Marine Resources.

Question 1

How much coastline does Canada have

Answer 1

About 250,000 km. Ocean has a high assimilated capacity which means that it’s relatively slow or resistant to change

Question 2

Tell me about the significance of oceanic systems

Answer 2

Economic value of about $21 trillion per year. Coastal zones occupy about 18% of the earth’s surface, 90% of the global fish catch comes from the ocean. 60% of the worlds population lives and coastal zones. About 1 billion people rely on fish as primary source of protein. Oceans cover 70% of the earth’s surface.

Question 3

We have limited knowledge of ocean resources. There’s a lot of uncertainty. What are some limiting factors to oceans productivity. How much of the ocean is productive.

Answer 3

Temperature, nutrients, light are limiting factors. About 50 % is productive.

Question 4

What are the most productive oceanic areas

Answer 4

For both Atlantic and Arctic the most productive areas are the coastal zones/Continental shelf areas. They are shallow around 200 m. Warmer temperatures, lights can penetrate, more photosynthesis. Also, productive areas are areas of nutrient circulation. These areas are most ecologically rich.

Question 5

Discussing ocean management challenges, tell me about overharvesting in fisheries.

Answer 5

There’s a loss of biodiversity because of harvesting practices. 70% of the worlds fisheries have surpassed their limits. There’s a decrease in both the size and population of fish.

Question 6

What is pre-switching or fishing down the food chain.

Answer 6

Fishing off the top predators which are largest, then when they become depleted moving on to species of lower levels. Also, usually as you move down the economic value per week goes down so you have to harvest more and more.

Question 7

What is bycatch

Answer 7

How you get a whole bunch of nontarget species and a commercial fishing catch. For everyone shrimp caught, 10 organisms are caught on accident.

Question 8

What is a fishing technique that’s causing destruction of oceanic habitats

Answer 8

Bottom trawling. It changes the Fertado seabed into an ocean desert it’s like clearcutting, But in the ocean. This catching technique is not selective at all just catch everything.

Question 9

Tell me about Marine pollution as a major ocean management issue

Answer 9

About 80% of ocean pollution comes from activities off the land. The pollutants concentrate at the boundary between the seabed and the water and the boundary between the water and the atmosphere. The two main forms of chemical pollution are toxic materials and nutrients or eutrophication. Cruise ships used to be able to just dump all their waste into an urban bay. It’s cheaper for larger oil tankers to dump sludge in the ocean and then pay a fine if they get caught then to clean them.

Question 10

Tell me about industrially activities offshore and how they are management concern for oceanic systems

Answer 10

This is usually talking about offshore extraction infrastructure like oil and gas wells. About 60% of the oil comes from underwater. Usually it’s not really the impact of the infrastructure but more so if there is a spill.

Question 11

Tell me about how coastal developments can be a management issue for marine resources

Answer 11

Bridge crossings, seaports, urban development our concerns. For example the bridge that connects PEI to the mainland. Two studies conducted, one said it would disrupt ice flow and lobster stocks and the other said it wouldn’t. The second one was accepted. Half of worlds population lives within 100 km of the coast. Expected to go up to 75%.

Question 12

Tell me about how introduction of exotics can be a management concern

Answer 12

This is talking about farming of aquatic organisms like fish, shellfish, plants and controlled environments. BC and New Brunswick are leaders in this industry. Becomes a concern if genetically engineered Fish escape and mix with wild stocks. Fish disease can be transferred to wild stocks.

Question 13

How is climate change and boundary issues concerns with regards to marine resources

Answer 13

There’s increased access to the Arctic which means year-round shipping. There’s a decline in the year-round sea ice which is bad for polar bears. Boundary issues, who owns the Arctic?

Question 14

Now discussing Canada’s Arctic Ocean environment. Tell me about how big it is and what it’s like

Answer 14

About 170,000 km of coastline. Bigger than the Atlantic and the Pacific combined ( x 2) . It’s ice covered seasonally

Question 15

What is a polyna

Answer 15

A ice free hotspot with great diversity. Where local currents maintain Open ice areas . Nutrient rich, phytoplankton blooms. Areas important for seals, polar bears, Wales.

Question 16

Tell me about the Beaufort sea

Answer 16

It’s large, one point 1,000,000 km². Home to six Inuit settlements. As biologically and ecologically important areas. Home to beluga whales, gray whales, walrus, ducks, polar bears. There has been an significant environmental change there, the average sea ice has receded a lot.

Question 17

Tell me about the issues regarding arctic sovereignty. Who owns the Arctic?

Answer 17

Each country owns 370 km from its Shoreline, with an additional 280 from any area that scientifically proven to be part of the continental shelf. This didn’t used to be a big issue before because the ice was covering it but now is because it’s a resource. Lots of these areas are rich in resources especially in energy.

Question 18

What is the alpha ridge

Answer 18

A 2000 km long chain of peaks and canyons that stretches from Canada underwater. This is key to proving whether Canada’s continental shelf continues, And whether we have access to those resources.

Question 19

When was the first Canadian arctic energy rush.

Answer 19

Norman Wells oil discovery, 1919. National energy program was created in 1980, but ended by 1984.

Question 20

What are some examples of pollutant concerns in the Arctic

Answer 20

One – long range transport of pollutants (LRTP) These are organic compounds that don’t degrade easily. They undergo long-range transport and air and water from warmer to cooler regions. They will persist for long periods and May bioconcentrate. 2- PCB’s Polychlorinated biphenyls. Their industrial compounds once used in paint and electrical transformers. They evaporate from land and then I transported to the arctic environment through the atmosphere.

Question 21

Tell me about the Atlantic ocean environment. What are the banks? What are the main three currents?

Answer 21

40,000 km of coastline. The banks are raised areas of the seabed, about 50 m deep. Lots of biological productivity. Hot spot. Three major currents converge here, the Labrador, the Nova Scotia, the warm Gulf Stream. The circulation pulls nutrients from the bottom of the seafloor.

Question 22

Tell me about the grand Banks

Answer 22

The largest bank in the Atlantic region. Large phytoplankton blooms equals lots of food for fish. Fishing industry of northern card has been very sustainable for centuries. The communities relied heavily on this. Before it was small-scale and labor-intensive therefore it was sustainable.

Question 23

Tell me about the collapse of the cog fishery

Answer 23

1968 over at 800,000 tons of Northern cod for landed. 1978, the Catch dropped to 140,000 tons. 2002 5500 tons. In 2003 the cod fishery was closed and Atlantic cod was endangered. I was sustainable for 100 years then collapsed in 30. The provincial government blamed the federal government to blame the Europeans who blamed the inshore fishermen.

Question 24

What is catastrophe theory with regard to the fishing industry, and how are the fish stocks low sensitivity and low resilience.

Answer 24

Things go really well with little ups and downs then suddenly drastic change. Things become stable again but at a much lower level. Takes a major change to go from good to bad so it takes a major management change to go from bad to good.

Question 25

So who is responsible for the collapse

Answer 25

1-Increased fishing technology and harvesting capacity like bottom trawling. Increased foreign fishing as well as inshore fishermen pretending to be offshore ( estai)
2- Imperfect science. It’s really hard to estimate fish stocks, it’s like a New York fly-by-night and estimating the population.
3- Imperfect management. Government made incentives for people to continue working in processing plants. Employment insurance encourage people to be involved in the fishery. This made things worse. Subsidies were paying people to harvest a resource that didn’t exist.

Question 26

What is TAC , And how is it related to the collapse of the resource base

Answer 26

Total allowable catch. A quota set About how many fish can be harvested, depends on specifics spawning biomass, Which was high and Uncertain. Increasingly high quotas were set.

Question 27

Tell me about the max sustainable yield with regards to the fish stocks

Answer 27

Max sustainable yield occurs when the population reaches exactly half it’s carrying capacity. The number of fish you take out needs to be the same amount that are being reborn every year. It’s like spending your interest on your million bucks in the bank. But to do this you have to estimate the population correctly.

Question 28

Where is your yield safe

Answer 28

If you want to set your limit on what’s economically stable because that’s less than what is ecologically stable

Question 29

Or the results of the collapse

Answer 29

The cod moratorium in 1992. 16% of people in Newfoundland Directly depended on fishery. Transition from cod to shellfish, because those populations increased dramatically. They are worth more in the global market so the fishery increased in value. The total amount landed Is much less. Fewer people are involved in the industry but making lots of money. Shellfish are geographically concentrated but northern card or geographically dispersed.

Question 30

Tell me about the forest resource base in Canada

Answer 30

This is usually considered more of a sustainable resource space because it’s a renewable stock resource. Canada has 10% of the world’s forests cover. Only 8% of Canada’s forests are protected by legislation, but that’s not a big concern because the biggest threats are not harvesting. Less than 1% of Canada’s forest bases harvested annually. The US buys more than 70% of our products.

Question 31

Forests provide two things what are they

Answer 31

1- Habitat provision for wildlife, soil, water ways. 2- Carbon sequestration, forests act as both a carbon sink and a carbon source. This helps maintain global carbon balance

Question 32

When do forests act as a carbon source, And as carbon sinks.

Answer 32

They act as a carbon source when they release more carbon than the absorbed. For example fire. Or tree decay following insect infestation. So, a source of carbon. They act as a sing when they are a storage place for carbon. When he absorb more carbon from the atmosphere then they release. I.e. carbon sequestration absorption and decompositions for photosynthesis.