Gilbert Bay Marine Protected Area

Marine protected areas are being established all over the world due to overfishing and habitat destruction. These areas can protect species during vulnerable stages of their life and act as an insurance against poor management techniques. Our first post describes the recently established marine protected area of Gilbert’s Bay, Labrador. A recent paper by Hu & Wroblewski regarding northern Atlantic cod in Gilbert’s Bay was published in 2009. Liuming Hu is a graduate student in the environmental science program at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Dr. Joseph Wroblewski is a research at the Ocean Science Centre in St. John’s, NL and is interested in fisheries oceanography, ocean ecosystems and problems in the fishing industry of Atlantic Canada.

In 2005, the marine protected area of Gilbert’s Bay, Labrador was established to conserve the subpopulation of northern cod. This subpopulation of cod is unique in that it is genetically different from other subpopulations along the eastern coast. Having genetic diversity is important as it allows the population to have a greater chance of adapting and surviving to changes in the environment. The Gilbert’s Bay MPA is not a “no-take” reserve, which means it is divided into zones which have different regulations dependent on the zones importance to the cod subpopulation.

 

Figure 1: Gilbert Bay Cod (Golden Cod) from Gilbert’s Bay, Labrador. (www.gilbertbay.com, 2012)

According to Hu & Wrobelewski, there are three main zones, zone 1, 2 and 3. 

Figure 2: Management zones of the marine protected area in Gilbert’s Bay. (Hu & Wroblewski, 2009)

As seen in Figure 2 above, Zone 1 has the highest level of protection due to it being the main spawning ground for cod. Zone 2 has the second highest restriction to human activity as it is a secondary spawning area and also important feeding ground. Zone 3 is the least restricted and is a feeding ground during summer and autumn. Over the winter, the cod then return to Zone 1. The cod cannot be caught directly, but they are still being caught as a by-catch on gill nets when Atlantic salmon and trout are being fished.

The Gilbert’s Bay MPA is an important part of the community. The community was concerned about the decline of Gilbert’s Bay cod and expressed concern to government authorities to request action be taken.

References: 

Hu, L., & Wroblewski, J. (2009). Conserving a subpopulation of the northern Atlantic cod metapopulation with a marine protected area. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems Volume 19, Issue 2 , 178-193.

Welcome: Gilbert Bay Marine Protected Area. (n.d.). Retrieved February 20, 2012, from Gilbert Bay Marine Protected Area: http://gilbertbay.com/intro.htm

How does Newfoundland and Labrador appoint a species as endangered?

Sheldon and Justin

       In this blog series, we will discuss the process behind the legislation of terrestrial endangered animals in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and how the effectiveness and efficiency of this listing compares to Canada and the rest of the world when trying to protect and maintain these animals in danger of extinction. In order to see where the province stands nationally and globally in terms of endangered species legislation, it is first necessary to investigate how it goes about determining which species are and are not endangered. As the French philosopher Voltaire said, “judge a man by his questions rather than his answers”. So what kind of questions are the Provincial government asking themselves when designating a species as endangered? What are some of the criteria that need to be met before an endangered species can be considered as such? These questions are asked in the provinces own Endangered Species Act, which describes an endangered species as one that is a risk of impending extinction or extirpation from the province¹.

        According to this Act, in order for a species to receive any sort of status designation, it must be native or have been naturally introduced to the province. From there, it may receive designation if it has either (or any combination of): 1) received a designated status under another Act indicating its population as being at risk or in jeopardy 2) Been in the province for 50 years or more 3) Been subject to considerable genetic variation since its arrival in Newfoundland and Labrador. Only if it has received a designation under an Act from another jurisdiction that indicates it being at a risk of extinction, or extirpated all together, can a human-introduced species receive designation under the Endangered Species Act of Newfoundland and Labrador¹.

       From there, an established species status advisory committee generates recommendations for a species to be considered at risk based on the most accurate scientific knowledge at their disposal, concerning the ecology and history of the species. A minister then screens these recommendations, followed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, before a species is officially designated as either vulnerable, threatened, endangered, extirpated, or extinct under this Endangered Species Act¹.

     The unveiling of the approach by which the province takes in the legislation of species can act as a springboard in our assessment of how the province ranks compared to the country, and the rest of the planet, in the listing of terrestrial endangered species. What is the rationalization for listing species like the Wolverine as endangered²? Was this justified compared to how species are listed in other parts of the world? We will examine this and more in upcoming posts.

 

Figure 1: A Wolverine, listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act of Newfoundland and Labrador². Image from Arkive Images of Life on Earth, retrieved at 

http://www.arkive.org/wolverine/gulo-gulo/


An official version of the Endangered Species Act may be found here: http://www.assembly.nl.ca/Legislation/sr/statutes/e10-1.htm

References:

¹Endangered Species Act. 2001. Retrieved on February 23^rd, 2012, at    http://www.assembly.nl.ca/Legislation/sr/statutes/e10-1.htm#3_

²Department of Environment and Conservation. 2011. Mammals. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Retrieved on February 23^rd, 2012, at http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/wildlife/endangeredspecies/mammals.html
    

Marine Recovery - What is a marine recovery plan & how does it help?

Hello everyone! We are two Memorial university students from St. John’s, Newfoundland and we are first time bloggers who are completing this blog and several others to follow as part of our conservation biology class. Our number one priority is to spark the interest of the public and inform readers of marine conservation recovery plans; a distant and less important objective is of course, to get a good a grade. So your first question may be what exactly is a marine recovery plan?

Marine Recovery Planning is the process where an endangered or threatened organism is identified and an action plan is produced to ensure both the survival and the recovery of a species to self-sustainable levels.

Recovery Plans have two main objectives:

1.      To help a species survive and;

2.      To help a population recover.

A recovery plan is capable of producing such an effect by helping to produce more individuals of a species while reducing or removing threats, such as predators or anthropogenic effects. Recovery planning is usually achieved by following two steps: development of a strategy and development of an action plan.

            We will be discussing this topic in the hope to show how important it really is to maintain and help conserve our marine resources. With a long history for whaling, continuous over fishing, pollution, and global warming, our ocean’s organisms in general are in great danger. In Newfoundland, we are perhaps more educated on this topic then most cultures. The cod fishery was one of our greatest natural resources, however it is now by some considered commercially extinct.

In the upcoming 8 weeks, we will be posting blogs on endangered marine organisms (eg. right whale) currently involved or in need of a recovery plan within Newfoundland when compared with other parts of the world.

Thanks for reading!
Kyle and Shannon

References:

Foin, T., Riley, S., Pawley, A., Ayres, D., Carlsen, T., Hodum, P., & Switzer, P. (1998). Improving Recovery Planning for Threatened and Endangered Species. BioScience. 48(3): 177-184.

Government of British Columbia: Ministry of Environment Ecosystems Branch. (2011). Retrieved from: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/recoveryplans/rcvry1.htm on February 7, 2012.

Invasive alien animals: What are they and why should we care?

Hello everybody! We are two university biology students at Memorial University of Newfoundland. As part of our Conservation Biology class, we are offering this blog as an opportunity to help both ourselves and you understand more about invasive alien species and their significance to conservation biology and management. Specifically we are exploring how the topic of invasive species here in Newfoundland and Labrador and relating our situations and approaches to the issue compared to the wider world.

Invasive animal species sounds like a grim issue, and it often is just that. Around the world, animals are moving into new places and having negative effects on the native environments, their flora and their fauna by outcompeting native species, decreasing biodiversity, affecting economically significant species, depleting ecosystem resources and invoking economic costs in for management efforts (Levine, 2000). This issue is not just an issue for “hippies” conserving nature (although there are many obvious and not-so-obvious reasons to do this) but is a huge problem that is affecting everyone, impacting everything from our agriculture to our fisheries. It’s even estimated that in the United States, the damage and control costs of invasive species costs taxpayers more than $138 billion annually (Pimentel et al., 2005).

The reason why we are offering this blog is so that we can all better understand and appreciate the significance of invasive species and its various impacts on both the natural world and our society. It is important to raise awareness and inform the public on both occurrences of invasive species and possible ways to deal with it by taking a closer look at various examples that are affecting Newfoundland and Labrador. It is our hope that through this blog, together we can become well informed and help with some of these ecological problems our province is facing.

If you’re interested in learning more about invasive species in Newfoundland and Labrador, be sure to check out this brochure: http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/wildlife/biodiversity/invasive_alien_species/exotic_species_brochure.pdf

Thanks!

Amanda & Morgan

References:

Levine, J. M. (2000). Species diversity and biological invasions: Relating local process to community          pattern. Science. 288 (5467): 852–854.

Pimentel, D., Zuniga R. and Morrison, D. (2005). Update on the environmental and economic costs          associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecological Economics. 52 (3): 273–     288.

Beautiful Plants or Harmful Aliens?

Beautiful Plants or Harmful Aliens?

             

             We are two conservation biology students studying at Memorial University of Newfoundland. This is a blog for our conservation 4650 class being written in order to highlight how conservation and invasive species practice in Newfoundland and Labrador compares to that of Canada and the rest of the world. 

We have all been exposed to harmful aliens in our lifetime. Most of us are unaware of the aliens among us.  Now we aren’t referring to small green beings from the planet mars, here we are referring to the invasive non-native plants or “aliens” that have infected the island of Newfoundland. According to Primack (2010) an invasive species is defined as an introduced species that increases in abundance at the expense of native species. This is different than just an introduced or non-native species which does not cause harm (ie. Affect the growth and development of native plants growing in the same area) to an ecosystem, or drive other species out of an area. According to Dawn Bazely (Biology Department, York University, Toronto) and The MUN Botanical Gardens², 500 of 1500 plants currently found in Newfoundland are non-native. Although not all of these are invasive, even a few invasive species can dramatically change ecosystems. There are only about 900 non-native plant species in Canada, meaning that Newfoundland has approximately 55.6%. The concentration of non-native and invasive species in Newfoundland may be due to the fact that we are an island and have historically had products shipped in from around the world, some carrying non-native seeds or plants accidentally or purposely introduced into the island. An example of such a plant is the purple loosestrife that was brought into Newfoundland as an ornamental plant and has expanded and become highly invasive. Another successful invader is the black knapweed, a species we will review in greater detail next week.

Black Knapweed, Photo by: MUN Botanical Garden: http://www.mun.ca/botgarden/plant_bio/Invasive_Alien_Species/BotanicalbMar20FINAL.pdf

References:

¹Primack, R. B. (2010). Essentials of Conservation Biology fifth edition. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates Inc. pp. 549

²MUN Botanical Gardens. Pamphlet on Invasive Alien Plants in Newfoundland and Labrador: The Other “CFAs”. http://www.mun.ca/botgarden/plant_bio/Invasive_Alien_Species/BotanicalbMar20FINAL.pdf.