David Suzuki Foundation works with B.C. bottom trawl industry to reduce habitat impacts

By Scott Wallace, Sustainable Fisheries Analyst

Today is a landmark day in the history of the B.C. trawl industry and marks a precedent-setting change in how the groundfish bottom trawl fishery operates in B.C.'s rich ocean environment. A suite of measures was announced that will reduce the impacts of this fishery on sensitive seafloor habitats. This announcement was the result of a collaborative effort between environmental organizations and the trawling industry, which was then supported by government.
For years environmental groups have been pressuring the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to reduce the environmental impacts of bottom trawl fisheries in Canada. In fact, my first task at the David Suzuki Foundation in 2006 was to prepare a report on bottom trawling in Canada. Although DFO has recently developed some policies for addressing habitat damage resulting from bottom trawl fisheries, there have been no actual changes on the water. Until now.

About three years ago, DSF started engaging in casual conversations with the groundfish bottom trawl industry about how the fishery could be improved. There was distrust on both sides. Industry claimed environmental organizations were wrongly portraying their fishery. We responded that industry needed to defensibly demonstrate they were addressing habitat impacts. This led to additional conversations involving other environmental groups, particularly the Living Oceans Society, and resulted in measures that both industry and the environmental organizations involved feel are a new standard for the management of bottom trawling habitat impacts in Canada.

One of the driving factors behind these changes has been an increased demand for sustainable seafood in the marketplace as a result of programs like SeaChoice. Most of the fish caught by this trawl fishery are sold to North American markets. Within this market, nearly every major retailer has committed to a sustainable seafood procurement policy. In recent years, SeaChoice secured sustainable seafood partnerships with the Overwaitea Food Group, Safeway Canada, Federated Co-op, and Whole Foods Canada, leading them to demand more sustainable seafood products from producers. The SeaChoice program currently ranks several species of fish coming from the bottom trawl fishery as 'red' (avoid), primarily due to the unaddressed habitat impacts, including damage to sensitive cold water corals and sponges. In order for the B.C. groundfish bottom trawl fishery to maintain and expand markets, it needed to reduce the negative effects it was having on sensitive habitats.

There are three primary changes that will take effect on April 2:

Defined boundaries for the fishery,

individual limits on coral and sponge bycatch, and

a reporting and review protocol if a combined catch of coral and sponge in excess of 20 kg occurs in a single tow.

In addition to these management measures, a review committee has also been formed to ensure that the new measures are working as planned and to address other issues concerning habitat impacts.
In terms of numbers, the overall allowable trawling area is now about 20% smaller or ~ 8200 km2 less than where the fishery has operated historically. In very deep waters (over 800m), the allowable area has been reduced by 65% from the historically trawled area. The use of individual bycatch limits for coral and sponge is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. Since 1996, each vessel has carried an onboard independent observer who records the catch of all species and now will also be responsible for recording the catches of coral and sponge. If a vessel exceeds their allowable individual limit they will need to either purchase additional quota from other vessels or be tied to the dock. The idea is that the individual skipper takes full accountability for their behavior.

The combined new management measures have been designed to provide assurances to conservation organizations and seafood retailers that the B.C. bottom trawl industry is reducing their impacts on sensitive seafloor habitats. In the coming years we will continue to work with the groundfish trawl fishery to help realize the successful implementation of these measures and evaluate their effectiveness. We will continue to report on progress and undertake renewed sustainability assessments of this fishery once the measures have been implemented and evaluated.

No one stands to benefit more from a healthy marine ecosystem than those who harvest fish. The long term viability of any wild fishery is dependent on a healthy ecosystem, which of course includes habitat. This shared value between harvesters and conservation organizations provides a focus for continued improvement to how we manage fisheries.

Thanks to the David Suzuki Foundation



Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

The Sea Urchin

Sea Urchins (Photo credit: airforcefe)

Sea urchins are some of the world’s most ubiquitous marine animals, as indeed, they can be found in nearly all corners of the planet’s oceans, as long as its main food source, algae, is present. Sea urchins are also known to prey on other invertebrates, like mussels, sponges, brittle stars, and sea cucumbers, the last two of which are from the same phylum as the sea urchin: Echinodermata. This group also includes starfish and sand dollars, and echinodermate is a Greek term that means “spiny skin.” All echinoderms share the characteristic of bi-lateral symmetry in their body composition, which becomes a five-fold symmetry as they mature.

Because its preferred source of nutrition is algae, it does have a place in a well-balanced ecosystem. However, left unchecked by predators, sea urchins can have a devastating effect on an ecosystem by obliterating macroalgae and the species that also depend on this food source to survive. Scientists call this phenomenon an “urchin barren”. Since they prefer to live in relatively shallow coastal waters, the presence of crabs, sea otters, eels, large starfish, and sea birds can help keep populations from exploding. Sea urchins are also quite popular among sushi enthusiasts, where the “roe” is collected for consumption.

Although they may seem to be rooted in one spot, sea urchins are anything but sessile. They move around by way of hundreds of tiny tube feet, just like a starfish or a sand dollar. Since their mouth is located on the underside, they spend much of their time foraging along the ocean floor, consuming algae, decaying organic matter, and other little bits of food. You may see urchins on the sea floor in colonies at times, and there is a very important reason for this. When sea urchins spawn, it takes place externally, in the water column. The male will first release its sperm, followed by a release of eggs by the female, and fertilization occurs when the eggs and sperm make contact. The more males and females there are in one consolidated area, the better chance there is to produce more embryos.

The origins of the sea urchin date back to about 450 million years ago, and have ever since been adapting to changing environments and conditions over eons to maintain their place in evolutionary history. For a creature that has no true brain, we have to take our hats off to the amazing capability for survival that the lowly sea urchin displays.

Thanks to AquaViews

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Great Lakes face stresses from run-off, invaders

Image via Wikipedia

Great Lakes shorelines are becoming clogged by algae blooms fed by agricultural run-off, while invasive mussels decimate the food chain in deeper waters, an environmental group said on Tuesday.

The five lakes, which contain one-fifth of the world's fresh water and supply tens of millions of people, may be "veering close to ecosystem collapse," the report by the National Wildlife Federation said.

"Too much food is causing massive algal blooms in Lake Erie and other coastal systems, while too little food is making fish starve in Lake Huron's offshore waters," said the group's Great Lakes director, Andy Buchsbaum.

There are many problems afflicting the Great Lakes, which in other ways have grown healthier after years of pollution.

This past summer, Lake Erie was choked by toxic algae blooms up to 2 feet thick and 10 miles wide, and algae coated some Lake Michigan coastlines. Water treatment removes the toxin, at a cost, but often creates an unpleasant odor, one of the report's authors, Julie Mida Hinderer, said in an interview.

In deeper water, prolific quagga mussels have beaten out zebra mussels and colonized vast stretches of the lake bottoms, filtering out vital plankton that is the base of the lakes' food web. This has starved small fish such as alewives, bloater fish, and rainbow smelt that in turn has hurt populations of top lake predators such as whitefish and salmon.

Both mussel species are not native and arrived in the ballast water of ocean-going ships, but quagga mussels are more of a hazard because they colonize more of the lake bottom than zebra mussels.

There has been a 95 percent decline in fish biomass in Lake Huron, one of three larger lakes, in the past 15 years, according to the report. Freshwater shrimp that are key to Lake Michigan's fishery have declined by 94 percent in 10 years.

Scientists blame too much phosphorous from farm fertilizer runoff for the algae blooms, which decompose and create an oxygen-depleted "dead zone" in the Lake Erie.

Among the report's recommendations are for farmers to leave buffer zones between farmland and waterways, and better enforcement of clean water laws. Scientists are also experimenting with open water applications of a microbial agent that kills mussels, and with introducing mussel-eating fish.

The problems predate the threat to the lakes' $7 billion fishery posed by Asian carp, which authorities are desperately trying to block from migrating from the Mississippi River watershed -- though the invading carp could prove to be a benefit in that they eat an algae carpeting lake beaches.

Thanks to Andrew Stern and Reuters

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Related articles

• Lake Erie: Our Canary is Dying (fragmentsfromfloyd.com)
• Extreme Heat and 'Stormwater Runoff' Hurting Lake Erie (thewmeacblog.org)
• Chemical-munching mussels contaminating Great Lakes (calgaryherald.com)

The Taming of the Lionfish

The lionfish is a hot item in SCUBA current events. Though beautiful to observe, the lionfish has infiltrated a marine ecosystem it does not belong to, causing devastating effects to coral reef systems in the Atlantic along the eastern cost of the US and the Caribbean. Local government and environmental agencies are beseeching SCUBA divers to actively hunt and kill the lionfish, which as it turns out, is a rather tasty fish that can be prepared in a variety of ways. So what’s the big deal about lionfish?

Lionfish is the common name for a genus of fish called Pterois, which features about 15 different species. There are 2 species which have invaded the Atlantic and Caribbean: P. volitans and P. miles. Originally from the waters of the Indo-Pacific region, lionfish have been a very popular choice for aquarium enthusiasts in the US for quite some time. There are several theories as to how the lionfish came to be in the local environment. One such theory is that the invasion was facilitated through the destruction of a southern Florida aquarium during Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Another tells of lionfish being accidentally released following the hurricane, and yet another proposes aquarium owners were deliberately releasing them into the sea, unsatisfied with the way the lionfish performed in the aquarium. Still others claim to have spotted the lionfish on local reefs even before Hurricane Andrew.

The lionfish has been able to reproduce at such profuse levels due to certain crucial factors:
Lionfish have no natural predators on the reefs of the Atlantic and Caribbean. Any creature that sits at the top of the food chain, unchecked by nature, will enjoy the privilege of populating an area with its own species. But this can have disastrous implications for the area as the system becomes more imbalanced.

Lionfish have a voracious, unbiased appetite for reef species. The lionfish is an indiscriminate predator, feeding on invertebrates, small fish, mollusks, and juvenile species in large amounts. Up to 6 species of fish have been found in a lionfish stomach at one time. They are aggressive and skilled hunters, using specialized characteristics of their bodies to stalk and overtake prey, which they do in one giant swallow.

Lionfish spawn at a highly accelerated rate. The female lionfish releases clusters of 2,000 to 15,000 eggs at one time, which are then fertilized by the male, and hatch 36 hours later. Within 3 days they are competent swimmers, and capable of capturing and consuming small prey. Within 20 – 40 days, the lionfish begins its metamorphosis to adult. Lionfish females can repeat this process on a monthly basis with no set breeding season, and the typical lionfish lives between 5 and 15 years.

Lionfish are hostile and venomous. The lionfish is covered in long, venomous spines that serve as a deterrent to predators in its natural environment, and are incorporated into the capture of some prey. The effect of the venom on prey is fatal, whereas the effect on humans is painful, and can bring about symptoms of nausea and fever, but is very rarely fatal. They are extremely aggressive toward other reef species, either chasing them away from the reef or consuming them in a territorial play.

According to research, lionfish are responsible for wiping out up to 80% of reef species in the Atlantic and Caribbean. A few studies have shown the Caribbean grouper to be a predator of the lionfish, but due to overfishing, there are not enough grouper to contain the wild spread of lionfish populations. That’s where SCUBA divers, snorkelers, and anglers come in.

If you live in these areas or will be traveling to one soon, check into local programs dedicated to controlling lionfish populations. Although complete eradication is deemed unrealistic, people with SCUBA training can be of immense assistance in keeping reef ecosystems from being ravaged by this most unwelcome visitor.

Photos via NOAA’s National Ocean Service, mtarlock, Serge Melki

thanks to Book Your Dive and Creedence

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Related articles

• Lionfish Threaten Coral Reefs Near Fla. (npr.org)
• Bonaire Lionfish Hunters (repeatingislands.com)
• Answer for Invasive Species: Put It on a Plate and Eat It (nytimes.com)

New York City - Diving in the City that Never Sleeps

On a nice summer weekend on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, you might expect to see a few joggers, a line for bagels and lox at Barney Greengrass, or maybe the guy who delivers the Times. It's no wonder I always get a few odd looks from the doormen who see me pushing a luggage cart filled with steel 120s, a dry suit, and a camera big enough for its own car seat down the sidewalk in the early morning.

New Yorkers are very familiar with our city's wildlife – the pigeons that have evolved the reflexes of a cab driver to work in heavy traffic, and the squirrels who hunt for discarded pretzels in Central Park. You would think we would understand that nature doesn't stop at Battery Park. But when I mention to any non-diver (or a typical Caribbean diver) that I like to dive locally, I usually get the same response: "You must be crazy. What is there to see? And even if there was anything, how can you see it through all that gunk?"

Even when I show them a few of the images on my iPhone, it's still hard for them to believe the Big Apple is sitting on the edge of a vibrant, thriving ecosystem in relatively clear water. The reason for this is the water most of us see on a daily basis is in the Hudson and East rivers. And while a public safety diver might be rightly proud of his ability to find a discarded shell casing in a silt bottom by feel alone, I prefer to leave those challenging river dives to the professionals.

Unless we dive, fish or boat, we might forget about the New York Bight, the triangle of relatively shallow ocean just past the five mile wide channel between Breezy Point in Queens and Sandy Hook in New Jersey, where Lower New York Bay empties into the Atlantic. This area is well appreciated by the local diving community for its thousands of shipwrecks; the Bight has been a major shipping channel for 500 years. But even in these circles, the focus tends to be on wrecks, exploration and artifacts. Marine life does occasionally figure into the dive plans on the local boats, but typically just those species that taste good with butter sauce!

While there aren't a lot of tourists from Bonaire or Sharm el-Sheikh coming to the Jersey Shore to experience our marine biodiversity, it doesn't take long to realize there is plenty to see here for the dedicated fish-spotter. Unlike wide angle photography, good close up images can be obtained with relatively inexpensive gear. By shooting subjects just a few inches from your lens port, and by bringing your own light with you, you can get images just as good as any from the Caribbean. Macro photographs aren't really affected by the limited ambient light, the lack of long distance visibility, and the presence of particulate matter that can cause backscatter.

Shipwrecks are densely populated communities of life that dot the floor of the seabed. The countless nooks and crannies of any sort of structure serve as the perfect habitat for the small creatures that form the basis of a much larger food chain. This is the concept behind the artificial reef programs, in which ships and other structures are sunk to provide shelter for small invertebrates and growing fish larvae. The small organisms attract larger fish who hunt them; making shipwrecks attractive to both divers and fishing boats alike. Indeed, one of the main entanglement hazards around our wrecks is monofilament fishing line or even nets. For this reason, be sure to bring at least two cutting devices to any such dive – a knife and a set of shears is best.

You can also find healthy marine life in the New York area without the need to wake up at 3 a.m. to schlep out to Long Island or New Jersey for a boat ride. There are a number of beach dives within reasonable driving distance. While the visibility is rarely as good as it is on the offshore wrecks, this is less of a problem if your goal is to find the little critters that inhabit the rocky structures scattered within a few yards of the shoreline. Since macro photography is far less dependant on visibility than is wide angle, you can enjoy a productive hunt for hours in relatively cloudy water if you know where to look and bring a good strobe.

One of my favorite beach dives (and the one closest to Manhattan) is Beach 8th street, in Far Rockaway, Queens, near JFK airport. Divers have been coming here for years, sharing the waters with the locals who fish from the pier. In addition to native species such as Black Sea Bass, Summer Flounder, Starfish, Mussels and Crabs, in the summer months you can find a number tropical fish who ride the Gulf Stream north along the Atlantic Coast. I have seen plenty of Spotfin Butterfly fish, as well as juvenile Snowy Grouper and Horned Blennies in this area.

While these waters offer terrific dives, several cautions must be observed. First, since the closing of the "Almost Paradise" facility in 2003, divers park on the street and enter the beach through a hole in the fence. This restaurant and diver hangout used to offer parking, beach access, rest rooms and hot showers for a price. Now the diving is free, but make sure to use the bathroom before you arrive – facilities at a nearby public park or housing complex may not be available.

Furthermore, the East Rockaway inlet is a tidal zone connecting the ocean to the Middle Bay waters that separate Long Beach from Long Island. That means diving is, for the most part, only possible at slack high tide when the swift current stops moving for an hour or so and the water is at its deepest, twice a day. In the past, some adventuresome divers would ride the current east to the Atlantic Beach Bridge and back by timing their entry just before the reversal; this clearly added another element of risk to diving in an active ship channel! These days, however, diving in the area around the bridge is not allowed due to heightened security after 9/11.

There are two high slacks a day, with tidal data published in many places online. Look at your work schedule and the tide tables, and figure out your best shot taking into consideration the time of day and traffic. Even then, on more than one occasion, I have driven my gear out to the inlet, just to scrub the dive because of poor visibility. While the visibility can be quite good, it is also very variable and there is no easy way of predicting it ahead of time.

The water is about 35-40 feet deep in mid channel, and the bottom slopes down from the water's edge on either side of the 300 yard wide inlet. Dive flags can alert boat traffic to your presence, but care should be taken to avoid surfacing anywhere but the shallow water near the beach and pier on the north shore. Navigation is easy as long as you are diving without current; just follow the slope to the north to get home. Because of the fishing activity in the area, make sure you have equipment to cut any potentially entangling fishing lines, as mentioned above.

Beach 8th street is clearly not a Caribbean resort, where easy diving is a stroll away and 24 hours a day. But it more than makes up for this by being available for the price of an air fill and a bridge toll, as well as the chance to fit a dive into a busy schedule after a day's work.

I end my local diving days by unloading my car outside my apartment, filling up the luggage cart with tanks, back plate and regulators, draping my dry suit over the bar. My neighbors sometimes ask me where I have been with all that gear. I reply "I just went out for a dip; it was such a nice day."

Thanks to Michael Rothschild
Guest Writer, Dive News Network

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

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10 Things to Check Before Your Next Dive Trip

Image via Wikipedia

Here are the Top Ten Things to Ask Your Dive Company Before You Book Your Trip with Them.


Remember the difference in price is often the difference in quality.



1. Is your dive equipment serviced by trained and certified technicians?

This may seem obvious, but worth checking. Make sure the servicing is performed as per the manufacturers’ recommendations. Common mistakes include reusing consumable items, trying to service the equipment without the proper training and leaving it too long between servicing.

2. Are they a member of a reputable and recognized training organization?

There are too many too mention here but the most common ones are SSI, PADI, CMAS, BSAC, TDI/SDI. This is important too ensure that they are kept up to date with the latest in training and procedures in case anything does go wrong.

3. How Many People are Diving at Once?

To truly enjoy your dive experience it is best to keep the numbers in the group as small as your can. This also reduces any impact that you may have on the environment, such as scaring away fish and stirring up the bottom.

4. What is the Ratio from Instructor to Student or Guide to Diver?

There are regulations covering the first point so numbers will vary under that amount, but it is best to ask before you go so you are not shocked. If you want a smaller group you may have to pay for it. Smaller amount of divers per guide allows for a much smoother and personal dive, allowing the dive to be tailored for what you expect to see on the dive.

5. Are they a member of a relevant local dive organization?

Like point 2 above this ensures that you have a operator that is involved and up to date with the latest guidelines or safety procedures for that region.

6. Do they support local or global efforts in conservation or research?

This gives you a great indication on the attitude of the dive company and makes sure you get great dive karma. Sustaining the marine environment shows the company is interested in the longevity of the local or global ecosystem and is doing their bit to contribute.

7. Do you have travel or dive insurance that gives you the coverage you need?

This will include all sorts of things that may happen that can throw your dive trip into disarray. These may include an illness, illness of a relative, travel agent or operator going bankrupt, weather related cancellations, flight cancellations.

8. What is the cancellation policy of the dive company?

Do they give full refunds for weather or other cancellations? Do they have an immediate no refund policy for cancellations or are they flexible?

9. Are the owners or managers going on their own trips?

Quality control to make sure that you have a great experience is often done with management teams that have a more hands on approach. By taking the time to experience the trip and meet the guests shows that they are going the extra mile to make sure you have the best experience possible.

10. How far is the boat/resort really away from the hotel?

Often people follow the old “we’re just 10 minutes away” story. Use Google Maps or other technologies to get a true picture of where you are in relation to the boat. Better still see if they can arrange transport for you to arrive at the boat on time and not have to lug dive gear around.

Thanks to New Horizon

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

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