BC Coastal Marine Science Workshop
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ca . oceannetworks BC Coastal Marine Science Workshop Victoria, BC February 16 & 17, 2015 Executive Summary Ocean Networks Canada hosted a workshop on February 16 & 17, 2015 to gather many of the active researchers in the BC coastal marine science community and assess the state of research in our coastal waters. With over 40 delegates representing twelve organizations and a small team of ONC staff, the workshop provided an avenue for an open and progressive discussion on the state of coastal oceanography research along the entire Pacific margin. The first day included a few plenary presentations that established the background canvas that is the North East Pacific, followed by an opportunity for each organization to present an overview of their active science programs and plans moving forward. An objective of the workshop was to initiate the development of a roadmap (or chart) of where BC marine science is and where it is and should be heading. Discussions on issues, methods, and opportunities on the second day helped to identify a variety of strategies and the beginning of a framework to coordinate and collaborate across disciplines, geographic regions, and between organizations. Some specific highlights include: A clear directive to explore the establishment of a centralized database of metadata related to all the observations and information available to the marine science community, to facilitate efficient exploration and minimize redundancy and the potential for data loss. Such an archive should also include critical information on data collection and analysis techniques, assuming standard or documented data QA/QC procedures have been followed. It is anticipated that established core sampling and monitoring programs in the southern regions would continue, and that additional and new programs be encouraged and established in the central and northern coasts. Major organizations, such as DFO and ONC should provide the canvas (including surveys and time series), on which the smaller research programs can layer the process oriented studies. Several focused studies were identified for immediate collaboration, including a focused suite of experiments in Saanich Inlet, planned for 2016. Similar events or workshops, co-sponsored by several of the key organizations and expanded to ensure inclusive participation, could be held on an annual basis to foster on-going collaboration and coordination of BC marine science. Future events might focus some of the discussion on specific issues, or towards a clear objective, such as a collaborative proposal. Ocean Networks Canada would like to thank all those who participated in this workshop and helped make it a success. 2 Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 2 Introduction and Workshop Objectives ............................................................................ 5 Summary Outcomes and Next Steps ................................................................................ 6 Presentation Summaries .................................................................................................... 8 Day 1 (March 16, 2015 AM) - Plenary ............................................................................. 8 BC Coastal Oceanography – Bill Crawford ................................................................ 8 Marine Ecology in BC – Ian Perry ................................................................................ 8 Council of Canadian Academies – Kim Juniper ......................................................... 8 Day 1 (March 16, 2015 PM) – Organization Summaries .............................................. 9 UBC Oceanography – Rich Pawlowicz ........................................................................ 9 MEOPAR (Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction, and Response) – Susan Allen .................................................................................................................... 9 UVic Geography – Rosaline Canessa .......................................................................... 9 Pacific Salmon Foundation – Isobel Pearsall/Eileen Jones ...................................... 9 Department of Fisheries and Ocean/Institute of Ocean Sciences – Sophia Johannessen ................................................................................................................ 10 Ocean Networks Canada’s Smart Ocean BC Initiative – Adrian Round and Maia Hoeberechts ................................................................................................................ 10 BC Hydrophone Network – Kathy Heise .................................................................. 10 Hakai Institute – Brian Hunt and Margot Hessing-Lewis ....................................... 10 University of Victoria – Jody Klymak, Roberta Hamme, and Maycira Costa ........ 11 Coastal Ocean Research Institute (CORI, Vancouver Aquarium) – Peter Ross ... 11 ASL Environmental Sciences – Eduardo Loos ......................................................... 11 Raincoast Conservation Foundation – Andrew Rosenberger ............................... 11 Day 2 (March 12, 2015 AM) – Review and Break-out Sessions ................................. 11 Review and Day-1 Summary – Richard Dewey and Discussion ............................ 11 Group-1 (Biffard, Jackson, Vagle, Waterman, DeJong, Owens, Scherwath) ......... 12 Group-2: (Allen, Dower, Lowe, Ross, Hunt, Yurk, Hessing-Lewis, Pawlowicz, Sastri) ........................................................................................................................... 13 3 Group-3: (Klymak, Bringue, Pearsall, Hamme, Curran, Jones, Costa, Insua) ....... 13 Day 2 (March 12, 2015 MM) – Review and Summary ................................................ 13 Summary and Conclusions ....................................................................................... 13 Appendix A – Workshop Attendees ................................................................................. 14 Appendix B – Agenda ......................................................................................................... 15 Appendix C – Presentations .............................................................................................. 16 4 Introduction and Workshop Objectives The coastal marine waters of British Columbia represent a complex geographic environment stretching from Juan de Fuca Strait in the south, around Vancouver Island to the west over the continental shelf and east through the Salish Sea, northward through Queen Charlotte Sound and Hecate Strait, west and east of Haida Gwaii to Dixon Entrance (Figure 1). The oceanography is dominated by regional forcing from the Northeast Pacific, and the hydrography of the coastal mountains, fjords, and inlets. The marine ecology is equally diverse, with many local, regional, and large-scale migratory ecosystems. Although marine research in the region has a comprehensive history and the breadth of organizations conducting and supporting marine research is impressive, there remain many gaps in our knowledge and available resources limit the community’s capacity to address many issues and cover the vast regions. A key objective of the workshop was to bring together the marine research community and to begin identifying issues and developing coordinated solutions: charting a course for BC marine research. Figure 1. Chart of the coast of BC. 5 The goals of the workshop were to bring together the British Columbia marine science and research community in an effort to: assess the present state of knowledge for the marine environment of BC, identify gaps in our knowledge, understanding, and capacity, share program activities and near-term organizational plans, assess the priorities of the community to advance the scientific knowledge in the near future in specific fields or regions, and identify existing or forthcoming resources that could be harnessed for immediate or potential collaboration. The format of the two day workshop consisted of: Plenary introductions to provide an over-view of the BC marine environment. Presentations by all participating organizations to summarize activities and near-term plans. Break-out discussion groups to address a variety of key issues, including: o interdisciplinary knowledge gaps by region or process, o the identification of any “bell weather” locations which should be a focus for improved understanding and could act as indicators of regional conditions, o how and who to best coordinate research efforts with for given processes or in specific regions, and o what common resources or initiatives might assist in advancing the boarder marine science efforts in BC. The following sections include a brief summary of the outcomes and next possible steps, summaries of the information presented and highlights of the discussions that followed. Finally, the Appendices include A) the list of attendees, B) the original agenda, and finally C) the available presentations themselves. Summary Outcomes and Next Steps Seasonal large scale forcing is generally understood: Upwelling/down-welling seasons, tides, estuary/hydrology cycles, although nature continues to throw anomalous years (2014) at us. However, there remain both regions and fundamental questions that continue to guide active research objectives. For example: Where does all the fresh water go? Do we understand the full extent of coastal habitat utilization for all phases