Forest Management

Question 1

Natural Resources Management

Answer 1

An interdisciplinary field of study and practice concerned with the governance of natural resources to achieve the objectives of people and society.

Question 2

Interdisciplinary

Answer 2

Involving two or more academic disciplines ESE (Ecology, Sociology, and Economics)

Question 3

Study and Practice

Answer 3

Academics and Practitioners

Question 4

Governance

Answer 4

The act or process of overseeing the control and direction of something.
Originally derived from the Greek verb kubernaein [kubernáo] (meaning to steer)

Question 5

Objectives

Answer 5

Something towards which effort is directed: an aim or goal. These are largely determined by our wants and needs.

In natural resources management, objectives are usually derived from the wants and needs of people and society, but these things can vary widely!

For example:
• Some New Brunswicker’s want a local smallmouth bass sport fishery in the Miramichi watershed
• Other New Brunswicker’s do not, and want to protect the native fish population of Miramichi Lake by whatever means possible, including the use of pesticide (rotenone)
• Others also want to protect the native fish population, but not through chemical means

Question 6

People and Society

Answer 6

Here ‘People’ simply implies one or more persons while ‘Society’ implies an organized group of persons associated together for religious, cultural, political or scientific purposes.

Question 7

But how to manage different resources?

Answer 7

Specifics vary among resources and systems, however there are some commonalities (common principals)

Question 8

Management Situation One

Answer 8

Miramichi Lake Smallmouth Bass Eradication
Non-native, invasive smallmouth bass found in Miramichi Lake 2008 (illegally introduced)
Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO): “a measurable decrease in abundance of native populations is likely to occur“
Numerous local and government groups want the bass eradicated from the system
To date, manual removal of bass is not working; chemical products (i.e., rotenone) now being sought

Question 9

Management Situation Two

Answer 9

Uncle Rob’s Family Woodlot
144 ha family-owned, private woodlot in Middle Musquodoboit, central Nova Scotia
Primarily used by family for recreation (hunting, hiking), firewood, and income from logging
Rob would like to develop a forest management plan for tax purposes and to help manage woodlot

Question 10

Quadrant One – Scope and Scale

Answer 10

Here we are trying to get a sense of the ‘scope and scale’ of the specific management situation.
In other words:
• What are we focusing on and why?
• What’s the purpose or rationale? What’s driving this?
• Where is it? How big is the area? What are the timelines involved?
• For who? Who owns it? Who’s involved? Who’s affected?

Key General Steps:

1. Specify resource and system of interest
2. Determine spatiotemporal extent
3. Define management objectives

Situation One ─ Miramichi Lake Smallmouth Bass Eradication
What is the resource and system of interest?
Resource: Native fish populations
System: Local freshwater ecosystem
• Miramichi Lake
• Southwest Miramichi River

Situation Two ─ Uncle Rob’s Family Woodlot
What is the resource and system of interest?
Resource:
1. Growing stock of trees (i.e., trees for firewood and sawlogs)
2. Deer population
3. Hiking trails
System: Forest ecosystem (the woodlot)

Question 11

Determine Spatio Temporal Extent

Answer 11

Spatial Extent: also known as the management unit, refers to the total geographic area over which the management situation primarily occurs.

Situation One ─ Miramichi Lake Smallmouth Bass Eradication Spatial Extent (management unit)
235 ha of lake area, 15 km of river

Situation Two ─ Uncle Rob’s Family Woodlot Spatial Extent (management unit)
144 ha of property

Determine Spatio Temporal Extent
Temporal Extent: also known as the management horizon, refers to the time frame (when and how long) over which the management situation primarily occurs. Can also be thought of as a “project timeline” or “Gantt Chart”.

Question 12

Temporal Extent

Operational, Tactical, Strategic

Answer 12

Usually broken into short- and long-term time frames to reflect long-term objectives and to facilitate short-term activities

Strategic level planning (long-term objectives)
Tactical level planning (medium-term objectives)
Operational level planning (short-term objectives)

Situation One ─ Miramichi Lake Smallmouth Bass Eradication
Temporal Extent (management horizon)

Short-term:
daily-weekly activities of application and monitoring
Long-term: 5 year monitoring plan

Situation Two ─ Uncle Rob’s Family Woodlot
Temporal Extent (management horizon)

Annual Operating Plan over a 50 year Strategic horizon

Question 13

Is doing nothing a management objective?

Answer 13

For example, is leaving an area (say a forest property) in its natural state, without any intervention, considered a management objective?

• Some may say no, because you are not really doing anything
• But others would disagree and say ‘doing nothing’ is in fact ‘doing something’ (confused yet???)

It really depends on whether ‘doing nothing’ is intentional or simply apathy (i.e., neglect or laziness). There are many situations in natural resources management when doing nothing is intentional, such as when the objective is Preservation.

Question 14

Preservation vs Conservation

Answer 14

Preservation: the act of preventing the use of some natural resource or the modification of an environment simply for the sake of keeping it intact. which is different from:

Conservation: the use of a natural resource in such a way as to minimize waste and maintain the resource in as good a condition as is practical

Conservation typically refers to attempts to make humans’ relationship with the environment sustainable while still extracting natural resources.

They would likely support a policy that gave tax refunds to people who installed solar panels on their homes, but not one that banned the construction of roads in national parks. Conservation can also refer to choices that people make every day to consume less, like taking shorter showers or installing solar panels.

Preservation typically refers to the setting aside of areas of land that are either human-free, free of obvious marks of human influence like roads or fire pits, or whose sole human inhabitants are native people.

Like conservationists, preservationists would likely support a policy that gave tax refunds to people who installed solar panels on their homes, but they would also support a policy that banned the construction of roads in a national park.

Question 15

Some things that may influence your objectives

Answer 15

1. Personal views and values 
• Upbringing and life experiences 
• Religion and cultural identity 
• Education 
2. Ecological impacts
• Impacts on the resource itself 
• Impacts on other parts of the ecosystem 

3. People
   • Who is going to be affected by our management actions
   • Public consultation is often a major part of natural resources management planning
   • Future generation’s wants and needs (i.e., sustainability)
4. Land ownership • Public (Crown) versus Private land
   • Indigenous land rights 5. Laws and regulations
   • Watercourse protection regulations
   • Species at risk legislation
   • Road weight restrictions
5. Laws and regulations
   • Watercourse protection regulations
   • Species at risk legislation
   • Road weight restrictions
6. Market forces
   • Commodity prices (e.g., lumber and stumpage)
   • Demand for precious metals (e.g., Sisson Project tungsten mine)
   • Price of oil (e.g., Canada’s oil sands)

Question 16

Incompatible objectives

Answer 16

It’s a fact of nature that humans have unlimited wants and needs and unfortunately the planet’s natural resources are finite (i.e., limited).

• Miramichi Lake is only so big with limited carrying capacity
• Uncle Rob’s woodlot has a finite amount of space for growing wood, deer and having hiking trails
Clearly choices need to be made…!

You can’t eat your cake and have it to… Also known as the TINSTAAFL paradox
There’s no such thing as a free lunch…

Defining Management Objectives:
There’s no such thing as a free lunch!
All choices have an associated Opportunity Cost

Question 17

Opportunity Cost

Answer 17

The loss of value or benefit that would be incurred by engaging in an activity, relative to engaging in an alternative activity offering other values and benefits.
Indeed, at the core of natural resources management is Trade-off Analysis (also known as Decision Analysis or CostBenefit Analysis).

What would be some of the opportunity costs at Miramichi Lake if we:
1) Do nothing 2) Remove fish manually 3) Removal by rotenone

Despite all the influences and choices, at the end of the day, successful management requires you to define and select a limited number of clearly articulated objectives.
This is referred to as Management by Objectives (MBO) – Peter Drucker (1954)

Question 18

S.M.A.R.T. method for setting objectives

Answer 18

• A set of criteria to help develop objectives for project management (also employee performance and personal development)
• The SMART system has been used by managers for decades, but first-known use of term occurs in the November 1981 issue of Management Review by George T. Doran
• SMART criteria are commonly associated with Peter Drucker’s “management by objectives” concept in his 1954 book “The Practice of Management”

Specific- who what where why how
Measurable- quantifiable or at least suggest an indicator of progress
Attainable- realistic, recognize there are factors which can not be controlled (uncertainty)
Relevant- worthwhile, meet wants and needs of people involved, consistent with other objectives

“I want to run a marathon”
I want to train over the next three months so that I can maintain a 9-minute mile running pace complete the upcoming Fredericton Marathon on September 7th in less than 4 hours

SMARTer Objective(s): 
Manage woodlot over the long-term (next 50 years) such that it: 
1) Permits Harvesting 1-2 truck loads (30-60 tonnes) of spruce sawlogs each winter to supplement income. 
2) Create and maintain enough deer habitat to permit harvesting one deer each year

Question 19

“Tricky Midterm Questions”
Name two ecological mechanisms that drive ecosystem dynamics
Organic farm-raised pork is an example of a natural resource
he current rate of annual net global forest loss is about the size of British Columbia
Return interval represents the average time required to disturb an area equivalent in size to the landscape under question
Hurricanes are extratropical cyclones
Q27: In what century did the human population exceed 1 billion people?
Q29: What is spaceship Earth?
Q38: A 1000 year fire return interval is equivalent to a mean annual disturbance rate of:

Answer 19

Short Answer:
Q11: Name two ecological mechanisms that drive ecosystem dynamics
Natural disturbance
Moisture availability
Species: Availability, Distributions, Interactions

True and False:
Q11: Organic farm-raised pork is an example of a natural resource (F)
Q13: The current rate of annual net global forest loss is about the size of British Columbia (F)
5 million ha of forest each year- forested area of NB not BC, BC is 12x the size of NB

Q23: Return interval represents the average time required to disturb an area equivalent in size to the landscape under question (T)
Q25: Hurricanes are extratropical cyclones (F)
Tropical - tropics extratropical- mid latitudes 45 degrees NorEaster

27: 1800s
29: A metaphor for the finite nature of our Earth’s resources
38: 0.1%

Question 20

What should an “objective” look like?

Answer 20

There’s no hard rule – its really situation dependent However:

1) It should keep in line with our definition: Something towards which effort is directed, such as an aim, goal, or end of action.
2) It should be SMART (or at least guided by the SMART principals)
3) It should be ‘summarized’ into 1-2 statements (sentences not paragraphs!)

Question 21

Why “Indicators”?

What is an Indicator?

Answer 21

To assess if you have achieved your objective you need some way to measure progress (or change), specifically a progress “indicator”

What is an “Indicator”? 
Indicator: an attribute or variable that can be codified and that describes the state of the resource system in such a way that it’s meaningful to your management objective: 
• Speed 
• Heart Rate 
• Volume of wood 
• Number of fish 
• Distribution of deer

Question 22

Qualitative versus Quantitative?

Answer 22

Indicators can be “qualitative” or “quantitative”

Qualitative indicators are categorical. While they allow you to evaluate whether something is different or not, they do not express exact quantities.

Quantitative indicators are codified in such a way (usually with numbers) that their values indicate an amount of something (i.e., a quantity).

For example, tree height is a quantitative indicator because higher values (i.e numbers) indicate a greater amount of height.

Question 23

How are indicators useful?

Answer 23

1. Assess current status of resource-system
2. Set targets (and design a plan of action)
3. Monitor change and progress towards objective targets
4. Choose between options or scenarios (evaluating different plans of action)

Question 24

Indicators versus Targets

Answer 24

An Indicator defines a measure that is meaningful about a resource system state

A Target defines a desired level for the indicator
• They are related, but different ─ don’t confuse them
• Disagreement between parties usually relates to choice of targets, not choice of indicators

Balancing the number and type of indicators Different resource-systems will require different sets of indicators

Normally multiple indicators are needed
Too many can be confusing!!!

Are you financially healthy?
Personal financial health refers to the state of an individual’s finances
Objective: To create and maintain personal financial health, specifically:
• Control over your day-to-day, month-to month finances
• Capacity to absorb a financial shock
• Financial freedom to make choices to enjoy life
• On track to meet your financial goals

Indicators to measure financial health
1. Debt-to-income ratio
• Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is your monthly debts divided by your gross monthly income x 100. There is a rule of thumb that states that your debt-to-income ratio should not exceed 40%.

2. Savings Rate
   • An individual’s savings rate is the percentage of money leftover after taxes and other expenses.
   • Savings Rate Percentage = (Take Home Pay – Expenses)/Take Home Pay x 100 • The average personal savings rate in the US in 2019 was 7.6%.
3. Net Worth
   • Your net worth is a metric to evaluate your financial progress over time to help you reach your goals.
   • Net Worth = What You Own (Assets) – What You Owe (Liabilities)

Question 25

Fredericton Urban Forest Challenges

Answer 25

1. Site 
▪ planting locations 
▪ Low quality growing medium 
▪ Drainage 
▪ Winter maintenance 
2. Development 
3. Infrastructure installation/renewal 
▪ eg. water, sanitary, electrical ,etc.
4. Insect/disease 
▪ Primarily Invasive management 
5. Weather/Climate 
▪ Ice and wind events 
▪ Drought 
▪ Species migration 
6. Visibility 
▪ public scrutiny

Question 26

Solutions/Improvements Urban Forest

Answer 26

Site
▪ Recently started installing engineered structures for newly planted trees in downtown core –
“Permavoids” – “…multifunctional storm water storage and conservation system…”
▪ Newly planted trees receive “Gator Bag” 1st year

Development/infrastructure
▪ Emphasis on site/species selection
▪ Work closely with developers, other COF divisions
▪ 2020 Tree Management Bylaw

Insect /disease
Dutch Elm Disease
▪ Sanitation
▪ annual preventative treatment

 Emerald Ash Borer
▪ Bi-annual preventative treatment
▪ Removal/replant
Hemlock Wooley Adelgid
▪ Detection & research opportunities
▪ Education
▪ and ???

Weather/Climate
• Species selection
• Diversity

Visibility
• Increase transparency
• Provide opportunities for input e.g. Strategic Urban Forest Plan

COF Greenhouse/Nursery??
▪ Sustainability
▪ increased survival
▪ provenance origin
▪ “localized” planting stock
▪ \$\$ and assured supply

Question 27

Benefits of the Urban Forest

Answer 27

Social
▪ physical health- recreation
▪ mental health

“From a stroll through a city park to a day spent hiking in the wilderness,
exposure to nature has been linked to a host of benefits, including improved
attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and
even upticks in empathy and cooperation..” (Weir K. 2020 April. Nurtured by Nature.
APA. From https://apa.org/monitor/2020/04/nurtured-nature)

▪ Traffic safety – reduced speeds, # of crashes, aggressive driving.

Environmental
▪ Produce O2
▪ Sequester Carbon,
▪ Intercept rainwater/ stormwater attenuation/ erosion control
▪ Habitat
▪ Reduce urban temps, “heat Island effect”

$$
• Urban forests provide ecosystem services evaluated at $330 million per year for
Halifax, Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto (Alexander & DePratto, 2014).
• Urban forests add value of between $1.88 and $12.70 for every dollar spent on maintaining them, depending on the city (Alexander & McDonald, 2014).
• Urban forests increase property values (up to 20%)

Question 28

Fredericton Urban Forest Management traces “roots” to early

Answer 28

1800’s with street tree plantings by former British Garrison

Former Mayor Fenety purchased and planted trees himself

Question 29

Miramichi Lake Smallmouth Bass Eradication

Objectives:

Answer 29

1. Treatment of Miramichi Lake and 15 km of the Southwest Miramichi River with rotenone to
   immediately eradicate smallmouth bass and eliminate a source of future smallmouth bass
   invasion of the Miramichi River system.
2. Re-establishment of reproducing populations of native fish species currently present in the
   treatment area through natural recolonization of migratory fish species and stocking of nonmigratory fish species if no evidence of adults and juveniles present two years post-treatment.

Objective#1
Treatment of Miramichi Lake and 15 km of the Southwest Miramichi River with rotenone to eradicate smallmouth bass and eliminate a source of future smallmouth bass invasion to the Miramichi River system.

Objective#2
Re-establishment of reproducing populations of native fish species currently present in the treatment area through natural recolonization of migratory fish species and stocking of non-migratory fish species if no evidence of adults and juveniles present two years post-treatment

Question 30

Uncle Rob’s Family Woodlot

Objectives:

Answer 30

Manage woodlot over the long-term (next 50 years) such that it:

1) Permits Harvesting 1-2 truck loads (30-60 tonnes) of spruce sawlogs each winter to supplement income.
2) Create and maintain enough deer habitat to permit harvesting one deer each year.

Objectives:
Manage woodlot over the long-term (next 50 years) such that it permits harvesting 1-2 truck loads (30-60 tonnes) of spruce sawlogs each winter to supplement income.

Create and maintain enough deer habitat to permit harvesting one deer each year.

Question 31

You can’t manage what you can’t “see”!

Answer 31

The primary focus here is to describe the current state of the resource─system based on the
indicators you have developed in the previous steps.
In other words, you need to “paint a picture” (i.e., map-out) what your managing according to your indicators.

For example, measuring the state of various soils attributes (i.e., indicators) is critical to managing the province’s soils resources, including for supporting other resource sectors (e.g., forestry and agriculture) that rely on this data.

Determining distribution and abundance of mineral resources
For example, see Mineral Resource Land Use Atlas of Nova Scotia

Question 32

Uncle Rob’s Family Woodlot

Indicators:

Answer 32

Current state of forest stands in woodlot: 
Stand composition (what species)
• Stand age
• Tree size (height and diameter)
• Tree abundance (density or basal area)

Uncle Rob’s Woodlot: Forest Stand Inventory Database and Maps

Question 33

Characterizing and assessing the state of resource─systems requires key knowledge and skill sets, which you learn in your other courses. For a forestry application, this may include:

Answer 33

1. Mensuration (or biometrics)
2. Sampling and survey techniques
3. Geography and mapping
4. Photogrammetry and remote sensing
5. Geographic information systems
6. Data analysis and statistics (analytics)

Question 34

What is a model?

Answer 34

Model: An abstraction or simplified representation of some aspect of reality (Vanclay 1994).
Modeling: Is the art and science of building and using models.

Model are ubiquitous in science and may take many forms: 
• verbal or textual descriptions
• diagrams
• physical constructs
• mathematical equations
• Computer programs

It is often assumed that the use of computers and programming is synonymous with modeling in science.
THIS IS NOT TRUE !!!

A computer is an important tool to help realize and implement a model but is no more central to the modeling process then a pen and paper

Question 35

In science we build and use models to:

Answer 35

1. Understand
   • how systems work
   • determine cause-and-effect
   • identify “control levers”.
2. Predict the behavior of systems.

Example: Climate Models
Environment Canada’s Canadian Earth System Model version 5 (CanESM5.0.3)

Critical for understanding and predicting climate change
Critical for identifying “control levers” to fight climate change

Covid 19 Modelling
Canada’s public health agency (in partnership with provinces and universities) have been using mathematical epidemiological models to:
• study how COVID19 spreads
• anticipate the future course of the outbreak
• help guide public health planning and infection control

Their mathematical models are used to estimate how many cases of COVID19 may occur in the coming weeks or months.

They help researchers simulate real-world possibilities in a virtual environment. Modelling shows public health measures remain essential to controlling COVID-19 in Canada, including:
• physical distancing
• finding and isolating cases
• tracing and quarantining contacts
• preventing spread from cases related to travel

Question 36

Abstraction versus Realism

Answer 36

All models can be placed on a continuum between abstraction and realism. Finding the balance is important!

Cost of being too abstract 
• Lack of detail and information 
• Inaccurate 
• Inability to explain or predict 
• Could lead to poor decision making 
• Too generalized and useless!!! (under fitted)

Cost of being too realistic 
• Expensive to build and use 
• Harder to understand 
• Harder to calibrate (validate) 
• Difficult to apply 
• Too specific and useless!!! (overfitted)

Question 37

The Principle of Parsimony:

Answer 37

In science “parsimony” advocates that when presented with competing explanations (theories or models) about the same phenomenon, one should select the solution with the fewest assumptions…

In other words, when developing a model (or theory) of something, select a model that is simple as possible, but as complex as necessary

Question 38

Qualitative and Quantitative Models

Answer 38

Qualitative models are descriptive, usually in the form of diagrams, physical constructs, or textual descriptions.

Quantitative models are those expressed through numbers and mathematical notation. They are typically dynamic in nature, with interacting state and system variables.

Quantitative models can be Pattern-based or Process-based

Pattern-based models (also known as empirical or phenomenological models) attempt to model the state, or state change, of a system based on direct observation of the state itself

Process-based models (also known as mechanistic models) attempt to model the state of the system by simulating the underlying processes that comprise or drive the system

Pattern -based (empirical) modeling Draw a line or fit mathematical function to observed data

Process -based (mechanistic) modeling Model underlying biophysical mechanisms that cause change

Question 39

Marine Fishery

Answer 39

The marine fishery is the global resource sector concerned primarily with the harvesting (i.e., catching) and management of ocean dwelling, saltwater animal species (mainly fish and shell fish).

Fish and other marine species are considered renewable resources; however, if over harvested, populations can diminish to unrecoverable states. The primary objective of marine fisheries management is to prevent over exploitation or over harvesting of marine species populations.

Renewable resources are those that are used-up after a single use, but can reproduce themselves or that can be reproduced by humans

The world’s oceans are a vast resource, covering over 70% of the Earth. Due to their shear size, we once thought of their harvests as boundless, but we know different today as many marine fisheries are not considered sustainable (i.e., catching more than the ocean can replace)

Oceans are Ecosystems Oceans are ecosystems as well, with structure, function and dynamics. The marine species we rely on in the oceans should be managed as biotic components of the ecosystem. They exist in communities and interact with the abiotic environment.

Question 40

Demand for seafood

Answer 40

Global demand for seafood is growing Global seafood consumption has more than doubled in the past 50 years, to just over 20 kg per capita per year in 2014. Correspondingly the global wild catch of marine species has quadrupled since 1950.

Where does it come from? These countries accounted for almost 50 percent of total global capture production. 1. China 2. Indonesia 3. Peru 4. India 5. the Russian Federation 6. the United States of America 7. Vietnam

Question 41

What does a metric tonne of fish look like

Answer 41

The average blue fin tuna weighs about 250kg It would take about four average size tuna to make a metric tonne of fish! The average 18-20 foot wooden dory could haul a maximum of about 2000 lbs (about one metric tonne) of fish Today’s wild-caught marine fishery production would equate to over 80,000,000 dories full of fish

What’s driving the increase in global consumption?
Human population growth, Increase in standard of living among developing countries, Advances in fishing technology

Question 42

How much fish is still wild caught

Answer 42

Approximately 78% of all marine fish production is still wild-caught (the rest from aquaculture). Of all commercial wild-caught fish harvested globally, approximately 87% comes from the oceans (i.e., the marine fishery), with the remainder coming from the inland, freshwater fisheries.

Question 43

Top Commercial Marine Catch Globally

Answer 43

Catches of tuna and tuna-like species continued their yearon-year increase, reaching their highest levels in 2018 at over 7.9 million tonnes, mostly the result of catches in the Western and Central Pacific. Tuna (albacore, skipjack, big eye, yellowfin and northern bluefin)

Question 44

Who Regulates the Marine Fishery?

Answer 44

Tricky Question – for two reasons: 1. Fish move a lot 2. Who owns the oceans??? There is a long history of disputes (even wars) over ocean resources. As a consequence numerous international bodies have been set-up over the decades, but usually to deal with regulation of individual resources, such as fur seal, whale, or tuna, for example: • International Commission for Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF) 1949-1979 • Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) 1949 - present • International Whaling Commission (IWC) 1946 - Present The most recent attempt to develop ocean-wide regulations is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1994 to present). Today 196 nations are parties to the convention and its most important provisions are: 1. Establishes 12 nautical miles as the breadth of the territorial sea, with a right of innocent passage through these waters by other states. 2. Secures for coastal states sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources of their waters in a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 3. Confirms coastal state jurisdiction over the living and non-living resources of the seabed and subsoil of the continental shelf up to, and, in some instances, beyond the 200-nautical-mile EEZ.

Question 45

Who regulates Fishery in Canada?

Answer 45

Fisheries and Oceans Canada - federal institution (DFO)

Question 46

Major issues Facing Marine Fisheries

Answer 46

Over Exploitation Scientists fear many poplar marine species are currently being overfished. Currently only 65.8% of fish stocks are being managed within biologically sustainable levels. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2020 (fao.org) In January 2013, a large bluefin tuna weighing 489 lbs sold for a record 1.76 million dollars at a Tokyo auction (a delicacy in Japan). The world’s Pacific bluefin tuna population has decreased from pre-fishing levels by 94.6% Stock SMART (noaa.gov) But see also Canada’s north Atlantic Cod Fishery Collapse

Bycatch and Wastage Bycatch: discarded catch of marine species and unobserved mortality due to a direct encounter with fishing vessels and gear. • Global bycatch is estimated to be 20-40% of total annual catch (≈30 million tonnes) • Bycatch of non-target fish can contribute to overfishing and slow efforts to rebuild fish stocks. Seaspiracy - Wikipedia Wastage: approximately 35% of global fisheries production is either lost or wasted through the supply chain and during consumption. This must be reduced to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the sector

Marine Habitat Degradation Globally, coral reefs cover only about half the ocean floor they did in 1950. Correspondingly, they have lost about 60% of their productivity (Eddy et al. 2021). • Overfishing damage • Climate change (acidification, bleaching) • Pollution The ocean has lost half its coral reef coverage, study finds | CBC News Great Pacific Garbage Patch | National Geographic Society Plastic Pollution Approximately 10-20 million tonnes of plastic end-up in the ocean each year. Its estimated a mass of over 269,000 tonnes of plastic is currently just floating on the ocean’s surface

Question 47

Climate Change: Ocean Heat Trends (1993-2020)

Answer 47

1. Species range shift 2. Ocean acidification 3. Sea ice loss 4. Sea level change

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released a summary of marine ecosystem conditions on the Northeast Shelf, which runs from Cape Hatteras, N.C., up to the Canadian boundary. The summary noted dozens of species are moving northward and into deeper water as bottom temperatures are rising. Surface and bottom water temperatures collected over time indicate that a significant, sudden and persistent change, called a regime shift, may have occurred in Gulf of Maine water temperatures, with the last eight years the warmest in the time series by a wide margin

Question 48

Solutions to Ocean Heat Trends

Answer 48

Aquaculture: is a form of aquatic farming, where fish species are grown in a human controlled environment (tanks, cages, or ponds) Aquaculture production has been steadily growing since the 1950’s, doubling production about every 10 years (Guillen et al., 2019; FAO 2021).

Indeed, since the early 1990s, most growth in production from the seafood sector as a whole has been from aquaculture, while capture fisheries production has been relatively stable.

Canada is joining 13 (maybe more?) other countries in a non-binding pledge to sustainably manage 100 per cent of its oceans by 2025 (Global Ocean Alliance). The undertaking commits — or, in some cases, recommits — Canada to a variety of measures, including protecting 30 per cent of marine waters by 2030, rebuilding fish stocks, reducing plastic in the ocean and creating a sustainability plan. Canada has conserved approximately 793,906 km2 or 13.81 percent of Canada’s marine and coastal areas.

Better Global Fisheries Management! More informed young biologist and managers