Empowering Coastal Communities Annual Report 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019
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Empowering coastal communities Annual Report 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019 A UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA INITIATIVE Ocean Networks Canada // Annual Report 2018 – 2019 From deep sea to community-based observing Understanding our changing ocean and coastline has never been more important. With the longest coastline in the world, the well-being and livelihoods of Canada’s coastal and Indigenous communities depend upon the health, safety, and management of our ocean at this critical time. 04 06 08 10 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 Turning Data North Coast Vancouver and The Arctic Building Youth Science Community World-class Data Expedition 2018 Northeast Pacific Women at #knowtheocean Into Knowledge of British Campbell River Capacity Ambassadors Fishers and Tools From Cosmos to Seamounts the Helm Media Highlights Columbia Core Expedition 2 3 Ocean Networks Canada // Annual Report 2018 – 2019 Turning data into knowledge Arctic Ocean GASCOYNE INLET CAMBRIDGE BAY GJOA HAVEN KUGLUKTUK NUNAVUT IQALUIT Hudson Bay CANADA Ocean Networks Canada’s observatories Since 2012, ONC has continued to innovate and communities, these custom provide a real-time connection to a diverse adapt ocean observing technology in collaboration observing systems are designed ONC has helped increase and improve Tsleil-Waututh range of ocean environments in the with coastal communities who are experiencing to meet local needs and empower Nation’s scientific monitoring capacity, including ocean changes first hand. By complementing these youth, elders, and leaders with the northeast Pacific, the Arctic, and the Atlantic. providing equipment, important ongoing training community-based observing systems with education, tools and knowledge they need to for community members, and support for using the Open access data from thousands of training, and outreach programs in ocean technology make informed decisions about data and information. This contributes to our long- and data interpretation, we are empowering their changing coastal and marine term goals of producing trustworthy science to inform sensors in the deep sea and coastal areas communities and building our joint expertise in ocean resources. This ocean intelligence support scientific research and deliver data monitoring. can inform actions and policy to management and decision-making. and data products important for ocean ensure continued community Spencer Taft | Cumulative Effects Project Manager, literacy and decision-making. In partnership with coastal and Indigenous resilience. Tsleil-Waututh Nation 4 5 Ocean Networks Canada // Annual Report 2018 – 2019 North Coast of British Columbia The ocean surrounding the Great Bear Rainforest on the north and central coasts of British Columbia is one of the richest marine ecosystems in the world. ONC has three community observatories that monitor this area of biological, cultural, and economic significance where safe transportation is a growing focus of attention. Prince Rupert is located in Ts’msyen territory. The gathered by the observatories will support safer community observatory has three instrumented sites; shipping and incident response in these pristine coastal Digby Island, Ridley Island, and at the Atlin Terminal. The communities. The Haisla people have locations support two seafloor platforms, a land-based lived off the land and oceanographic radar system, and weather stations. The Kitamaat Village is home to the Haisla people, located observing systems were developed in collaboration at the head of Douglas Channel. During this time of water resources of the with community members and leadership from the increased economic development, the Kitamaat Village Douglas Channel and Metlakatla, Lax Kw’alaams, Kitselas, Kitsumkalum, and community observatory gathers benchmark data on our traditional territory Gitxaala Nations, as well as with the Port of Prince the ocean environment before further waterfront for hundreds of years, Rupert and the Port Environmental Stewardship development takes place. The shore station—equipped and protecting these Committee. with a camera and weather station—is cabled to resources for future underwater instruments that track and record water generations is a strong Home to North America’s deepest natural harbour, quality parameters, underwater sounds of marine commitment for every Prince Rupert is the fastest growing port for trans-Pacific mammals and vessels, and livestream video from an Haisla member. trade. The area is also home to abundant marine life underwater camera. In addition, the observatory is and creates a natural feeding ground for grey whales, equipped with an Automatic Identification System (AIS) Haisla Nation website humpbacks, and orcas. The real-time, long-term data antenna to track large vessels in the region. 6 7 Ocean Networks Canada // Annual Report 2018 – 2019 Vancouver Campbell River Installed in March 2016, the Campbell River community observatory in Discovery Passage is located within Kwakwaka’wakw and Coast Salish Territory. This area has seen progressive growth of marine traffic over the years, and it is important to have baseline data of the local marine environment before additional development begins. The publicly available scientific data from this observatory contributes to the assessment of any long-term, cumulative, or accident- related impacts. ONC’s underwater cameras allow scientists and communities to make visual observations in ocean environments that are difficult to access or study on a regular basis. These cameras can be used for a variety of scientific purposes, including observing previously Protected from the open ocean, the calm the-art Internet-connected seafloor observatory and a unseen behaviour of fish and invertebrates, and long- term monitoring of biodiversity under changing ocean waters of Burrard Inlet form Vancouver’s mobile Community Fishers application that allows vessel operators to collect comprehensive ocean data, from conditions. primary port area. As part of the Salish the seafloor to the surface. Sea—an intricate network of coastal waterways that winds through southern “This project highlights the continued investments our British Columbia and Washington government is making in protecting and restoring our ocean and marine ecosystems. I continue to work closely State—it is considered one of the most with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation and organizations like biologically rich inland seas in the world. ONC to ensure that we are restoring our environment for the benefit of future generations ,” says Terry Beech, In 2019, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation worked with Member of Parliament Burnaby North Seymore. ONC to install a community observatory in Burrard Inlet to monitor the health of this busy downtown waterway. The observatory is helping us understand Tsleil-Waututh envisions a sustainable the cumulative effects of climate change, industry, and development on environmental conditions. This area future for Burrard Inlet, where wild foods is home to Canada’s largest seaport, several densely harvested by our ancestors are abundant populated cities, the endangered southern resident and our waters are clean and healthy. killer whales, and many unique ocean environments, The launch of this new partnership is an such as the naturally anoxic glacial fjord at Saanich Inlet important step to ensure the future of and the turbulent Fraser River delta. our region. Chief Maureen Thomas | Tsleil-Waututh Nation The scientific observing systems provided by ONC and funded by the Federal government include a state-of- 8 9 Ocean Networks Canada // Annual Report 2018 – 2019 The Arctic ONC and its partners in Indigenous communities Building on seven years of continuous ocean monitoring in Cambridge Bay, ONC has are working together expanded its reach and partnerships within the Inuit Nunangat region, working with a using instrument-based growing number of Nunavut communities to combine traditional and local knowledge monitoring, Indigenous with the collection, analysis, and use of scientific ocean data. knowledge, and local observations to understand the impacts of changing A data acquisition pipeline was designed and implemented by ocean conditions at local ONC to permit communities and and global scales. scientists to have open access to Maia Hoeberechts | Associate ocean and ice data collected through Director Learning & Community the Canadian Rangers Ocean Watch Engagement, ONC (CROW) program with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. A light-weight Community Engagement data portal, planned for northern in the Arctic. Internet connectivity, was designed and implemented to make these ONC successfully engaged a wide data easily available in the regions in range of knowledge holders, college which they are being collected. students, and youth in four Nunavut communities (Kugluktuk, Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Iqaluit) along with northern and southern scientists from post-secondary institutions, non-profit organizations, and government sectors to better understand changing ocean, ice, and weather conditions. Through a total of 32 interviews and six workshops, Nunavut community members exchanged knowledge about monitoring data, observations, and impact of changes in weather, climate, and ice on community activities. Open discussions were held in each community at annual public meetings to share project results and seek community input and feedback. All project activities were designed, executed, and guided through collaboration between researchers and oversight committees in each community. This project was supported