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Episode Air Date: April 16th, 2020

Transcript:

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<<Music: April Showers- ProleteR>>

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Hi,[00:00:20.400] - DS

I’m your host Devon and welcome to WildWay! A podcast that dives into sustainability and hunts down Canadians who create solutions. This episode is one I have been looking forward to sharing with you because I love talking about saving our oceans, and the Salish Sea has always been a large part of my life. This episode is going to be a little different though, its just going to be me talking your ear off today. I had a couple cool interviews lined up with members of the organizations I am going to talk about but due to the coronavirus pandemic we had to postpone meeting up. Restoration and conservation of the Salish Sea is so crucial however I really wanted to include it in this project so were going to go ahead and instead of interviewing amazing Canadians, I’m just going share without all the work and the science is out there helping our coastal waters. Here we go!

 <<sounds of the ocean, + Sea gull>>>

The Salish Sea is one of the worlds largest and biologically rich inland seas, its name pays tribute to the coast Salish peoples that have inhabited the region since time immemorial. This sea is a precious resource that is home to many coastal communities reaching from southern British Columbia to Northern Washington. What is alarming is that the number of marine species that are listed as threatened or endangered nearly doubled from 64 to 113 in just 2 years (EPA, 2019). Restoring and conserving the Salish Sea helps not just the health of the waterway but the inland forests, their ecosystems, and community economies.

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When most people think of Canadian oceans, they think of cold rolling waves tossing pebbles on beaches, salty sea birds squawking, and frigid water that freezes your toes off. But imagine this: Underwater kelp forests with thick towering canopies that are 50 meters high drifting in the sunlight as thousands of species poke around their blades looking for food. Or what about underwater pastures of eelgrass extending out green and swaying grazing grounds, the perfect place for baby fish to grow and a food source that extends all the way up the food chain.

The thing is though, these habitats are mostly gone and along with them the wildlife that made them home.  

The loss of these ecosystems as well as rising ocean temperatures have been major detriments to the Salish Sea (Talloni-Álvarez et al, 2019).

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Over the last couple decades, the eelgrass rate of decline has increased from 0.9% per year before 1940 to 7 % per year after 1990 (SRWS, 2016). As well wild salmon returns of spawning adults have been declining despite monitoring efforts and conservation units in place since 2005. Local scientists plead  that this will have a huge impact on the economy of communities, food security of some residents, and affect the coastal forest ecosystems as well (SRWS, 2016) (Price et al, 2017) (Talloni-Álvarez et al, 2019).

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Iconic Northwest fish such as pacific herring and salmon are indicator species for the wellbeing of these ecosystems and are focal points for scientists. Their habitats are in dire need of protection, but they CAN be restored to their previous glory.  The restoration of the Salish Sea essentially means “reforesting our oceans” (Hawkin, 2019).

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There are some great groups that work towards local protection and restoration. Groups like: the Squamish River Watershed Society, the Seagrass Conservation Working Group, and BC Wildlife Federation have been planting eelgrass shoots up and down the coast and conducting research on the wildlife in these estuaries and shallow bays.

In 2008, three plots of eelgrass were planted along the Squamish Waterfront and this restoration had a 90% success rate. Over the next 2 years they planted twice as many shoots doubling the original patch size and included another site. These sites grew to double in density and wildlife began to return to the area (SWRS, 2016).

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Once home to the largest copper mine in the British empire these waters had suffered from highly toxic effluent making it inhabitable for many species. An essential wasteland you didn’t even want to swim in. But because of planting eel grass Squamish began to see herring spawn and for the first time in a century a grey whale entered the Squamish river estuary. It is powerful that the simple planting of eelgrass has ripple effects that change the entire ecosystem. In fact, eelgrass rivals’ rainforests in productivity and carbon sequestration and they prevent coastal erosion as well. The fact remains though that scientists are just beginning their educational journey with eel grass. We still have so much to learn about the ocean but we are coming to know the importance of ocean pastures such as these.  

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The Squamish community continues to initiate projects in the estuary such as the Blue Carbon Project, Central estuary restoration, as well as the salmon recovery plan and amphibian wetlands in the Britannia slough.

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Researchers at the University of British Columbia for example are currently working on the proving the importance and connection between the importance of restoring these ecosystems and possible benefits from them in preventing climate change impacts. In wave tanks they found that seagrasses, like eelgrass, reduce wave energy by 40% where sand flats only dissipated 29% (Conger & Chang, 2019). An intensive study by Koftis et al. also concluded that seagrasses reduced wave heights by 35% (2013).

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These scientists are working to prove that in a world where rising sea level is imminent and alarming restoring ocean ecosystems can lessen the impact of waves on coastal communities. They are looking at how soft shores, as opposed to hard barriers such as dikes and seawalls, in the right location are cost effective, safe, provides coastal protection and are a viable combater to sea level rise.

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And they are doing this with CGI! You know computer generated fishies and grass!

<< ba-dum-phsss>>

Sorry bad joke!

 I’m talking about Coastal Green infrastructure. The fancy name for creating soft shores that restore, conserve and prevent (Conger & Chang, 2019). This non digital fully living type of CGI refers to natural systems that reduce wave energy by drag friction, reduce a toppling effect of waves by eliminating vertical barriers and absorbing floodwaters in soil. One fault to CGI is that it is entirely dependant on location so is not a global solution, however Conger and Chang’s (2019) research is aiding local government by producing locations where CGI is best potentially utilized within the Salish Sea.

When evaluating the Salish Sea, we can see that nearshore areas are more effected by human activities. These activities include nutrient pollution, dredging, logging, shoreline or over-water construction, spilled oil, shellfish production and harvesting, and probably most directly boating and mooring.   

The largest impending threat to the region however is fossil fuel exportation by Kinder Morgan through pipelines and a major increase in tanker traffic. Political activism shown in opposition to the trans mountain pipeline extension has been adamant and at times successful, however the power for stricter regulations lies with government and institutional changes.

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The Salish Sea is unique because it extends between both sides of the Canadian and American border, but this also allows us to see how differences in policy have affected the area. And spoiler alert, its probably not what you expect. In Washington state there are “widely developed and implemented” protection measures that have preserved their soft shorelines and in contrast the shores on the British Columbian side of the Salish Sea are much more developed and unprotected (Conger, 2018). It is a pretty stark contrast that shows just how much restoration and conservation can do for a community. It does get muddy when you start talking about our dependence on fossil fuel and Vancouver’s role as Canada’s largest port and gateway to the world. But let’s not poke that beast right now, that’s a whole other episode!

Thankfully there is an international research initiative called the Salish Sea Marine Survival Project that combines both sides of the border. There are over 60 organizations working in partnership to explore top down and bottom up process to asses the state of the ecosystems within the region. Primarily they are working to solve declining salmon and foster sustainable fisheries. Bridging the gap between knowledge and policy action starts with “evidence-based decision-making” and “requires knowledge generated by both biophysical and social sciences” (Brownscombe, et al., 2019). And the members of the project strive to do just that.

Research from this project recently found that Rocky reefs, Seagrass habitats, and kelp habitats of the Straight of Georgia, the Queen Charlotte Strait, Juan de Fuca Strait, Vancouver Island Self and the Johnstone strait are the most vulnerable regions to the effects of climate change (2019). We need to help the resiliency of these ecosystems if we want to keep our beloved seas. But as we saw with Squamish, it can be done! The best way to restore an ecosystem is to find out what it originally looked like, before humans started messing things up. But come on…. Where are we going to find data on Salish Sea Kelp beds from a couple HUNDRED years ago?!

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Apparently, you can find it in the weirdest places…

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In February of 2019 a UVIC geography professor Maycira Costa was visiting a colleague’s office. Admiring some new additions to the wall art she recognized something in a 1903 map. There among the hand drawn navigation around coves and islands were squiggly lines that look like blood vessels. Costa recognizing an area that she was currently studying recognized it instantly as kelp distribution!

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You see these maps were made by British admirals as charts for their fleet because kelp forests were very hazardous to their ships. The Salish Sea Kelp beds were meticulously noted so they would be avoided. This amazing new information will allow us to compare the current state of our coastal kelp forests with those of the 1800’s. The researcher Costa and her team have since created a historical digital map of BC’s coastal kelp forests and will continue to learn about BC coastal kelp distribution through time.

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The state of these waters have changed so incredibly much over the course of industrialization and these maps will help the restoration of the Salish Sea and hopefully the growth of our kelp forests.

It is ridiculous to me how recent our curious gaze into the depth of the ocean is. We are only just beginning to understand how intricate and vastly foreign Canada’s waters really are. But never late then never right?

In March 2019 the Federal government announced a 5-year salmon restoration fund of $142.8 million for wild salmon (Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Communications Branch, 2019). This fund is focusing in innovation, infrastructure, and science partnerships and is a collaboration with indigenous groups, non-governmental organizations, industry and industry associations, and scientific and academic communities.

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Rewilding and conservation is strengthened by academic research, citizen volunteers, government policy and activists. Not only does restoration of ecosystems attempt to reverse our carbon imprint it may present solutions to our anthropogenic barriers.

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I love our oceans, and I know you do too. And hopefully now you know a little bit more about how important some ecosystems are in coastal waters.  

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Here in the Salish sea were hundreds of rivers meet the endangered orcas, salmon, and pacific herring the prospect of keeping it all safe seems daunting and I am sorry about that. Aside from policy change, and supporting our scientists where are some ways that you can help.

 

Reduce contaminants that end up in the oceans! Orcas are actually some of the most contaminated species because of the toxins that build up in the bodies from the things that they eat. So, if you can eliminate common household chemicals that make their way through storm drains into the oceans. This includes practising natural gardening methods and being mindful of what household cleaners to use. You can also participate in shoreline cleans ups, limit the impact of shoreline and streamside development where you can. And when you are out on the beach at low tide watching tidepools or hunting crabs be careful of where you walk to prevent trampling!

 Also, there are a bunch of community stewardship groups out there are just waiting for you to get involved. And Remember, no matter where you live the ocean belongs to us all and it is up to us to protect it.

 

Outro:

Thank you for listening! This podcast was produced and edited by me, Devon Simpson.  It was edited and supervised by Janet Waters and brought to you by Capilano University. With Special thanks to the Salish Sea Marine Survival project who has so many great resources and data freely available on their web site, go check it out.

You can reach us on Instagram at WildWaypod or WildWaypodcast@gmail.com

You can find our show notes on our website

Please subscribe to our channel and invite your friends!

And that’s the WildWay.

 

 

Resources

 

#Envision2030: 17 goals to transform the world for persons with disabilities Enable. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/envision2030.html.

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Brownscombe, J. W., Adams, A. J., Young, N., Griffin, L. P., Holder, P. E., Hunt, J., … Danylchuk, A. J. (2019). Bridging the knowledge-action gap: A case of research rapidly impacting recreational fisheries policy. Marine Policy, 104, 210–215. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2019.02.021

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Conger, T., & Chang, S. E. (2019). Developing indicators to identify coastal green infrastructure potential: The case of the Salish Sea region. Ocean & Coastal Management, 175, 53–69. doi: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2019.03.011

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Duguid, W. D., Boldt, J. L., Chalifour, L., Greene, C. M., Galbraith, M., Hay, D., … Juanes, F. (2019). Historical fluctuations and recent observations of Northern Anchovy Engraulis mordax in the Salish Sea. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 159, 22–41. doi: 10.1016/j.dsr2.2018.05.018

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Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Communications Branch. (2019, July 12). British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund. Retrieved from https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries-peches/initiatives/fish-fund-bc-fonds-peche-cb/index-eng.html.

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How century-old maps are helping track B.C.'s kelp forests | CBC News. (2019, March 1). Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/century-maps-bc-kelp-forests-1.5038857.

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Price, M. H., English, K. K., Rosenberger, A. G., Macduffee, M., & Reynolds, J. D. (2017). Canada’s Wild Salmon Policy: an assessment of conservation progress in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 74(10), 1507–1518. doi: 10.1139/cjfas-2017-0127

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Salish Sea Marine Project Resources. (2019). Retrieved from https://marinesurvivalproject.com/resources/.

SRWS. (2016). Eelgrass Restoration. Retrieved from https://www.squamishwatershed.com/eelgrass-restoration.html.

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Talloni-Álvarez, N. E., Sumaila, U. R., Billon, P. L., & Cheung, W. W. (2019). Climate change impact on Canadas Pacific marine ecosystem: The current state of knowledge. Marine Policy, 104, 163–176. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2019.02.035 

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Town of Gibsons. (n.d.). Eelgrass Mapping. Retrieved from https://gibsons.ca/sustainability/eelgrass-mapping/.

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Whitney, C. K., & Ban, N. C. (2019). Barriers and opportunities for social-ecological adaptation to climate change in coastal British Columbia. Ocean & Coastal Management, 179, 104808. doi: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2019.05.010

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Young, N., Brattland, C., Digiovanni, C., Hersoug, B., Johnsen, J. P., Karlsen, K. M., … Thorarensen, H. (2019). Limitations to growth: Social-ecological challenges to aquaculture development in five wealthy nations. Marine Policy, 104, 216–224. doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2019.02.022

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United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2019, August 20). Marine Species at Risk. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/salish-sea/marine-species-risk