6 posts tagged with "Pacific Ocean"

Special Issue in Ecology & Society (external link)

Guest Editorial​

Canada and transboundary fisheries management in changing oceans: taking stock, future scenarios

U. R. Sumaila, Fisheries Economics Research Unit, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, The University of British Columbia; School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada David L. VanderZwaag, Marine & Environmental Law Institute; Dalhousie University

Climate and weather have profound effects on economies, the food security and livelihoods of communities throughout the Pacific Island region. These effects are particularly important for small-scale fisheries and occur, for example, through changes in sea surface temperature, primary productivity, ocean currents, rainfall patterns, and through cyclones. This variability has impacts over both short and long time scales. We differentiate climate predictions (the actual state of climate at a particular point in time) from climate projections (the average state of climate over long time scales). The ability to predict environmental conditions over the time scale of months to decades will assist governments and coastal communities to reduce the impacts of climatic variability and take advantage of opportunities. We explore the potential to make reliable climate predictions over time scales of six months to 10 years for use by policy makers, managers and communities. We also describe how climate predictions can be used to make decisions on short time scales that should be of direct benefit to sustainable management of small-scale fisheries, and to disaster risk reduction, in Small-Island Developing States in the Pacific.

This article can also be viewed at Oceana Canada

New report reveals that the Canadian government is inadequately addressing one of the biggest threats to our oceans

Up to 10.3 million tonnes of sea life is unintentionally caught each year around the world, captured in nets, lines and other gear. Some of this is kept and sold, or released safely; but far too much is put back in the ocean, either dead or dying. In Canada, this includes endangered and threatened species like whales, turtles, sharks and fish. For example, an estimated 1,200 endangered loggerhead turtles are caught each year on pelagic longlines in the swordfish fishery.

This report takes a landscape approach in examining Canada’s marine coasts. While focus is placed on the shoreline as the interface between land and water, the scope of interest extends landward and oceanward to the degree that those areas affect the sustainability and well-being of coastal communities and ecosystems.

Media Release | January 13, 2016

First Nations fisheries’ catch could decline by nearly 50 per cent by 2050, according to a new study examining the threat of climate change to the food and economic security of indigenous communities along coastal British Columbia, Canada.

Dr. Dana Miller, postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia, and OceanCanada Director Dr. Rashid Sumaila have released a working paper examining the impact of the recent oil spill in Vancouver's English Bay. The paper presents an estimation of the economic impacts of this oil spill on Metro Vancouver’s marine-related economic activities, including commercial fishing and tourism activities.