GAMS Holds Successful Two-Day Industry Forum
The fifth annual Fishermen’s Forum, “Sustaining Fisheries: Challenges and Changes” took place at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, on November 21-22.
The Fishermen’s Forum is organized by The Gulf Aquarium and Marine Station (GAMS). The Forum is a free event, open to all members of the local fishing associations, fishing and aquaculture industries, government and academic scientists, NGO’s and the public and other stakeholders in the sustainability of the fisheries and the coastal communities that depend on them.
The Fisherman’s Forum was established to enhance interactions between these stakeholders by providing opportunity to meet each other and to discuss issues that affect both the fisheries and the communities that depend on them. Forum attendees are invited to participate in a variety of panels, presentations, and informal round-table discussions.
This year’s Forum was organized in response to suggestions made by local fishermen on issues of specific interest to them.
Speakers and panelists addressed concerns on changes due to the effects of rising ocean temperatures and acidity, the status of groundfish populations in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, concerns about predator species such as seals, striped bass and green crab, changes in diversification of licenses, changes and opportunities offered by new aquaculture regulations and by ecotourism, and of course, the topic of bait availability and alternatives.
GAMS is a non-profit cooperative that was founded to establish a research and aquarium facility on Cape Breton Island to promote the sustainability of the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. GAMS plans to build the Gulf Marine Centre on the waterfront of Grand Etang Harbour where it presently supports a field station and small but busy discovery centre. More information about GAMS can be found at www.cmag-gams.org
Highlights from the Forum
The first presentation of the Forum by lead lobster biologist of the Maine State Dept. of Marine Resources (DMR), Kathleen Reardon, got participants thinking about the future of their own fisheries.
Forum attendees were intrigued to learn about the complexity of the seven different management areas along the Eastern seaboard, and the shift in landings since the late 90s.
The coast is split into two key stock assessment areas, each showing drastically different population trends. The coast of Maine now accounts for 80-85 per cent of all U.S. lobster landings and the stock assessments continue to climb, while the southern states of New England have been in decline since the late 90s and show no sign of recovery.
What was the cause of this decline? More days of ocean temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius, complemented by warm-water-loving Shell Disease and continued fishing pressure are thought to be contributors to the industry decline. Fishers were also interested in hearing that there was no corporate ownership of licenses state-wide.
The panel on Fishermen’s Science spear-headed themes that would continue to show up throughout the remaining Fishermen’s Forum presentations.
The commercial fisheries are often clouded with doom and gloom prospects and a history of being an unpredictable industry.
The Fishermen’s Science panel, however, offered a much more positive view by highlighting some of the great science being conducted by local fishing associations and by demonstrating species-management success stories and illustrating trust-worthy collaborations with the DFO.
Jenna Munden, science coordinator for the Herring Science Council (HSC), presented the origin of the industry-derived science council responsible for providing detailed stock abundance data of the SW Nova/Bay of Fundy herring fishery following federal funding cuts in the early 2000s.
By continuing to collect stock data after funding from DFO ceased, the HSC maintained the thorough in-season management approach (Stephenson et al. 1999) and developed a flourishing collaborative relationship with the DFO.
With funding stability provided by its membership, the HSC is able to collect abundance data for two separate spawning components during the spawning season and conducting a dozen acoustic surveys of spawning biomass.
The benefits of such science include opportunity for industry to see first-hand an increased stability in their stocks due to collaborative management efforts, an improved data set informing management decisions, less uncertainty and surprise in management changes, a greater consensus and therefore compliance to management restrictions and the cultivation of a long-term mindset to sustain their industry.
In retro-spec, we are seeing the fruits of changes in mentality on both sides of the line compared to 20 years ago. Certainly a success story. Jenna Munden, HSC science coordinator, herringsciencecoordinator@ gmail.com, (506) 609-1095.
Following a presentation by the Area 19 Snow Crab Association on its own temperature monitoring initiative, biologists of the DFO Gulf Region encouraged participants in their efforts to collect such data and stressed the value of fisher-collected science when considering the long-term stability of their fishery.
Fishers are the scientists on the water, making experimental decisions every day about where to set traps based on patterns they observe. However, the potential impact of their observations can be much greater when they set out to test their question in collaboration with DFO/Academia/other fishers who may have complementary information.
This concept was once again demonstrated during the Groundfish panel presentations.
The PEI Fishermen’s Association shared their journey to fill knowledge gaps and help inform management decisions about the halibut of the Southern Gulf. Theirs was a success story which highlighted the challenges and hurdles that took place before establishing the 2013-2015 Atlantic Halibut Research Project in collaboration with the DFO Gulf Region.
It was encouraging to hear that “the opportunities and positives that came from getting involved in fishermen-driven research are tremendous.”
With their foot in the door, the association has been able to make more connections with the academic and scientific world, have greater access to funds through collaboration, and is full of new questions that the fishers hope to research. The most important benefit however, is that the fishers have a sense of ownership and trust of the science that will help inform management decisions. Presenter Laura Ramsay, research associate, PEIFA, (902) 393-2281 (c), (902) 556-4050 (o).
The discussion that resulted from the bait panel demonstrated the very broad concern for the future of bait species.
The economic impact that unstable bait-stocks might have on fishing communities is two-fold. Not only is research necessary to monitor the health of species such as mackerel, herring and redfish for the lobster and crab industry, but the bait-fishery helps sustain the economies of rural coastal communities above and beyond the short two to three-month fishery in many cases.
Two schools of thought emerged from the discussion: whether we should continue researching alternative bait species and “fish-down-the-line”, or whether we need to start viewing the use of bait in an altogether different way.
Regardless the school of thought, all were in agreement that the bait-stocks need more research and an updated assessment plan. This brought up lots of questions for further research: all-natural bait pucks vs. chemical bait pucks; creating bait fisheries to manage invasive species; bait that attracts but does not get consumed within a day; determining which bait are equally effective; the amount of bait/per trap that is needed; the restrictions that the federal government need to place on imported bait.
Participants wanted to know what other issues should be considered, such as the increased use of imported bait. There is plenty of potential, and need, for research on bait and bait species.
There was some discussion of the use of green crabs as lobster bait.
Fishermen who had used green crabs found that only live crabs were attractive to lobsters. A couple years ago, there was much fuss made throughout the media about the use of green crabs as lobster bait supposedly transferring a trematode parasite.
Dr. Sophie St-Hilaire from the Atlantic Vet College was able to reassure participants that the parasite occurs in both green crab and lobster and that the research did not demonstrate that the lobster had received the parasite from the green crab.
Lobsters are just one of a number of intermediate hosts for the non-transmittable parasite, and of course, lobsters had access to green crabs before they were being used as bait. Dr. St-Hilaire’s discussion of her research into finding other uses for the green crab, which is a gourmet item in Europe, led to many questions about the status of green crab licenses.
Much of the valuable discussions came from the questions addressed to speakers and from lively round-table sessions following the presentations.
Although the Forum highlighted great examples of fisher-initiated science, one thing was clear: much of the science is being paid for out of the fishermen’s pockets.
Why should the science that is responsible for managing an industry which sustains the majority of the income for Atlantic Canada’s rural communities come predominantly from the federal government, or the fisher’s themselves?
We find ourselves in a part of Canada with numerous highly credited universities, and yet fishing associations, keen on investigating the questions they have about their livelihood, struggle to find the funds and guidance to do science. What are the hurdles that keep associations from collaborating with researchers, or disqualify them from receiving research grants?
The second day of the Forum started off with more positive presentations.
The executive director of Aquaculture from the Nova Scotia Dept. of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Bruce Hancock, discussed the province’s response to the growing aquaculture industry and understanding of its importance.
Providing economy for the rural communities, a well-paying industry with ample demand, and complementing the existing infrastructure of fishing communities, Mr. Hancock described aquaculture as a “smart-bomb” of provincial investments.
As such, the province felt it important to review and update regulations and management measures to meet the growth in three important ways: increasing public trust and investor confidence through increased stakeholder engagements and science-based decisions; ensuring the maximized use of existing leases by shortening the process to transfer to new owners and identifying suitable areas paired with community interest; and re-arranging funds to ensure that there is ample industry support available for business development, technical support and research and development.
This presentation demonstrated pro-active planning on the province’s part and a recognition of the importance of this industry.
Other areas that drew interest included the dynamic presentation about Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture, by Professor Thierry Chopin from the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, and a presentation by Rod Beresford of Cape Breton University that highlighted his exciting research on oysters of the Bras D’Or Lakes and the MSX parasite (Haplosporidium nelsoni).
Much is still unknown about the parasite, including the basics of its life-cycle, despite the massive die-offs causing the down-turn for most of Cape Breton’s oyster industry. However the variation of salinity in the Bras D’Or Lakes is proving to be the perfect field in which to study the parasite and learn about its tolerance levels. Beresford reported that some short-term mitigation trials are having a 100 per cent survival rate. Rod Beresford at CBU for more info: (902)563-1609, rod_beresford@ cbu.ca.
The final panel of the Forum asked participants to think about the economic sustainability of rural coastal communities and underdeveloped avenues for alternative income.
It is these rural communities that are more often-than-not sustained by industries that fluctuate from year-to-year, namely due to the commercial fisheries and tourism. This panel tied-in well with a presentation from an emerging grass-roots company that had presented the previous day.
Maritime Rockweed is a community-focused company based out of Tusket, but beginning operations in Sheet Harbour. Its slogan, “Small Footprint. Big Impact.” describes the desire to harvest rockweed sustainably, but to operate in a way that keeps the generated income at the local-level, offering fair wage, off-season employment for fishing communities. Maritime Rockweed convincingly demonstrated a desire to see their communities sustained and managed with a long-term mentality.
Following this theme, the Guysborough County Inshore Fishing Association representative, Ginny Boudreau, described how a year-round fishery can replace a profitable but short two-month lobster or snow crab season if needed.
The benefits of such a fishery include, “not having all your eggs in one basket”; should one species be experiencing a bad year, it’s possible to put more fishing effort into another species to pick up the slack.
The biggest impact of Ms. Boudreau’s presentation came when she pointed out that diversified fishers are employed most if not all of the year, and a lack of processors in the area means that many fishers peddle or sell their product privately, which in turn keeps fishers from working in Alberta for the off-season, and keeps the revenue circulating locally, sustaining the rural communities. Ginny Boudreau, GCIFA Science Coordinator, (902) 366-2266(o).
Forum attendees also heard from Inverness South Anglers Association member, Geoff Nishi, about the under-developed opportunity that recreational fishing offers rural communities as a form of Ecotourism.
This concept was supported by a presentation by Donelda MacAskill (owner of Donelda’s Puffin Boat Tours) about the great potential that rural fishing communities have to offer experiential-tours.
She described how ten years ago, the average tourist was content to sleep in a hotel, spend four hours on a bus, stop for photo opportunities and meal-breaks, and then hop back on a bus for four more hours. “Nowadays, tourists want to be hands-on. They want an experience.”
Donelda described how the day-to-day life of rural fishing communities is novel for many tourists and how simply explaining or demonstrating the tasks that may seem mundane can be turned into a captivating, experiential-learning based tour that tourists really enjoy. She was honest with Forum attendees, admitting that tourism might be a tough industry to be in, but spoke convincingly about the untapped resources that fishing communities have to offer.
The forum organizers will soon make available a summary report of the Fishermen’s Forum on the GAMS website. They are already planning the Sixth Annual Fishermen’s Forum and are seeking suggestions and help in organizing the event, to take place in the fall of 2017.
