Coastal & Marine Resources Midterm Flashcards
Epifauna
live ON the bottom
Infauna
live IN the bottom sediment
Plankton
No ability to propel themselves
Nekton
Active swimmers that move themselves (fish, reptiles, etc.)
Phytoplaknton
Plants
Zooplankton
Animals
5 major oceanic fisheries
W. coast of N. America
NW coast of S. America
NW & SW & central E coast of Africa
Anadromous
Migrate up-stream from the ocean to have babies
Jim Estes reading
Overfishing of pollock = less stellar sea lions = killer whales eat otters instead of sea lions = less otters = more urchins = no kelp forests
“top-down control” changed b/c of industrial fishing
What % of species in the world are marine?
1,750,000 species in the world
86% land
14% marine
% of benthic and pelagic species
250,000 Marine species
98% benthic (“benthos” = live on bottom)
2% pelagic (open sea or shallow water)
Minister Tootoo
Current fisheries manager
1st Indigenous fisheries manager
Brings IWOK into gov’t
wants to involve more science
Estuary
Portion of the ocean that is semi-enclosed by land & mixes with freshwater
“Nursery” for many species
Migration pathways
One of the most productive areas on earth
Partial protection from predators
Industrially/economically attractive: Sheltered harbors, recreation, access to rivers
How many estuaries in BC?
~442
Eelgrass
Tropical & temperate seas Likes to root in soft sediments Nursery/protection area for babies Settlement for organisms Produces oxygen and stores carbon Stabilizes shoreline Slows down water flow Perennial (lasts for a really long time) Scientific names: zostera & phyllospadix Over 80% of commercially fished fish use eelgrass at some point in their life
Observation error
error in the determination of an actual number of a population after observing individuals
Estimation error
error in the estimation actual number of a population
Implementation error
error in the number of species killed during harvest
Process error
error in # in a population b/c natural variation is not taken into account
Model Selection Error
all models are wrong but you want to use the “least wrong” model
Mortality Limit Uncertainty
uncertainty in the amount of individuals you can kill without the entire population collapsing
Limit
of individuals you can kill without the entire population collapsing
Target
of individuals you want to kill
BC’s formula for target and limit
Total mortality limit/target = (population estimate x annual allowable mortality) – (estimated unreported mortality)
*In other words = (how many bears in population x number of bears killed allowed to be by humans) – (number of bears killed by other things/unreported kills)
GBPU
Grizzly Bear Population Unit
~50 in BC
Targets/Limits set for each unit
BC sets it’s targets AT it’s limits
Resource Subsidies
aka Biological Nutrient Cycle
Ex: Sea lettuce > copepods > salmon juveniles > mature salmon > sea lettuce
Part of salmon Wolves eat
Only the head because theyre trying to avoid “salmon poisoning disease”
Part of salmon Bears eat
Brain, eggs, dorsal muscle
DO NOT eat sperm ever
Distance bears bring salmon into forest depends on energy reward of salmon (chum are found the farthest inland - up to 100m)
Bears are the PRIMARY VECTOR of salmon into the forest
Ways nutrients get into forest
Direct consumers of salmon (bears, wolves, birds...) Carcesses Urine, feces, guano Maggots Flooding and groundwater flow
N-15
“Nutrient Tracer”
found in marine species more that terrestrial species
Tree cores - thicker rings = more salmon that year
more nitrogen = less plant diversity B/C there are a small # of n-loving plant species
Salmon-consuming organisms
~137 species of direct consumers Burying beetles Minks - reproductive cycle/lactation Nutrient-rich liking plants Wolves in costal areas
Annual reported catch
77 million metric tons
annual UN-reported catch
32 million metric tons
% of catch not consumed
50%
Riparian
on the banks of rivers/streams
-Salmon and other available resources decide the entire ecological structure/diversity of an ecosystem
N-rich plants
Love nitrogen rich environments
Ex: Salmonberry, Foamflower
Specialists in salmon- rich places
N-poor plants
Do better in nitrogen-poor environments
Ex: False Azalea, Blueberry
Generalists in salmon-rich places
% of marine food in human’s diet
Past 5,000 years
Carbon isotopes taken from bones show that 80-100% marine food in coastal people’s diets, 60-40% in inland diets
Ludwig said… (1)
Wealth (from resources) = social/political power > promotes exploitation > positive feedback loop > never-ending exploitation
Ludwig said… (2)
Scientific understanding limited by lack of controls/replicates. Every ecosystem is different and we cant standardize ways to help environment/use resources
Ludwig said… (3)
Natural variation masks over-exploitation, often until exploitation is irreversible
Ludwig said… (4)
Complexity of systems is taken on by a reductionist approach, so trial & error is needed to create limits
How does climate change effect marine environments?
More runoff/melting Acidification Less oxygen Eutrophication Hotter/dryer summers Warmer ocean temp.
of tags given out per year in Grizz trophy hunt
350
1 bear per tag
Not all hunter successful tho
bears killed in BC since 1976
~14,000
1/3 female
Clayton Stoner
IDIOT who killed treasured 1st nations bear - fined $10 k
4 horseman of salmon decline
Over-harvest
Dams
Hatcheries
Habitat Degradation
of salmon in Columbia basin before 4 horseman
10-16 million
200 distinct stocks
“escapement”
of salmon that escaped nets and were given the chance to spawn
% of world’s protein that is fish
~20%
of people that use fish as main food source
1 billion
TOTAL annual fish harvest
95-100 million metric tons
% global fisheries are over-exploited
~28%
% global fish stocks met MSY
~50%
% “underexploited”
~25%
CPUE
Catch Per Unit Effort #fish caught : #boats in ocean less effort & more fish = assumption that there must be large stocks more effort & less fish = assumption that there must be low/declining stocks
Effects of overfishing
physical size of fish to shrink because humans always take biggest individuals
-Human predation is causing evolutionary selection for slower growth and rapid reproduction
1950
peak of fish size
baselines set around this time
% of large predators in ocean
10% of what it was before industrialized fishing
Reference points for exploitation of fisheries
Aboriginal
Colonial
Global
Allee effect
if a population gets small enough, individuals cannot find mates and pop. numbers drop exponentially to a point where it cannot recover
Problems that prevent population recovery
Competition between species for food/space resources
Natural predation
Harvest of largest individuals who have the most babies
Political power overriding scientific evidence
Human values
of human-hatched salmon released into columbia and % of returning salmon
~200 million released each year
80% of returning salmon are human-hatched
Challenges of hatcheries
Expensive
Takes resources away from other recovery efforts
Leads to more competition for wild salmon
Hatched fish are more likely to die in ocean
Genetic diversity is lost when hatch fish breed with wild fish
Hapa fish usually have lower reproductive success + higher mortality rates
Ludwig’s principles
- Study and manage HUMAN motivation
- Act before scientific consensus is achieved
- Expect scientists to identify problems, not remedy them
- Distrust claims of sustainability
- Confront uncertainty
% of predator/prey chases that end in kill
10%
Reasons humans are successful hunters almost 100% of time
Technology that makes it unlikely prey will escape
“the other currency”
Humans dont hunt for just energy, we hunt for money and boasting rights
Differences between human predators and animals predators
- When prey gets scarce in nature, predators switch to another prey - Humans hunt it even more usually until it’s gone
- Animals instantly eat prey - Humans can store it for along time
- Animals catch only what they need - Humans catch way more than they need
- Humans not tied down to one area - can get food from anywhere
“law of the sea”
1978
EEZ’s created
200 nautical miles offshore limit for ocean management
-prevents counties from exploting other country’s fish stocks
-shows the need for international agreement on management limits
Fish stock equilibrium depends on these 4 things:
AND they’re used to determine # of exploitable biomass
Recruitment (returning fish)
Growth Rate
Natural Mortality
Fishing removal
Stock/Recruit ratio
# of spawning fish : # of returning fish used to determine how much stock to exploit and how much to allow to recruit later
What allows us to exploit at a MSY?
rapid reproduction - thank god 4 that
1 issue with models
they do not account for changing environmental conditions
-cause “management” to near extinction
Cohen Commission
Judge Cohen spent 3 years and $26 mill trying to find reason for Fraser river sockeye salmon run collapse
Ian McKechnie
Herring Zooarchialogical Study
Historical settlements dependant on herring: ~5,383
Found abundance of herring based on bones found
Data (bones found) reflects historical cultural choices
98% frequency of occurence from OR to AK coast
TH Huxley 1883
Said “the sea is inexhaustible, nothing we do will seriously effect numbers of fish”
LOL NO
Gail Shea
Dumb Minister of Environment that went against scientists suggestion to close 3 areas for 2014 fishing season to help herring come back
Aerin Jacob
Marine Spatial Planning Presentation
How spatial use determines activity/biodiversity/physical state of a marine area
“ecosystem services” = all benefits you get from nature - intangible ones really hard to measure
Nature provide ecosystem services for free but humans put a price on them
“Future scenarios”
1805 Columbia River Basin
Lewis and Clark reach Columbia River Basin
1827 Columbia River Basin
Commericial logging begins in Pacific NW
1850 Columbia River Basin
37 sawmills operational in Pacific NW
1851 Columbia River Basin
First Railroad constructed close to Columbia River
1859 Columbia River Basin
First large-scale irrigation project in Columbia River Basin
1861 Columbia River Basin
Commercial fishing industry begins and salted salmon packaging along Columbia River
1866 Columbia River Basin
1st salmon cannery begins 50 from mouth of Columbia River
1910 Columbia River Basin
Peak of salmon harvest - 50 million pounds harvested
1932 Columbia River Basin
95% salmon habitat degraded due to mining, livestock grazing, agriculture, logging…
1941 Columbia River Basin
Grand Coulee Dam built - Salmon loose access to 500 miles of spawning habitat
