Category Archives: Publications

6.0 A Choice of Futures:

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One can consider from clearly presented alternatives a choice of marine futures on many issues regarding marine policy decisions.

Integrated management of marine systems—that is, coordinated management of all alternative uses of the ocean is probably the only way we are going to have any chance of securing a sustainable fishery. Here the decisions are political. Bring the issues up at all levels of government and if necessary get involved to help make changes. See 3.2 Integration
From Marine Fisheries Systems
http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.287.aspx.pdf
Although the emphasis in recent years has been on unsustainable fishing practices, fisheries represent only one of many human
influences on marine ecosystems. In coastal marine systems in par- ticular, coastal development—with concomitant problems of local pollution and habitat destruction—is very important. (See Chapter 19.) Non-fisheries human influences such as marine debris and oil slicks are also important on the high seas. As a result, as de- scribed earlier, several nations are attempting to develop legislation and policies to facilitate integrated management of marine systems—that is, coordinated management of all alternative uses of the ocean. Such uses include harvesting marine species for food and other purposes, aquaculture, research, oil and gas exploration, ocean mining, dredging, ocean dumping, energy generation, eco-tourism, marine transportation, and defense. To date, it has proved difficult to integrate the management of all these activities because the authorities regulating these activities are usually inde- pendent of one another (Sissenwine and Mace 2003).
We need to be involved in the choice of options for human sewage and industrial effluent disposal in coastal waters.
We must deal with agricultural runoff head on. People have to make a choice.
The implications for uncontrolled population growth of our communities, making the marine systems unsustainable is an issue of importance needing political decisions.
The pros and cons of sustainable and non-sustainable aquaculture practises should be another area where the public is asked to make a commitment.
The regulation of harvesting and the decision to create reserves and marine protected areas are other aspects that when people are presented with the facts, they should be asked to commit to one alternative or the other.
Our goal should be to make an educated and aware public who can participate in solving the problems of humans living sustainably in the marine area.
The Climate change choice of futures. Implications are mentioned in this reference and the urgency to act now is encouraged

6.1 Threshholds in Systems.

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5.8 The Ecological Footprint

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The concept of our Ecological Footprint when considering the ocean resources, is the literal footprint of bottom trawling and other destructive practices in marine harvest. The same with unsustainable examples of aquaculture leading us to realize there are implications for ecological footprint in our choice of marine food menues.

The work of Dr.Bill Reese could be profiled here.

See the reference from http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/report/06_Regional_Perspectives.pdf
WATER: http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/report/04_Water.pdf

5.9 Historical connections

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5.1 Fisheries Policies for Sustainability

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If Seafood fisheries in British Columbia are to remain sustainable then there must be adherence to a regime of regulations . Management of fisheries in the past has often led to depletion of resources. Examples can be drawn from herring and salmon resources in BC, the anchovy and sardine examples of Pacific Coast of North and South America, and the Atlantic Cod. The unsustainable practises of Drift net fisheries, bottom trawling, and by-catch are examples of why there are problems.(see reference No.5 below).

Here is an opportunity to emphasize best practises for ecologically sustainable fisheries. The Precautionary Principle is at the base of a requirement for sustainable fisheries.

Resource references:

1. In the report “Progress Towards Environmental Sustainability in British Columbia’s Seafood Sector., May 2001″ there are a number of excellent graphics which present a framework for sustainable fisheries.
http://www.bcseafoodalliance.com/BCSA/AMRSummitReport.pdf

The topics below are dealt with in length and provide excellent examples of displays and interactive presentations which could be set up on sustainable fisheries.

Sustainable Fishing and Aquaculture
Sustainable Harvest of Target species and Stocks
Limiting the impacts of Fisheries on Non-Target species,
Limiting Impacts on Habitats and Ecosystems
Ensuring effective management and regulation.

2. The Geoduck Fishery: has established a Code of Conduct for responsible Fishing.

http://www.geoduck.org/pdf/UHA_Code_Report.pdf

3. 2006 BC Seafood Industry report http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/omfd/reports/YIR-2006.pdf

4. Seafood Statistics:

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/omfd/fishstats/index.html

5. FIsheries Issues:
http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/oceanography-book/fisheriesissues.htm

Go to the sustainable aquaculture section

5.2 The Ecosystem Approach

From: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5352 Oceans in Peril: Protecting Marine Biodiversity publ 2007

An ecosystem approach promotes both conservation and the sustainable use of marine resources in an equitable way. It is a holistic approach that considers environmental protection and marine management together, rather than as two separate and mutually exclusive goals. Paramount to the application of this approach is the establishment of networks of fully protected marine reserves, in essence, “national parks” of the sea. These provide protection of whole ecosystems and enable biodiversity to both recover and flourish. They also benefit fisheries by allowing for spillover of fish and larvae or eggs from the reserve into adjacent fishing grounds.
Outside of the reserves, an ecosystem approach requires the sustainable management of fisheries and other resources. Demands on marine resources must be managed within the limits of what the ecosystem can provide indefinitely, rather than being allowed to expand as demographic and market forces dictate. An ecosystem approach requires protection at the level of the whole ecosystem. This is radically different from the current practice, where most fisheries management measures focus simply on single species and do not consider the role of these species in the wider ecosystem.
An ecosystem approach is also precautionary in nature, meaning that a lack of knowledge should not excuse decision-makers from taking action, but rather lead them to err on the side of caution. The burden of proof must be placed on those who want to undertake activities, such as fishing or coastal development, to show that these activities will not harm the marine environment. In other words, current presumptions that favor freedom to fish and freedom of the seas will need to be replaced with the new concept of freedom for the seas.”

Reference:

1.Canessa, R., Conley, K., and Smiley, B. 2003. Bowie Seamount Marine Protected Area: an ecosystem overview report. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 2461. …
http://www.seaaroundus.org/…/ASynthesisResearchActivitiesFCEcosystemBaseFish.pdf –

2. http://archive.nafo.int/open/sc/2008/scs08-10.pdf.

Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization Serial No. N5511 NAFO SCS Doc. 08/10 SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL MEETING – JUNE 2008 Report of the NAFO Scientific Council Working Group on Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (WGEAFM) NAFO Headquarters, Dartmouth, Canada 26-30 May 2008.

In recognition of an amended NAFO Convention (currently awaiting ratification) which has principles of an Ecosystem
Approach to Fisheries Management, Scientific Council established a Working Group on the Ecosystem Approach to
Fisheries Management in September 2007. Terms of Reference (ToR1) for this WG relate to the identification of eco-
regions within the NAFO Convention Area (NCA) and the development of ecosystem health indicators.

3. A synthesis of Research Activities at the Fisheries Centre on Ecosystem-based Fisheries Modelling and Assessment with emphasis on the Northern and Central Coast of BC..2007,
S.Guenete,V.Christiansen,C. Hover,M.Lam D.Preikshot, D. Pauly

5.3 Fishing Down Food Webs

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4.3 Oxygen Depletion in the Ocean

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OXYGEN DEPLETION: A harmful algal bloom of the dinoflagellates Noctiluca scintillans, known as a red tide Organic materials, from such sources as algal blooms and discharges from domestic wastewater treatment plants and food-processing operations, are decomposed by oxygen-consuming microbes in waterbodies. This pollution is typically measured as the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). High BOD levels can cause oxygen depletion, jeopardizing fish and other aquatic species. Lake Erie’s oxygen- depleted bottom zone, for example, has expanded since 1998, with negative environmental impacts. Some coastal areas also undergo oxygen depletion, including the eastern and southern coasts of North America, southern coasts of China and Japan, and large areas around Europe (WWAP 2006).

  • From: Research Document – 2012/072

State of physical, biological, and selected fishery resources of Pacific Canadian marine ecosystems in 2011

By J.R. Irvine and W.R. Crawford

Scientists have reported alarmingly low oxygen concentrations in near-shore waters of the Oregon coast in summer, being in 2002 and most severely in 2006. High crab mortalities on the ocean bottom took place in these summers. Low oxygen concentrations (less than 1 ml/L) have also been observed on off southwest Vancouver Island since 2002, with concentrations of 0.7 ml/L at 150 metres depth recorded in 2006 and 2009, the lowest in the 50-year record. Concentration was 1.0 and 1.1 ml/L in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Hypoxia on the Canadian shelf is much less severe than off Oregon and Washington, and mortality of bottom life has not been reported.

  • From swissinfo.ch : Oceans could run out of oxygen

by Isobel Leybold-Johnson, swissinfo.ch
Feb 11, 2012 – 14:03

Global warming could lead to more of the world’s oceans becoming “dead zones” – where a lack of oxygen leads to marine life dying out.

This was the conclusion of recent analysis of marine oxygen conditions over the past 20,000 years, co-authored by the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ).

Oceans are already oxygen-starved in places: every summer some areas of the northeastern Pacific see huge numbers of dead fish, shrimp or molluscs washed up on beaches.

This is caused by marine animals suffocating because the water contains too little of the vital O2 they need to breathe – or none at all. It is not only an ecological problem, the local fishing industry is affected as well.

Currently around 15 per cent of oceans are considered oxygen-depleted or anoxic “dead zones”.

“There’s been a very longstanding debate about the influence of global warming on the concentration of oxygen in the ocean, basically because the ocean oxygen concentration measurements of the past decades have not been very conclusive,” Samuel Jaccard from the ETHZ’s Geological Institute told swissinfo.ch.

This is why Jaccard and Eric Galbraith from McGill University in Canada decided to go back in time and reconstruct how the oxygen content has changed in oceans in the past 20,000 years, with the focus on the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Temperature rise

Their study, published in Nature Geoscience, showed that the average global temperature rise of around at least two degrees Celsius between the peak and the end of the last Ice Age (between about 10,000-20,000 years ago) had a massive effect on the oxygen content of seawater.

“The warmer the global average temperature, the more extended the oxygen minimum zones are, so the volume of these oxygen-poor water bodies is more extended during warm periods than in cold periods,” Jaccard said.

What is worrying is that, currently, global average temperature is predicted to rise by at least two degrees in the coming century due to climate change. This is of a similar magnitude to the warming the planet has undergone since the last Ice Age 20,000 years ago.

“So we would assume that if, indeed, temperatures are increasing in the next 100 years, these oxygen minimum zones would also increase in volume and that the general oxygen concentration of the ocean will decrease,” Jaccard said.

And what is more: “our analysis has shown that not only was absolute temperature important, but also the rate of change, so the faster the warming, the more expanded these zones are”.

Oxygen in seawater mainly comes from gas exchange between the water’s surface and the atmosphere. As temperatures at the surface increase, the dissolved oxygen supply below the surface gets used up more quickly. It’s a little like turning down the oxygen pump in a fish tank, says Jaccard.

Suffering oceans

Dead zones are a topic well known to green campaigners and are not just limited to the biodiversity-rich deep oceans, explains Jochen Lamp, a marine expert at WWF in Germany.
 
They also affect the shallow seas like the Baltic Sea, which are subject to eutrophication: when nutrients from the land and agriculture cause over-enrichment of the water and the growth of algal blooms. These blooms then deplete the water’s oxygen.

But whereas it is easier to tackle shallow seas dead zones by controlling nutrient input, such as by having low nutrient agriculture, climate change adaptation is “a much more long lasting and complicated process”, said Lamp.

Even if countries such as Switzerland can agree on measures – the Rio+20 conference on sustainable development is scheduled for June – the change in the trend may not be seen for 50-70 years, he added.

Overall the world’s oceans are suffering: there is also overfishing and the other effects of climate change like the acidification of the waters.

Oceans are a delicately balanced ecosystem. “We hope that the balance will re-establish, but there is a lot of human impact in this imbalance and we do not yet know what will happen in reality during the next decades,” warned Lamp.

Isobel Leybold-Johnson, swissinfo.ch

Jaccard SL & Galbraith ED. Large climate-driven changes of oceanic oxygen concentrations during the last deglaciation.

The article was published online in Nature Geoscience on December 18, 2011. The research was highlighted in the ETH Life journal in January 2012.

Deep water in the North Pacific Ocean already has the most acidic water in the global ocean and the British Columbia continental shelf might see negative impacts of this feature sooner than most oceanic waters.

Oxygen depletion in the Gulf of Mexico has created a huge ‘dead zone,’ with major negative impacts on biodiversity and fisheries (MA 2005) (see Chapter 6).

4.4 Ocean Pollutants

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4.0 Physical or Abiotic Factors

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4.0 Physical or Abiotic Factors

Part of the structure of an ecosystem is its physical factors. The opportunity in the Marine Centre to demonstrate the close dependence of organisms on physical factors cannot be missed. It is a good way to emphasize to the public that one cannot seperate the physical and the living world and therefore one has to recognize that changing physical factors will have a direct impact on biodversity and the integrity of marine ecosystems. It is also an opportunity to break down the artificial barriers between biology, physics, chemistry and geology.

An approach which I have used on the racerocks.com website has been to treat all physical factors in terms of how they affect life organisms. Measuring the factor is one aspect , but recognizing the impact that those factors have on organisms presents a more interesting aspect. See examples on the links from the data page index at: http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/eco/ecodata.htm

So much of how we interact with Marine environments may influence the physical factors in which organisms have evolved to live for millions of years. Present the wide array of factors, with sensor feeds from a number of ecosystems.. Have specific examples of how the distribution of organisms is determined by those factors and how humans are changing some of those factors too quickly. A few summary points follow:

  • Successional changes caused by changes of abiotic factors.
  • The Physical Story. The marriage of the physical and life sciences.
  • How geology-topography affects the distribution of life.
  • A display of life zones and biodiversity connected to physical factors.
  • Live remote camera control station. Available on Kiosk mode computers access to several remote control cameras. Some can be located nearby in a secure area ( maybe one of the ponds at James Island.)
  • The marine industries of the Georgia Strait.. the positive things that are happening.
  • How marine industry can be sustainable without contamination and alteration of the physical factors of the environment.
  • Energy budget of a disturbed seabird or mammal video streaming on walls of boats and human activity impacting.
  • Storm drains and implication of runoffs in altering physical factors.
  • Agriculture and the sea… use of fertilizers pesticides on ocean ecosystems. Tie into interconnectivity of ecosystems.
  • Climate change and its effects on the oceans.
  • Part of the Structure and Function of Ecosystems: Role in energy flow and material cycles. Reference: Structure and Function of Ecosystems:http://www.racerocks.com/racerock/education/curricula/projects/structfunct.htm

4.1 Sensors and Data Collection for research.

I have listed here a number of ways to monitor physical factors of ecosystems at various levels and locations..

  • Local monitors of all exhibit tanks to show different parameters.
    • oxygen levels of aerated vs bottom muds
    • ph change as photosynthesis changes in a green pool
    • set up a green tank highly enriched with nutrients for this
    • have a “convertible tank” where automatic changes can be introduced which then can register abiotic changes on the instruments. This provides great opportunities for schools to do research. For instance a tank may have a screen barrier seperating two populations of fish or invertebrates. Oxygen, Co2 pH and other sensors monitors the whole tank. At periodic intervals, a gate is lowered seperating the water bodies of the two tanks, on the monitors, digital or graphics show a timeline and the change in physical factors contrasting the opposing sides.
    • demo of currents feeding barnacles.. ie dependence on that factors
  • Remote site monitors.
    • interactive modelling with temperature data from Race Rocks.. and implications for global change.
    • atmospheric and oceanographic sensors monitoring at Race Rocks.
    • Links and interpretations to physical measurements in real time from the Venus sub-sea research program.
    • Links and interpretations to physical measurements in real time from the Neptune sub-sea research program.
    • Links to the Victoria weather network… school contribution a part of this

4.1 Sensors and the Collection of Physical Data

4.2 The Importance of pH.

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3.0 Biodiversity and the need to Conserve

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As a sub-theme, Biodiversity can accomplish many goals and provides a wealth of opportunities for curricular applications.

The Curriculum pages provide many objectives that relate to biodiversity.

cbd1.The best resource for this topic can be found on the CBD website:

http://www.cbd.int/default.shtml

2. Also, this pdf from the UNEP website: http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/report/05_Biodiversity.pdf

Biodiversity

  • People rely on biodiversity in their daily lives, often without realizing it.
  • Current losses of biodiversity are restricting future development options.
  • Biodiversity plays a critical role in providing livelihood security for people.
  • From the use of genetic resources to harnessing other ecosystem services, agriculture throughout the world is dependent on biodiversity.
  • Many of the factors leading to the accelerating loss of biodiversity are linked to the increasing use of energy by society.
  • Human health is affected by changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services.
  • Human societies everywhere have depended on biodiversity for cultural identity, spirituality, inspiration, aesthetic enjoyment and recreation.
  • Biodiversity loss continues because current policies and economic systems do not incorporate the values of biodiversity effectively in either the political or the market systems, and many current policies are not fully implemented.
 Although many losses of biodiversity, including the degradation of ecosystems, are slow or gradual, they can lead to sudden and dramatic declines in the capacity of biodiversity to contribute to human well- being. Modern societies can continue to develop without further loss of biodiversity only if market and policy failures are rectified.  These failures include perverse production subsidies, undervaluation of biological resources, failure to internalize environmental costs into prices and failure to appreciate global values at the local level. Reducing the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 or beyond will require multiple and mutually supportive policies of conservation, sustainable use and the effective recognition of value for the benefits derived from the wide variety of life on Earth. Some such policies are already in place at local, national and international scales, but their full implementation remains elusive."

3. “From http://www.unep.org/geo/geo4/report/06_Regional_Perspectives.pdf

“Population and economic growth are major factors fuelling increased demand on resources, and contributing to global environmental change in terms of the atmosphere, land, water and biodiversity….”

“A number of factors have led to the deterioration of marine and coastal areas, including fisheries, mangroves and coral reefs. They include rapid development of urban and tourism infrastructure, and of refineries, petrochemical complexes, power and desalination plants, as well as oil spills from ship ballast. Vast areas of terrestrial and marine ecosystems have been severely affected by wars, which led to the discharge of millions of barrels of crude oil into coastal waters. They have also been harmed by the infiltration of oil and seawater into aquifers, and by hazardous waste disposal. Environmental impact assessment requirements were introduced recently. Other responses include programmes to conserve biodiversity, manage coastal zones and develop marine protected areas. is also increasing in the environment.”

Box5.4 Deep Sea Biodiversity recently extended to the deep sea with the designation in 2003 of the Juan de Fuca Ridge system and associated Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents (2,250 metres deep and 250 kilometres south of Vancouver Island, Canada) as a Marine Protected Area.

4. See Value of biodiversity and ecosystem services

5. In October of 2007, The minister of Environment for Brazil spoke in a conference in Norway that focused on the importance of biodiversity in combating poverty and in achieving sustainable development. ( http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/md/Selected-topics/Naturmangfold/Vedlegg/Ecosystems-and-People–biodiversity-for-.html?id=487378 )

6. Species Diversity: http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.287.aspx.pdf

The lowered biomass and fragmented habitats resulting from overexploitation of marine resources is likely to lead to numerous extinctions, especially among large, long-lived, late-maturing spe- cies (Sadovy and Cheung 2003; Sadovy et al. 2003a; Denney et al. 2002).

Fishing is thus one of the major direct anthropogenic forces that has an impact on the structure, function, and biodiversity of the oceans today. Climate change will also have impacts on biodiversity through changes in marine species distributions and abundances. In the coastal biome, other factors, including water quality, pollution, river and estuarine inputs, have large impacts on coastal and marine systems. (See Chapter 19.) Historical over- fishing and other disturbances have caused dramatic decreases in the abundance of large predatory species, resulting in structural and functional changes in coastal and marine ecosystems and the collapse of many marine ecosystems (Jackson et al. 2001). One well-documented example is that of the historic fishing grounds ranging from New England to Newfoundland and Labrador, which once supported immense cod fisheries but which have now been almost completely replaced by fisheries targeting invertebrates, the former prey of these fish (providing a classic example of fishing down marine food webs). The system that once sup- ported cod has almost completely disappeared, fueling fears that this species will not rebuild its local populations, even though fishing pressure has been much reduced (Hutchings and Ferguson 2000; Hutchings 2004; Lilly et al. 2000). However, some col- lapsed stocks have been able to recover once fishing pressure is removed: the North Sea herring fishery collapsed due to over- harvest in the late 1970s but recovered after a four-year closure (Bjørndal 1988). On a much smaller scale, but nevertheless wide- spread throughout the tropics, coral reef areas have been degraded by a combination of overfishing, pollution, and climate variability.

Archives : The  Metchosin Biodiversity Strategy

3.1.0 Ecosystem Integrity

Index

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 16. The Case for a Coastal Zone Management Act.

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This is a chapter extracted from ” Maintaining Natural BC for Our Children: Selected Law reform Proposals , Environmental Law Centre, University of Victoria,  November 2012

Editing, Design and Photographs: Holly Pattison, UVic Environmental Law Centre
page 78:
caseforcoastalact
The Case for a Coastal Zone Management Act
By Jamie Alley and Calvin Sandborn
The BC coast is perhaps the province’s most important single asset. Home to most of our population, it is also home to some of the most important and productive ecosystems on earth.
Today the coast faces unprecedented challenges, including:
•Increased development and loss of public access to the coastline;
•Proposals for new oil ports and marine transportation corridors;
•Threatened fish stocks; and
•The need for emergency programs to deal with earthquakes, tsunamis, and
the extreme weather, storm surges and sea level rise caused by climate
change.
Response to these challenges often falls short because the coast is governed

by a patchwork of federal, provincial and municipal agencies that largey fail to co-ordinate regulatory efforts. The province needs a Coastal Zone Management Act to secure the future of the BC coast.

It is clear that the province must not abdicate coastal protection to other levels of government. Because the province has not yet legislated a strategy and overall plan for our coast:
•The federal National Energy Board’s hearings on the Northern Gateway
Project – the most important coastal management issue to face BC in
decades – will be decided by a three person panel, none of whom are
British Columbians. Unfortunately, BC failed to plan beforehand about oil
ports and other infrastructure decisions;
•  When industrial interests objected to funding arrangements, Ottawa’s
process for developing a north coast ocean management plan faltered.
That process is now likely to ignore major issues such as oil terminals.
Although the province and First Nations are now working to create Coastal
Management Area Plans, they are doing so without a clear statutory
mandate;
• It took the Cohen Commission to remind us that the future of salmon
rests as much upon actions of BC as on Canada. Salmon are affected by
stormwater, riparian development and numerous activities under provincial
jurisdiction. Yet there has not been a co-ordinated federal/provincial
strategy to protect salmon and our coast; and
• Most coastal resources are common property with ill-defined access rights.
This has caused overuse, neglect and degradation of essential ecosystems.
This problem has not been addressed.
Coastal Jurisdiction and Ownership
Management of coastal and marine resources is an area of complex, shared
jurisdiction between all orders of government, including First Nations and
local governments. For example, Ottawa has jurisdiction over fisheries
regulation and navigation. Local governments have zoning and other powers
over local shorelines and some coastal waters.
Meanwhile, the province has broad regulatory jurisdiction over numerous
activities in the coastal zone. In addition, it has jurisdiction and ownership
over the foreshore seaward of the high tide mark and all coastal or “inland”
waters within the “jaws of the land,” including the seabed. The seabed of
the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Strait of Georgia, Johnstone Strait and Queen
Charlotte Strait are the property of British Columbia.
As a consequence, the coastal ecosystem is regulated by a plethora of
agencies from numerous governments. This thwarts effective planning
and management – especially because of the absence of effective legislative
mechanisms to coordinate the actions of multiple agencies.
Thus, it is not surprising that management of the coastal zone has been
more problematic than terrestrial resource management. The province
needs to address this. It needs to create a legislative framework to assert

jurisdiction and ownership of coastal resources – and to coordinate with other

governments

page 79:
“Management of coastal and marine resources is an area of complex, shared jurisdiction between all orders of government, including First Nations and local governments…”
 
Models of Coastal Management Legislation
There are successful models in other jurisdictions around the world. For
example, the US Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 empowered US
coastal states to develop some of the most progressive coastal management in
the world. Under the Act, state level coastal management programs provide
for:
•Protection of wetlands, floodplains, estuaries, beaches, dunes, barrier
islands, and fish and wildlife habitats;
•Management of coastal development to minimize the loss of life and property;
•Initiatives to improve coastal water quality;
•Siting of coastal-dependent uses and restriction of inappropriate development on the coast;
•Public access to the coasts for recreation;
•Re development of deteriorating urban waterfronts and ports, and
preservation of historic and cultural features;
•Coordination and simplification of coastal management decision making;
•Opportunities for public and local government participation; and
•Improved coordination between coastal management agencies.
[/blockquote]
In Canada, provinces such as Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador
have developed Coastal Management Strategies that have highlighted the need
for improved governance arrangements and may lead to specific provincial
legislation. The Law Faculty at Dalhousie University is currently reviewing
integrated coastal zone management law to develop options for Coastal Zone
Management model legislation.
Potential Elements of Coastal Management Legislation for BC
Following the models in the Canadian Oceans Act and the US Coastal Zone Management Act, a coastal management act for BC could include some or all of the following provisions:
• A preamble to reaffirm BC’s commitment to the conservation and sustainable management of estuarine, coastal and marine resources;
page 80
• Powers to enter into agreements and to delegate and accept powers from
other orders of government;
• Development of a Coastal Management Strategy;
• A legislative basis for coastal and marine spatial planning, including
regional management plans for estuarine, coastal and marine ecosystems;
• Establishment of a comprehensive network of marine protection areas within provincial waters that link with other networks of marine protection areas;
• Establishment of a voluntary local government coastal management program to protect and restore coastal ecosystems and private and public property. That has been the basis of shoreline restoration programs in US;
• Coastal and marine emergency planning and preparedness;
• Climate change adaptation strategies for issues such as e xtreme weather events, storm surges and sea level rise;
• Strategic assessment of marine transportation corridors, including decision-making processes for coastal infrastructure and port facilities;
•Programs for the revitalization of coastal communities; and
•Provisions to allow for collaboration with other levels of government and
First Nations.
A Coastal Zone Management Act would signal BC’s intent to take coastal
management seriously and fully exercise its jurisdiction and ownership. This
is preferable to leaving the future of the coast to the National Energy Board,
foreign governments like China, or to disorganization and neglect.
————————————————————————————————
Jamie Alley is former Director of the BC Oceans and Marine Fisheries Branch.
He currently teaches Integrated Coastal Zone Management at Universities in Canada and Iceland, and is Vice President (Pacific) for the Coastal Zone Canada Association.
Calvin Sandborn is the Legal Director of Environmental Law Centre.
———————————————————————————————–
For more information, see:

CRD Coastal Process

Image

This booklet was written in the 1970’s based on the report done by Dr. Wolf Bauer.

Click on the icon of each page of the gallery to view.

 

Projected Sea Level Changes for British Columbia in the 21st Century

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This federal Govt. report from December 2008 was based on a report by R.E. Thomson, B.D., Bornhold and S. Mazzotti,

“An Examination of the Factors Affecting Relative and Absolute Sea Level in British Columbia”  Canadian Technical Report of Hydrography and Ocean Sciences 260, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (2008); both of these reports are a result of a joint project between Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the Province of British Columbia.

For the complete document, see:

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/cas/pdfs/sea-level-changes-08.pdf

Summary

globalsealevelThe 21st century is expected to witness a continued rise in global average sea level as a result of the melting of continental glaciers and ice caps, and warming (expansion) of the upper ocean. At the regional scale, sea level will change in response to these global effects, as well as local effects, including ocean and weather conditions and
vertical movements of the land due to geological processes. Consequently, the expected changes in sea level for the British Columbia coast will differ from the global projections; they will not be uniform. For instance, estimates of most probable sea level rise range from 11 cm at Nanaimo to more than 50 cm in parts of the Fraser River delta. Because of the many uncertainties in measuring past sea level
changes and predicting future sea levels, the possible range could be much greater. Applying a possible, but extreme, global rise rate, sea level could rise 80 cm for Nanaimo and 120 cm for the Fraser River delta by 2100.
The anticipated changes in sea level could have significant consequences for areas currently protected by dikes (such as the Fraser and Squamish deltas), where coastal erosion is already an issue (eastern Graham Island, Haida Gwaii), or where development and harbour infrastructure is close to present high tide limits.
Of particular concern will be extreme weather events, such as storm surges, occurring at the same time as these high sea levels. These extreme events can add as much
as one metre to sea levels, regardless of local shoreline features and waves.

This report summarizes the current scientific knowledge on projected sea level changes as it applies to B.C. during the 21st century to inform decision-making and planning by coastal communities and other authorities. It is a summary of a technical report entitled “An Examination of the Factors Affecting Relative and Absolute Sea Level in Coastal British Columbia” by R.E. Thomson, B.D. Bornhold and S. Mazzotti
(2008) in conjunction with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Natural Resources Canada.