Canadian Beaufort Sea 2000: The Environmental and Social Setting

The Beaufort Sea Conference 2000 brought together a diverse group of scientists and residents of the Canadian Beaufort Sea region to review the current state of the region's renewable resources and to discuss the future management of those resources. In this paper, we briefly describe the physical environment, the social context, and the resource management processes of the Canadian Beaufort Sea region. The Canadian Beaufort Sea land area extends from the Alaska-Canada border east to Amundsen Gulf and includes the northwest of Victoria Island and Banks Island. The area is defined by its geology, landforms, sources of freshwater, ice and snow cover, and climate. The social context of the Canadian Beaufort Sea region has been set by prehistoric Inuit and Gwich'in, European influence, more recent land-claim agreements, and current management regimes for the renewable resources of the Beaufort Sea.La Conférence de l'an 2000 sur la mer de Beaufort a attiré un groupe hétérogène de scientifiques et de résidents de la région de la mer de Beaufort en vue d'examiner le statut actuel des ressources renouvelables de cette zone et de discuter de leur gestion future. Dans cet article, on décrit brièvement l'environnement physique, le contexte social et les processus de gestion des ressources de la zone canadienne de la mer de Beaufort. La superficie terrestre de la mer de Beaufort au Canada s'étend de la frontière entre ce pays et l'Alaska jusqu'au golfe Amundsen à l'est, et elle englobe le nord-ouest de l'île Victoria et de l'île Banks. Cette zone est définie par sa géologie, son relief, ses sources d'eau douce, son couvert glaciel et nival ainsi que son climat. Le contexte social de la région de la mer de Beaufort canadienne a été établi par les Inuits et Gwich'in préhistoriques, l'influence européenne, les récentes ententes territoriales ainsi que les régimes actuels de gestion des ressources renouvelables de la mer de Beaufort

The Beaufort Sea Conference 2000 on the Renewable Marine Resources of the Canadian Beaufort Sea

The Beaufort Sea Conference 2000, held in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, in September 1999, had three objectives: to review our current understanding of the renewable aquatic resources of the Beaufort Sea; to review the factors that affect those resources; and to develop a vision that will guide management of those resources for the benefit of present and future generations. To achieve these objectives, the conference brought together representatives of the full range of groups interested in the renewable resources of the Beaufort Sea. These included hunters and fishers, other resource users, scientists, government managers, educators, students, and the public. The conference was structured to encourage interaction between participants so that they could jointly discuss opportunities for the future. ... This special issue of the journal "Arctic" presents the formal scientific papers on each resource species or group and the presentation by Inuvialuit elder Billy Day. The paragraphs below summarize the conference discussions under the four themes, as well as the discussions of the youth delegation. The Canadian Beaufort Sea region pioneered and put into practice the theory of co-management in the Canadian Arctic, beginning with the signing of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement in 1984 and the Gwich'in Final Agreement eight years later. Workshop discussions considering the role of co-management of renewable resources in this region focused on the following challenges for the future: Community engagement .... Youth and elders .... Communication .... Good governance .... Research .... Traditional ecological knowledge .... Chaos and innovation ...

Pan-Arctic Fisheries and their Assessment

Pan-Arctic fisheries are highly diverse in their purpose, species biology, productivity, economic and strategic importance as well as in how they are prosecuted. They range from full industrial fisheries to community-based artisanal, sport and subsistence fisheries. The nature of Arctic ecosystems in the region varies from extremely productive to relatively barren in terms of fisheries production. Gear types vary, but offshore trawl fisheries and inshore and freshwater gillnet fisheries are the most common. Rights-based fisheries (e.g., for indigenous inhabitants) are more prominent in the Canadian and American Arctic than in European jurisdictions. The principal harvested species in freshwater environments tend to be from few taxa mainly Salvelinus spp. and from the family Coregonidae, while the marine taxa are more diverse. Compared to north temperate fisheries, Arctic fisheries have impressive variation across longitudes; some jurisdictions support only small-scale subsistence fisheries, whereas others contain some of the largest yields among industrial fisheries. Approaches to scientific assessment are also highly diverse with a range from catch-based indicators to sophisticated fully age-structured population models

Analysis of EMS-induced temperature-sensitive sterility mutants of the Y chromosome of Drosophila melanogaster

Heterochromatin can be described cytologically as those chromosomes or parts of chromosomes which remain heteropycnotic, or dark staining, through most of the cell cycle. Genetically and biochemically heterochromatic regions generally seem to be inert and it has been suggested that many heterochromatic loci are duplicated several times. In micro-organisms, genetic and biochemical analyses have been greatly facilitated by the use of conditional lethals which survive under "permissive" conditions but die under "restrictive" conditions. Temperature-sensitive ethyl methanesulfonate-induced lethal mutations (such mutants result in survival at 22°C but death at 29°C) have previously been used in Drosophila melanogaster for preliminary studies of development. In the present study 8 temperature-sensitive (ts) sterile mutations (males are fertile at 22°C but sterile at 29°C) were induced on the Y chromosome of D. melanogaster. The ts mutants were mapped genetically on the long arm of the Y chromosome and they were found to involve a minimum of 4 different loci. The Y chromosome of D. melanogaster is entirely heterochromatic and it is necessary for male fertility but the exact function of the Y chromosome is uncertain. The recovery of point mutations (ethyl methanesulfonate-induced temperature-sensitive mutations are presumed to be point mutations) on the Y chromosome indicates that there are loci on the Y represented by a single copy. A determination of the specific developmental effects of the ts sterile mutations, was also attempted. By exposing mutant males to a 48 hour period under the restrictive conditions (29°C) and observing their fertility for several days, the stage in the production of mature sperm during which the ts mutants were having an effect, was determined.Science, Faculty ofZoology, Department ofGraduat

Arctic change and coastal communities: overview of the Coastal Zone Canada Conference, Tuktoyaktuk, August 2006

Publisher's version/PDFThis special issue of Arctic represents the output from a conference sponsored by the Coastal Zone Canada Association and organized in large part by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. A number of sponsors (see Acknowledgements) also contributed to the success of the conference. The conference, entitled "Arctic Change and Coastal Communities," was held from 12 to 16 August 2006 in the town of Tuktoyaktuk in the western Canadian Arctic. This overview was compiled from statements made at the conference by presenters and participants and does not necessarily represent the views of the authors