator at Living Oceans and is enjoying every last bit of Sointula summer.

Fall. It means crisp air and beautifully coloured leaves. It also means the end of summer. But it's not all bad. Fall makes us appreciate what we have. For example, this last week has been stunning despite the constant, heavy blanket of fog that covers everything until afternoon. But after the fog lifts, when the sun comes out it, the view is breathtaking. It really makes you appreciate the sun and the summer.

We've been very fortunate to have so many people not only appreciating summer but also appreciating the ocean and sharing that with us via our 3rd annual Ocean Exposures Photo Contest. The photos we have received are fantastic. (To see all of the photos we have received so far, check out our Living Oceans Friends Flickr page.)

From eagles:

Doug Emery - Gotcha

...to whales:;

Marcie Callewaert - Transient

From West coast:

Mike Heller - Siwash Rock at Sunset

Aiden Mahoney - Northern Sea

...to East coast:

Still, we'd love to see more! The contest wraps up on September 30th so there's still time to submit your photos.

If you submit them to the Above the Ocean Surface category, like the pictures above, you too could have the chance to win a fantastic limited edition print of Eagle Dance from renowned Vancouver Island photographer, Dan Hillert. Dan, who has lived in Sointula for the last eight years and owns the Sointula Gallery & Bistro, is a photographer whose books “Imagine an Island” and “Island Reflections” explore the coastal town of Sointula, Malcolm Island and the surrounding area.

Russell Stirrett - Setting a Purse Seine

Or maybe you've got some photos from your time on the docks or on the ships that can be entered into our Commercial Fishing Gear in Action category. This is a very specific category. We want to see commercial fishing in action. Show us long lining, trolling, setting seine nets, pulling up gill nets, hauling prawn traps, a full crab trap, setting halibut strings, seeding farmed oysters and more. If you do, you could a Mountain Equipment Co-op gift certificate worth $100.

Derek Bissell - Giant Pacific Octopus

Perhaps you're more interested in what's under the waves. If that's the case I'm sure you've got some fabulous photos for our Below the Ocean Surface category. Take the time to share the amazing world of colour, camouflage and beauty in the deep with those who haven't had the chance to see it.

Doing so will put you in the running for a pair of Mantaray fins from Nanaimo Dive Outfitters. I actually received my Open Water certification from them and I can tell you from first-hand experience that Shirley, Steve and the gang at NDO are not only knowledgeable and passionate but also a lot of fun to learn from and dive with. They have a full service Scuba Dive and Snorkeling shop located in Nanaimo, BC and they offer dive training, equipment rentals, tank refills, dive charter booking and dive trips. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter @DiveNanaimo.

Either way, our judges are going to have their work cut out for them. I do know that Andrew Wright, who is presiding over our panel of judges, is looking forward to the challenge. Andrew is a passionate conservation photographer and has published two photography books arguing for increased environmental stewardship in BC. His book, Emeralds at the Edge, published in 2009, received positive reviews in the Globe and Mail. His current book, Faltering Light, proposes an end to trophy hunting of bears. He is also a member of the international league of conservation photographers.

Judge, Chris Blondeau, will certainly get a treat as he peruses the underwater category. As a diver and SCUBA instructor himself, Chris is no stranger to the beauty that lies under the surface. Currently, Chris is the Director of Operations for Lester B. Pearson College. He also serves as the Director of Operations for Race Rocks, and with his wife Jane, serves as a Housefellow on campus.

So why wait? Dig out your camera and upload those photos. You'll not only get to spread a bit of summer cheer as the season winds down but you'll also be showing how beautiful and vast our oceans are, another reason they are so worth protecting.

No purchase necessary. Residents of Canada excluding Quebec are eligible to enter. There are six prizes: Two Mountain Equipment Co-op Gift Cards valued at $100; Two Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics gift cards valued $125; a limited edition 17" X 22" print by photographer Dan Hillert valued at $300; one pair of Mantaray dive fins valued at $170. To enter, contestants must submit one or more photos to one of the six categories provided. Judges will choose one contest winner from each category for first place. Photographs will be judged on exposure, composition, uniqueness, creativity, technical proficiency and relevance to chosen theme. Chances of winning are dependent on skill and the number of contest participants. The contest closes on September 30, 2012. The winner will be announced on October 25, 2012. See contest rules for details.

What do crickets and rain have to do with healthy oceans?

2012-09-17T11:48:00.002-07:00

Karin Bodtker is Living Oceans' Marine Analyst.

There's a new phenomenon. Well, new to me. I'm not always the first to catch onto new things online. Millions and millions of people have downloaded videos from YouTube that bring the natural world into their home or workplace. I'm talking about sounds. Through a YouTube video, you can listen to the sounds of night crickets for 37 minutes straight (48,500 others have):

Or if that's not quite to your taste, try heavy rain for 2 hours (only 30,000 have tried this):

The advertised affect is relaxation and I suppose different sounds work for different people. It looks like many of us need to escape from the noise of our environment and find refuge in these ‘natural’ sounds. Here's a very popular one (with more that 646,000 views!):

Oh, Those Relaxing Ocean Sounds of Waves on Tropical Beaches... Now that made me wonder if temperate beaches have a different sound? I doubt it. Although… have you ever been on a pebbly beach, one steep enough that the pebbles (small rocks really) wash up and down with the waves? The result is the sound of a small rock fall with each wave. It's pretty entrancing! I know just such a beach on the north side of Malcolm Island (north end of Johnstone Strait in B.C.) at Bere Point. The beach is also a whale rubbing beach. This means that orca regularly visit the beach and rub themselves on the pebbles. No one knows why they do this. (I say this confidently but without having done a comprehensive literature search.) I've not witnessed this myself in a handful of trips to Bere Point, but the sound of the place makes me wonder if the whales hear it underwater and are drawn to it. Could they recognize the sound of just the right size of “rubbing” pebbles as the pebbles wash up and down with the waves and tides?

As you are probably aware, marine mammals of all types hear very well under water. You may also be aware that much of Johnstone Strait is considered critical habitat for the Northern Resident Killer Whales of B.C. And one more thing, Johnstone Strait also sees a lot of ship traffic; ships large and small, ferries, cruise ships, tugs, fishing boats and recreational boats. You see where I'm going with this? Ships and boats are noisy. If you live underwater and your regular home range is getting busier and busier with noisy traffic, maybe you'd be looking for a refuge from that noise, some headphones with the sound of your favourite rubbing beach just around the corner.

I raise the issue because we all need to think hard about the acoustic environment that marine creatures live in and how we alter it everyday. Many marine creatures use sound to communicate with their buddies and they need to be able to listen for their prey or predators as well. Noise disturbs all these natural patterns and marine creatures need areas of acoustic peace to retreat to, just like us.

What to do? My colleagues and I at Living Oceans Society can and will raise awareness of the issue at marine planning tables in the region. This is a start. We need more people to see (and hear) that ocean noise is a problem, one that needs mitigation, and this in turn will foster the political will to implement change and the entrepreneurial spirit to produce quieter marine technology.

Ready for more YouTube sounds? Try this one called THE MOST RELAXING SOUNDS, viewed by more that 1.7 million people!

Yup, you guessed it – more ocean waves gently crashing on sandy beaches.

Overlooked Species Theatre presents: Eelgrass

2012-08-30T09:18:00.001-07:00

Carrie Robb is the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Specialist at Living Oceans.

Eelgrass perhaps doesn’t really qualify as overlooked. Its importance as a nursery for fish, a feeding ground for birds, a shoreline stabilizer and a water filtration system has been widely acknowledged by researchers and marine planning processes alike. Here in British Columbia, the Marine Planning Partnership for the North Pacific Coast planning process includes eelgrass beds as an important ecological feature.

However, for the past few years eelgrass has been getting an increasing amount of attention for its role in the battle against climate change and ocean acidification. Terrestrial forests have long been known as important carbon sinks but marine habitats, such as eelgrass beds and coastal wetlands, are now gaining in prominence. Known as ‘blue carbon’, the importance of these habitats has been highlighted in the just released Ocean Health Index, as well as reports from a diverse array of organizations, including the Sierra Club of BC, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank, who suggests that blue carbon should be better incorporated into the international conversation on climate change, perhaps in a manner similar to the REDD program for forests.

But blue carbon it isn’t just about the plants. In the marine realm, carbon stores are predominantly found in the soil. Because oxygen-poor soils have slow decomposition rates and never experience fires (a means of carbon release in forests), if undisturbed they can store carbon for millennia at depths up to 11 m. The soil supporting the eelgrass – now that is an overlooked part of our world. Recent research in Nature Geoscience documents the first global assessment of the carbon stored in seagrass ecosystems and determined that seagrass meadows (in large part due to their soils) are a ‘global hotspot’ for carbon storage, on a level with terrestrial forests.

However, the same global assessment also highlighted the scarcity of information on the distribution and carbon storage capacities of eelgrass and their soils. In British Columbia, the BC Marine Conservation Analysis compiled spatial data on the distribution of eelgrass beds along our coast. In addition, many local groups are working to map eelgrass beds in their areas. Perhaps combining these inventories with research into the stores of carbon in the soils below the eelgrass will bring an increasing awareness of yet another service that eelgrass beds provide, and highlight the value of conserving these coastal habitats.

Wednesday videos: Why our coast is amazing!

2012-08-22T13:52:00.002-07:00

It's Wednesday, so instead of putting up anything long and tedious for you to read (or more likely, not read), I figured some videos were in order. And what awesome videos they are! In keeping with the photos from Caamano Sound I shared with you a couple of weeks ago, these two videos highlight just how amazing our coast and inland aquatic habitats really are.

The first is from northern Vancouver Island's own diver, whale researcher and naturalist extraordinaire - the Marine Detective. I love this video because it brilliantly illustrates the rich and diverse sea life that we are so very fortunate to have on this coast.

This video originally appeared on The Marine Detective blog, which you can see here.

Of course, this video was made to highlight what is at risk if projects like the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline come to the BC coast. The second video has a similar visual message and was made in response to the Enbridge pipeline animation video, in which roughly 1000 square kilometers of islands were removed from the treacherous approach to Kitimat. The video below mostly deals with the wetland habitat along the pipeline route between northern Alberta and Kitimat, but it has such beautiful footage of these areas and the coast near Kitimat that I had to share it. Enjoy!

*This is not an Enbridge animation from Shortt and Epic Productions on Vimeo.

Refinery in Kitimat?

2012-08-21T13:55:00.004-07:00

Karen Wristen is Living Oceans' Executive Director.

David Black's trial balloon took us a bit by surprise on Friday; there had been no previous indication that anyone seriously intended building a refinery in Kitimat. Once we heard from Mr. Black, it became clear that he's floating an idea with the greatest of good intent, but without a business case or a clear environmental rationale.

With all due respect to Mr. Black's business acumen, by his own admission he lacks experience in the oil patch. He also says he has had little to do with Enbridge and its financing arrangements. If he had investigated with them, he'd know that the refinery idea is a non-starter for the Chinese financiers.

Anacortes Refinery [photo: Walter Siegmund]

In a recent interview, Black advised that, if the industry doesn't take up his challenge and invest in a Kitimat refinery, he'll incorporate a company to raise the funds to do it himself. Along the line, he will no doubt have to do a little more due diligence and will probably come up with the same answer that Enbridge has: China wants unrefined diluted bitumen (dilbit). They can refine it more cheaply than we can. The U.S. has refineries, so to the extent that the product is headed south of the border, they, too, want dilbit.

As to the environmental rationale, Black says that he wants to deal with the safety issue and put those concerns to rest. The problem is that his idea doesn't do that. Regardless of the cargo, the risk of a marine spill doesn't change because that's a factor of geography, technology and human frailty combined. The consequences of a spill of refined product may vary—diesel is more likely to float and disperse widely on ocean currents, oiling shores and impacting the intertidal zone, while dilbit is more likely to sink over time and smother the ocean bottom—but they're still oil spills and they're still persistent and toxic to marine life. Certainly, some refined oils will evaporate, but not all—even the lighter diesels will leave behind a toxic legacy that will impact marine resources for generations to come.

And a refinery here in B.C. still requires the transportation of dilbit over 1,173 km of challenging terrain, crossing over 700 bodies of fresh water—like the Kalamazoo River.

The answer here is not to make an awful risk slightly less awful by changing which creatures are most affected by it. The answer is simply to stop transporting dilbit: It's dangerous and our best technology evidently can't protect us from the danger.

If it's a refinery you want to build, Mr. Black, please speak with Alberta.

Listen to Karen discuss the Kitimat oil refinery proposal on CKNW

Make us hungry - we want your pictures of tasty seafood!

2012-08-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yvonne Etzkorn is the Donor Relations Coordinator at Living Oceans, who is very happy that it's sunny and that she won't have to hibernate through the summer this year.

I was having trouble starting this blog post so I thought I’d look back over last year’s posts for inspiration. According to my 2011 posts, last year had a cold and miserable summer. After reading those posts I realized all the inspiration I needed was right outside my window.

The view from my office window. Are you jealous?

The sunshine, the sparkling blue ocean, mountains in the background, clouds in the sky; I realized this is what we’re trying to capture in our 3rd annual Ocean Exposures photo contest. Well…not this picture exactly (we’d really like more ocean and less houses and telephone wires), but rather that feeling, the sense of wonder and general delight that being near the ocean invokes.

This year’s photo contest has a much larger scope than previous years. For one, we’ve expanded it to include all three of Canada’s oceans. (Did you know Canada is bordered by three oceans?) So don’t forget to let all of your East Coast and Arctic Coast friends know that they can submit their photos too.

This year we’ve also decided to increase the number of categories to six.

Two new categories this year revolve around sustainable seafood: Sustainable Seafood in the Market and Sustainable Seafood on the Plate. Not sure what seafood counts as sustainable? Visit our partners at SeaChoice to download your own sustainable seafood guide.

So far, we don’t have any entries in either of those two categories which means, should you enter, you may not have much competition in winning one of the $125 gift cards supplied by Vital Choice Seafood.

We’re are very thankful to Vital Choice Seafood for supplying a prize for these categories and we want to do a big shout out to Randy Hartnell for supporting Living Oceans. Thanks Randy!

Before founding Vital Choice in 2001, Northwest Washington native Randy Hartnell spent more than 20 years as a commercial fisherman in Alaska. Today, Vital Choice is a leading source for fast home delivery of the world’s finest wild Alaskan seafood, whole-food supplements, and organic fare. Vital Choice foods are among the purest available, and are sustainably harvested from healthy, well-managed wild fisheries and organic farms. The company’s products are recognized for their superior taste and health benefits, and endorsed by leading health and wellness experts, including physicians specializing in nutrition, pediatrics, and integrative health care.

Want to know more: follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

Mmm, so much salmon-y goodness. If you win, you could get this. Tasty!

But Randy isn’t the only person we need to give a shout out to. We are happily privileged to have a fabulous judge for this category: Vancouver’s own Follow Me Foodie, Mijune Pak.

A serious, yet entertaining look at the restaurant scene, food, culture and tourism, Follow Me Foodie has become a trusted and valuable online source for locals, tourists, food enthusiasts and industry professionals.

Follow Me Foodie articles and creator Mijune has appeared on Food Network, Zagat, OpenRoad Driver, BC Living, The Vancouver Sun, The Now Newspaper, Westender and various other media outlets. You can also catch Mijune at food events, culinary competitions, and on News 1130AM radio every other Friday on “Foodie Fridays”.

Interested in getting to know Mijune and Follow Me Foodie better? You can find her on Facebook or Twitter.

Now come on, we don’t want to let Mijune down, do we? We need to give her a run for her money so she has lots of photos to judge.

We’ve still got a ways to go til the end of September so submit your photos soon! And then send some more in later! There’s no limit to the number of photos you can submit or the number of categories you can enter, so get clicking!