The Ocean Health Index (OHI) score for the area stretching between the U.S. border and the Musquash Estuary shows that the area is comparable to the score for the rest of Canada’ coastal and marine areas. The preliminary results of the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership OHI study show an overall score of 65, compared to Canada’s most recent score of 71.
BoFEP is the first community organization to undertake this kind of localized OHI work, according to Scott Kidd, the primary researcher on the project. The Southwest New Brunswick Bay of Fundy Marine Resources Planning Area (MRPA) scored particularly high in the categories of biodiversity (85) and clean waters (83), however the scores for food provision (30.5) and sense of place (58.5) were admittedly low.
The OHI method of identifying coastal and marine status provides researchers with a means of assessing ten different environmental indicators (called goals) and grading each with a numerical score. Individual goal scores are then added together to produce an overall score for the area. In January 2015, BoFEP received funding from Environment Canada’s Gulf of Maine initiative to pursue five goals: sense of place, food provision, coastal livelihoods and economies, clean waters and biodiversity.
BoFEP researchers also modified the original artisanal opportunities goal into something new: aboriginal needs. “This goal is based on the physical access to the resources, and the financial factors that determine how many individuals participate in traditional hunt or fisheries,” explains Kidd.
Individual goals are scored using four dimensions: current status, trend, pressures and resilience. Given the complex nature of the calculations, BoFEP hired an expert to score the goals using the R program source code listed on the OHI-Science website.
“Towards the end of the project, BoFEP compared the overall OHI score and goal scores from the OHI website for Canada to those reported on the OHI-Science website. We found several large discrepancies between the two reported scores for several goals including food provision and sense of place. Intuitively, the OHI website scores look to be more accurate”, Kidd said.
The index is peer-reviewed, and so BoFEP’s concerns pertain only to the source code published on the OHI-Science website and not to the methodology itself. Going forward, BoFEP plans to work with the OHI group to resolve the issue related to scoring methodology so that the index can be applied to the entire Bay of Fundy. Additionally, BoFEP would like to work with the MRPA First Nations in order to expand the aboriginal needs goal.
Adapting the global OHI methodology for use on a regional scale has proven difficult, however Kidd is confident that BoFEP’s efforts will aid future OHI projects. Data sets need to be consistent in order to make comparisons between test areas, and so the project is helping to establish a framework specific to Canada.
He adds that while there are concerns about the accuracy of the food provision score, research confirms that the present status of the fishery has declined compared to previous years. “BoFEP recognizes that to improve the fisheries score requires long term efforts,” says Kidd. By confirming the state of the fishery, this sub-goal score will give decision makers a baseline from which to implement management changes and monitor future results. View complete report – Ocean Health Index Score for the Southwest New Brunswick Bay of Fundy Marine Resources Planning Area .
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