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~ FUNDY
TIDINGS ~
April 2016 ~Spring Issue | |
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HEADLINES:
B. Partners and other organizations: C. Fundy/GOM and other News: | |
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1. 11th BoFEP Bay of Fundy Science Workshop Planning for the 11th Bay of Fundy Science Workshop is well on track. A wide diversity of abstracts (over 40 of them at last count!!!) have been received and an exciting program of papers, posters, discussion sessions and other activities is rapidly taking shape. The Workshop will be held on June 8-June 11th at the Conference Centre at St. Thomas University, 368 Forest Hill Road, Fredericton, NB. [ #15 – Rigby Hall/Forest Hill on the STU campus map.] The workshop theme is: “Fundy in Flux: Challenges for Science, Policy and Society”. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Katherine Mills, associate research scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, Maine. She will talk about: “Warming, ecosystem change, and fisheries in the Gulf of Maine: from understanding to adaptation”. The banquet speaker will be Brent Suttie, Archaeologist, Archaeological Services, Heritage Branch, Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture. He will talk about recent exciting 13,000 year old archaeological finds in southwestern New Brunswick. For more up-to-date details about the workshop visit the BoFEP Workshop Page . Remember the Early Bird Registration deadline is May 8th, 2016 ……… after which the registration fee rises!!!! You can register quickly and securely online by visiting: Go to Registration.
2. Keep up with BoFEP on Facebook Visit (and like!) BoFEP on Facebook to keep up on the latest news about BoFEP activities as well as news about the ecosystems of the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine. BoFEP on Facebook.
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B. Partners and other
organizations: 1. Fundy Fishermen concerned about Offshore Drilling The Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board held an open house in Yarmouth in late February to discuss plans for hydrocarbon drilling on the Scotian Shelf off southwestern Nova Scotia. Nova News Now published an article entitled "Fishery protection urged at offshore petroleum board open house . It noted that fishermen were concerned about the effects of the drilling activities on lucrative fisheries in the region, particularly as the lease area is "is within the tidal flow of the Bay of Fundy".
2. NOAA's 5-Year Action Plan for Maine's Wild Salmon Efforts to save Maine’s wild Atlantic salmon from extinction will be ramped up in the coming years thanks to the new “Species in Spotlight” initiative launched by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The campaign’s five-year plan includes an estimated $25 million in federal funding for projects aimed at stopping the decline of the species and moving them toward recovery. See:
3. Energy East Pipeline Application Documents Energy East Pipelines Ltd. has released a letter and their detailed Table of Content regarding their Energy East Application. This filing was in response to the National Energy Board’s Direction of 3 February 2016 (A75430 ) and Energy East’s request for extension of time to provide this document (A75555 ) dated 17 February 2016. This document can be viewed on the Board’s website www.neb-one.gc.ca at receipt A75676 or the following link: A75676 Energy East Pipeline Ltd. - Response to NEB Directive Dated 3 February 2016
4. Coastal Zone Canada Conference June 12-16 in Toronto The Coastal Zone Canada Association’s 12th biennial conference, Coastal Zone Canada 2016 (CZC 2016) ‘Coastal Futures; Resilience through Collaboration’, will take place in Toronto, Canada, 12-16 June 2016 at the Chestnut Convention Centre, University of Toronto. The second call for papers has been issued and a list of conference themes is available. 29 February 2016 is the extended deadline for submitting abstracts: http://www.czcatoronto2016.com/?page_id=204. Sign up for email updates on the conference and other CZCA news. See the second conference update including the Natural and Nature Based Features Workshop. Early bird registration is now available.
5. Nova Scotia's Open Data Portal The Government of Nova Scotia has released an Open Data Portal. The portal has provincial government data for weather, traffic volumes, tender awards, civic addresses, maps, historical vital statistics, angling and fish stocking records and more. Data collections will continue to be added as they become available. The information appears in accessible formats and contains some data that was once only available for a fee. Visit: NS Data Portal .
6. Fundy Biosphere Reserve Launches Partnership Program The UNESCO-designated Fundy Biosphere Reserve (FBR) is proud to announce the launch of a Partnership Program, which recognizes businesses and organizations in the region who support the work of the FBR. “Since obtaining designation from UNESCO as a World Biosphere Reserve, the Fundy Biosphere Reserve has been working with our local communities to deliver projects in conservation of nature and culture, sustainable development, and capacity building,” says Dr. Yves Gagnon, Chair of the FBR.
7. Recent Sackville Meeting to Protect Migratory Seabirds Scientists from around the world were in Sackville NB in mid April talking about ways to protect key habitats and increase the numbers of migratory shore birds. Garry Donaldson, manager of migratory birds with the Canadian Wildlife Service, hosted the meeting of conservation experts and government officials from across Canada, the United States and Mexico. He said that the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) began in the mid 1980s when scientists still had a lot to learn about shorebird migration. (CBC News - includes audio clip [7.55 mins] with Donaldson)
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| C.
Fundy/GOM and
other News:
1. Drone's Eye View of Cape Split -Dramatic! The Facebook Page of the Geomatics Association of Nova Scotia (GANS) features a dramatic video clip (2 mins) of a flight over and around of Cape Split by a camera-toting drone. It has been viewed over 250,000 times since posting. Cape Split is a scenic headland located on the Bay of Fundy in Kings County. The 8 km Cape Split trail offers hikers one of Nova Scotia’s most famous coastal vistas. You might also be interested in seeing a ground-level view of the same general shoreline in a short video (9.33 mins) of a group of rock-hounders looking for agates at Lobster Hole, Cape Split.
2. Video of a Trip to Ile Haute A short video (12.08 mins) of a visit by members of the eastern Canada Explorers Club to the mysterious island of Isle Haute "High Island" in the upper reaches of the Bay of Fundy. Published on Dec 18, 2014
3. Videos of Fundy's Amazing Tidal Ebb A short video (31 secs) taken near the Wellington Dyke in the upper Bay of Fundy captures 5-hours of the ebb of the Fundy tide in dramatic fashion. Filmed on April 11th, 2016 from 5-10 am. For a slightly different viewpoint have a look at another short time-lapse video (28 secs) of the receding tide against a backdrop of Fundys coastal cliffs.
4. Modeling Migration of Tidal Marshes The Northeast Regional Ocean Council has released the report “Make Way for Marshes: Guidance on Using Models of Tidal Marsh Migration to Support Community Resilience to Sea Level Rise” to advance the effective use of models of marsh migration to inform management and policy strategies to sustain tidal marshes.
5. More Troubles for Cooke Aquaculture South Coast Today features an article entitled: "More troubles for Cooke Aqua: Product recall, 'Do not buy' notice for farmed salmon, loan demands" that details a growing list of problems for the company and its products. It notes that Cooke has abandoned plans for a major plant expansion in Shelburne NS, resulting in the NS government calling in an $18 million loan to the company.
6. Seafood Watch Report - Avoid Open-Pen Salmon A Seafood Watch report, completed as part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s seafood recommendation program, has kept open net-pen Atlantic salmon on the “Avoid” list after a new assessment outlines the ongoing threats posed by excessive chemical use, high levels of escapes, and the presence of persistent diseases in Atlantic Canadian farms. Similar farms in North East US, which scored a “yellow,” or “Some Concerns” ranking have lower disease outbreaks and a successful regulatory framework which includes protection for wild Atlantic salmon through a containment management protocol for escapes. Also see all the program's recommendations for salmon.
7. Norway Moving Away from Open Pen Salmon Farming? The Times Colonist newspaper in BC recently featured an article entitled: "Comment: Open-net pen salmon farms ending in Norway? " that described the observations of a delegation that visited Norway to assess the state of it's salmon farming industry. What the group found was "an industry beset by problems such as disease outbreaks, sea-lice infestations and farmed-salmon escapes. The situation in Norway is dire". Even the county's fisheries minister publicly acknowledged that for wild salmon “the mid-Norway situation has been very serious since the end of December.” The crisis is so bad that the Norwegian industry is making headlines by beginning to shift to closed-containment. The article concludes that "the question for Canada is, do we wait another couple of decades before acknowledging that salmon aquaculture has undesirable side-effects?"
8. Land-based Aquaculture on a Roll in NS An article in the Kings County Advertiser entitled: "Sustainable Blue Nets Federal Dollars for Expansion" notes that this innovative company has received a half million dollar loan from the federal government to expand its salmon farming facilities in Centre Burlington, Hants County. Such land-based production has none of the deleterious environmental impacts of open pen aquaculture that is currently being pushed by the Nova Scotia government. Susanna Fuller, marine co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre says operations like Sustainable Blue are the future of the aquaculture industry, or, at least, they should be.
9. Petition to Ban Open Pen Salmon Farming The Atlantic Salmon Federation reports that a Liberal MP in Atlantic Canada, Bernadette Jordan, has posted a petition developed by her constituents to end open net pen salmon farming in Canada. It particularly cites the multitude of adverse environmental impacts that this industry has on the coastal marine environment. Sign the petition.
10. Police Seek Public Help to Protect Fundy Salmon The RCMP in New Brunswick are asking residents to help protect what they are calling "an iconic part" of the province's heritage. In a release issued Monday, the Mounties say Fundy National Park and its partners are releasing hundreds of wild, endangered inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon back to their native rivers to spawn. It says six law enforcement agencies will be monitoring provincial rivers to project the valuable resource. The Mounties are also asking for anyone who sees someone catching salmon that are part of the inner Bay of Fundy population to call Crime Stoppers -- noting that a tip leading to an arrest is eligible for a reward of up to $2,000. (MetroNews.ca)
11. Fundy's Elephant Rock Collapses Back in April local media were abuzz with reports of the stunning collapse of one of New Brunswick's iconic coastal landmarks, the Elephant Rock formation in the 17 strong Hopewell Rocks group. It was estimated that 100-200 tonnes of rock fell, shearing the formation almost in half. For a sampling of opinion:
For a somewhat more satirical take on the event see:
12. Video: Impacts of Acidification of GOM A clever short (4.27 mins) animated video entitled "A Climate Calamity In The Gulf Of Maine Part 2: Acid In The Gulf" describes the causes and potential impacts of ocean acidification on sea life in the Gulf of Maine. The video is produced by the Northeast Coastal Acidification Network (NECAN) with support from Maine Sea Grant, Dalhousie University, Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR), and the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS).
13. Warming Ocean Threatens Maine's Lobsters An article in Hakai Magazine - Coastal Science and Societies, "A Warming Threat to Maine’s Lobsters", suggests that the water in the Gulf of Maine is warming rapidly, a change that may be bringing a once-rare lobster disease further north. A bacteria disease, “epizootic shell disease,” that causes lesions that make lobster shells "look as though someone had poured battery acid on them". The disease seems to be caused by the bacteria Aquimarina homaria. This is normally present on lobster shells and doesn't cause problems. However, the concern is that lobsters are being stressed by warmer water temperatures, which compromises their immune system and makes them more vulnerable to this and possibly other diseases.
14. Monitoring Program for Tidal Energy Impacts Cumberland News Now in an article entitled "Environmental monitoring program announced for tidal project" reports that the Offshore Energy Research Association and the Nova Scotia Department of Energy are jointly funding $250,000 to support an enhanced environmental effects monitoring program at the FORCE site in the Bay of Fundy near Parrsboro. Program will largely focus on impacts of tidal power development on seabirds, lobster and the acoustic environment. See also:
15. Study of Tidal Effects on Moored Structures The Halifax Chronicle Herald in an article entitled "N.S. firm launches tidal data project" reports that the firm Dynamic Systems Analysis based in Halifax is leading a study of the impacts of tidal turbulence on floating platforms moored to the seabed. The company notes that “Large scale multi-megawatt projects using floating platforms are being discussed in the emerging tidal industry for the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia.” See also: "Mooring Research Makes Waves with EcoSPRAY Tidal Platform" in the Marine Technology News.
16. King Tides and Storm Surges lash Fundy Coasts In early April Maritimes news media were abuzz with stories of the unusually high tides and storm surges that threatened coastal areas around the Bay. The super tides were a result of the coincidence of the usual monthly spring high tides and the so-called Saros Cycle which occurs every 18.3 years. In addition, a storm surge associated with a passing low pressure area added to the rise and enhanced onshore wave action in many areas. Read all about it at:
17. Coalition: Reverse Harper's Cuts to Fisheries Protection A CBC News report entitled "Trudeau government urged to restore fisheries protections" notes that the Ecology Action Centre is part of a countrywide network pushing for the restoration of fisheries protections they say were stripped by the previous Harper government. The coalition of 47 groups of scientists, environmental groups, First Nations and fisheries organizations wants the Trudeau government to repair what they see as serious damage done by the previous government.
18. Eastern Canada Watersheds Very Polluted The Montreal Gazette recently published an article entitled "Pollution a very high threat to Eastern Canada watershed, new WWF report finds". "The WWF report aims to assess all 25 of Canada's major watersheds by 2017, and the maritime coastal watershed is the latest to be included. This watershed covers all of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, as well as parts of New Brunswick and Quebec". Elizabeth Hendriks, World Wildlife Fund Canada vice-president of freshwater conservation stated that "We found that in some parts of the watershed such as the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of St Lawrence sub-watershed, substances including aluminum, cadmium, copper and lead exceed water quality guidelines in 100 per cent of water samples taken."
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