Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #109: Arctic marine biodiversity and ecosystem research  (AMBER)

Outline
The lack of information in the Canadian Arctic Ocean on the fish species distributions, their densities and ability to respond to climate change has implications for the development of new marine fisheries and ensuring that the current subsistence fisheries are sustainable. About 159 fish species have been reported from the Canadian Arctic Oceans but their distributions and densities are unknown. The 2004 Strategic Framework for Nunavut Fisheries (SFNF) has identified marine fisheries and Arctic char as the key areas for management and potential development. SFNF considered a multi-species approach is needed to develop a fundamental knowledge of Nunavut’s marine resources. SFNF identified areas which included research on marine ecosystems, assessing and modelling climate change impacts, research in support of inshore and offshore industry development, and related to the conservation and domestic and commercial use of Arctic char. The Nunavut Wildlife Harvest Study (2004) reported well over 200,000 char are consumed annually by residents. At this time many of the Arctic Fisheries are exploratory there is a lack of international or national strategy on Arctic marine resource development. It is apparent that there is insufficient information on biodiversity and fish resources, at the same time that new fisheries are being developed. Before an ecosystem approach can be implemented for the management of Arctic Fisheries there is need to: improve baseline information; identify ecosystem objectives, indicators and reference points. We will build on our current research underway in the Davis Strait, strengthen our international collaborations, expand the knowledge of Arctic marine food webs, increase our breadth and depth of knowledge on factors shaping Arctic marine biological communities by building new interdisciplinary synergies with the Early Warning System for Detecting Arctic Marine Ecosystem Change through the Use of Top Predators (T Gaston) and Reconstructing the Surface of the Arctic Ocean Basin (John England). As more is learned about the current distributions and densities of Arctic marine biota, an understanding of ocean currents and movements of fresh and saline waters, will undoubtedly be important in predicting future distributional patterns of biota. Arctic char are a key species for the subsistence fishery with small commercial fisheries in some parts of the Arctic. There have been a number of studies on sea run or anadromous char but largely in the context of local populations and not in the context of major climate changes. The current char populations in the Arctic have few fish predators. How char respond to the invasion of large fish predators such as Atlantic cod and Atlantic salmon is unknown. It is well known that that freshwater char are poor competitors with either brook trout or lake trout. It is also known that char populations recover following intensive fishing as evidenced by our research at the Sylvia Grinnel River and estuary near Iqaluit. Physical changes such as loss of ice cover, changing flow patterns and temperatures, alien species invasion and/or range extensions and new commercial fisheries will impact on communities that require access to these resources as a sustainable and inexpensive food supply. Surprisingly little is known about the physical changes (temperature, salinity, currents, fish movements, char feeding patterns) at the freshwater marine interface. We propose to place long term continuous monitoring buoys in two communities. This research builds on current information we have established and expands it to include additional Arctic regions. Furthermore, direct community involvement is critical as management decisions require considerable local input. The interactions at the community level will involve schools, colleges, northern research Institutes and the local Hunters and Trappers Associations. This research will contribute to the continued development, by northerners, of comprehensive Arctic Ocean policies on all marine biota and fisheries management.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The new data will add significantly to theme 1 as there is little long term data on marine systems and this data is critical for resource management. Theme 2: There are longer term data sets for the char fisheries at Sylvia Grinnel and the Kuujjua Rivers and it should aid in understanding changes resulting from natural processes, those due to fishing pressure and enable better adaptive management strategies to be developed. Theme 3. Changes in ocean currents and warming will change movements and distribution of marine organisms, including invasion by alien species which will affect long term traditional subsistence fisheries, especially char fisheries Theme 4: The basic knowledge today is lacking to implement an ecosystem based management plan. Theme 6: The sustainability of circumpolar communities is still closely tied to traditional use of local food and knowledge that helps understand and manage these food sources is critical in the development of adaptive strategies.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Drs. M. Papst, C. Micheal (Canada, DFO); S. Kwasniewski (Poland, Inst Oceanography); Greenland Natural Resources Institute; M. Mallory, Iqaluit (CWS); T. Gaston (CWS)and G. Davoren (U. Manitoba); Hunter and Trappers Association (Iqaluit and Hollman)

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Davis Strait and Baffin Bay. Marine region close to Resolute and Lancaster Sound Eastern Arctic Region associated with the Sylvia Grinnel River and the estuary close to Iqaluit. Western Arctic (Victoria Island) Kuujjua River and adjacent inshore marine environment.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 07/06 – 11/06       06/07 – 11/07      07/08 – 11/08
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
The Davis strait Baffin Bay studies (Years 06 & 08 ) will be joint projects with DFO and Greenland as part of an existing survey. Access to space and project time during two research cruses in the central will be linked to other IPY projects, as part of DFO’s IPY program and supplied by the Canadian coast guard. There will be a small inshore ship in the Resolute/Lancaster Sound project. The remainder of the research will be done out of small boats from in the communities of Hollman and Iqaluit.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
It is anticipated that DFO will reopen it’s Resolute marine lab faculties (two wet labs and offices) and that these faculties will be operated after IPY to assist University researchers and will be linked to the operations of the Polar Continental Shelf Project at Resolute. Both char projects will be pilots for expanded community based fisheries management and monitoring programs which will continue after IPY in cooperation with co-management boards.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
National agency
Commercial operator
Own support
Other sources of support

DFO has committed to providing access to their Greenland/Canada turbot survey in 2006 &2008; The proponents will be applying to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NWMB) Trust Fund for support of the eastern Arctic char project and to the Fisheries Joint Management Committee for the Holman char project.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Regional DFO support for the Greenland/Canada survey which is in part funded by the NWMB has committed to providing access for two researchers to the surveys planned for 2006/08. The need for access to other DFO ships participating in IPY has been communicated to DFO through the Central and Arctic Region. We will be requesting endorsement of the community char research aspects of this project from the NWMB and the FJMC as part of their 2005 proposal review process. This pre-proposal has been reviewed and is being submitted by the Canadian Steering Committee (CSC). Ongoing discussions will integrate this pre-proposal into a larger network of related national and international initiatives. The CSC has initially sorted this pre-proposal into: Marine Processes

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?


Part of the program builds on an existing program (Sylvia Grinnel and Davis Strait) and part of it is a new initiative (Resolute/Lancaster Sound and Kuujjua River). Both aspects are critical to an understanding of marine ecosystems in different regions of the Arctic and long term sustainable fisheries management.

How will the project be organised and managed?
Dr. T. A. Dick (Uof M) will be the overall program leader; Dr. M. H. Papst (DFO) will coordinate work done jointly with DFO and co-management boards. A post Doc position will be established to support overall research coordination and logistics. The Arctic Research Division, C&A region of DFO will provide one person to help with technical support and some additional admin support.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
We have a well established relationship with Arctic College in Iqaluit, Nunavut Research Institute, the Hunters and Trappers Association and the Nunavut Wildlife Board and this will continue. College and high school students will participate in the research projects.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The Research team will establish a standard format for data entry for all projects; links will be establish to DFO, C&A stock assessment data base for fish population data to ensure that this data is archived and available to management boards and public. Project summaries will be published using DFO’s data report and technical report series to ensure a wide initial distribution of results, these series are also now available in electronic format.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Ship Support: DFO will provide access to the Greenland /Canada ship time for two researchers, ship costs are: Davis Strait (continuation of project with Greenland Natural Resources Institute $16,000/day x 30 = $480,000; Ship time: Large ships in partnership with DFO (Lancaster Sound /Resolute 30 days x 20,00/day = $600,000 will likely be shared with other IPY projects and government. Inshore boats and fishermen) = $50,000; travel field costs = $65,000 DFO is attempting to provide the inshore research vessel only operating costs will be shared, project will request $60,000.00 commitment from co-management boards. postdoc = $40,000; monitoring buoys and mouths of rivers 2 x 10,000= $20,000 costs will have to be covered by other IPY support. An unknown at this time is a combined project with Government and an airship demonstration in the Arctic (we are currently looking at other sources of funding for this project).

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
We are currently developing an Airship proposal for the MacKenzie River Basin. This proposal deals with a new approach to transporting goods/equipment, resource extraction and people in the north, and environmental monitoring and research. The aim is to develop a transportation system that could replace winter roads (due to shorter winters) and to reduce the environmental footprint of current transportation systems in the north. The consortium includes German and USA companies, the Transport Institute at the University of Manitoba and communities along the MacKenzie. There is an opportunity, during IPY, to undertake a “demonstration” project using an airship (observation of marine mammals and birds, supplying camps, moving research crews, etc.) in the Lancaster Sound/Resolute area in conjunction with a coast guard ship supporting marine research.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Prof Terry Dick
Department of Zoology, University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3T 2N2
Canada

Tel: 204-474-9896
Mobile: no
Fax: 204-474-9896
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Other project members and their affiliation