Developing social-ecological indicators for Canada\u27s Pacific Marine regions: steps, methods, results and lessons

In the past decade there has been increasing interest in assessing marine ecosystems and developing indicators to track and understand changes over time. A key direction in conducting assessments and developing indicators is recognizing that biophysical and human systems are interconnected. The increasing prominence of the concepts of coupled social-ecological systems and ecosystem-based management, and the related incentives to identify and integrate ecological and human well-being indicators, have expanded and advanced the vision of integrated assessment and management. However, more applied examples are needed. We outline the steps and methods we used to develop indicators for different areas of Canada’s Pacific marine social-ecological systems. Our approach began with conceptual models that identified key aspects of ecological systems (structure, function, and environmental quality) and human systems (social, economic, institutional, and physical). We then identified associated elements, valued components, and features. We undertook an extensive ‘bottom-up’ approach to identify indicators associated with each feature or valued component, drawing on different knowledge sources, including scientists, managers, sectors, and First Nations and community members. Candidate lists of indicators were then compiled, reviewed, and rated based on three dimensions of indicator selection criteria assembled from the literature and other sources —scientific soundness, relevance, and practicality. Ecological ratings were then weighted based on expert perceptions of the relative importance of the criteria. Our approach relied primarily on literature reviews, expert surveys and judgment, and workshops. We will present the results, key limitations, and opportunities associated with implementing this approach. We will also discuss the way in which the indicators are being used within integrated marine planning processes in British Columbia

A Conceptual Model of Natural and Anthropogenic Drivers and Their Influence on the Prince William Sound, Alaska, Ecosystem

Prince William Sound (PWS) is a semi-enclosed fjord estuary on the coast of Alaska adjoining the northern Gulf of Alaska (GOA). PWS is highly productive and diverse, with primary productivity strongly coupled to nutrient dynamics driven by variability in the climate and oceanography of the GOA and North Pacific Ocean. The pelagic and nearshore primary productivity supports a complex and diverse trophic structure, including large populations of forage and large fish that support many species of marine birds and mammals. High intra-annual, inter-annual, and interdecadal variability in climatic and oceanographic processes as drives high variability in the biological populations. A risk-based conceptual ecosystem model (CEM) is presented describing the natural processes, anthropogenic drivers, and resultant stressors that affect PWS, including stressors caused by the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 and the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. A trophodynamic model incorporating PWS valued ecosystem components is integrated into the CEM. By representing the relative strengths of driver/stressors/effects, the CEM graphically demonstrates the fundamental dynamics of the PWS ecosystem, the natural forces that control the ecological condition of the Sound, and the relative contribution of natural processes and human activities to the health of the ecosystem. The CEM illustrates the dominance of natural processes in shaping the structure and functioning of the GOA and PWS ecosystems

Membership of the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils in the United States: are special interests over-represented?

The failure of modern fisheries management is blamed on myriad socio-economic and technical problems, but the most fundamental reason for failure might be the overwhelming dominance of extractive interests in participatory decision-making venues. In the United States, commercial fishing interests made up 49% of appointed voting members of the eight Regional Fishery Management Councils between 1990 and 2001; recreational fishing interests made up 33%, and all other interests combined made up 17%. Dominance of commercial fishing representation over the 'other' group was statistically significant, and this unequal apportionment of interests remained statistically stable throughout the 12 years of reporting. Contemporary economic sensibilities within this 'industry-captured' regulatory process generate perverse incentives for management decisions that conflict with, and can undermine, national sustainability goals and standards, even when those standards are logically sound and agreed to by consensus. Positive feedbacks in the system reinforce the unequal representation of interests. The relative dominance of these interests can be adjusted through an experiment that legally mandates an apportionment formula designed to optimize the welfare and interests of the general public, thus testing the notion that increasing the relative representation of general public interests would improve the lacklustre performance of US federal fisheries management.Alternate states Democracy Conflict of interest Fishery management councils

Fisheries Centre Research Reports, Vol. 7, No. 4

Information about the ecological components of Alaska's Prince William Sound (PWS) has increased considerably since the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS), but the structure and functional characteristics of the overall food web are still not well understood. A better understanding of the whole PWS food web and its dynamics was achieved by constructing a balanced trophic model using the Ecopath approach. This was the best available framework to summarize available ecosystem information in a trophic context, as it explicitly accounts for multi-species interactions. The PWS model is a cohesive synthesis of the overall biotic community with a focus on energy flow structure, and response to perturbations--both natural and anthropogenic. Flows of biomass among the various components of the food web were quantified using estimates provided by a collaborative group of over 35 experts on PWS ecosystem components. Forty-eight biotic components were included in the PWS model ranging from life stages of individual species to aggregated functional groups. These groups were organized into primary producers, zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, planktiverous 'forage fishes', larger fishes, birds, mammals, and detritus, for the purpose of model documentation. Estimates of biomass flows related to fisheries landings and discards in Prince William Sound are also incorporated. Biomass, production rates, consumption rates, and diet compositions were specified as (empirically- based) inputs for each defined biotic component, as were migration rates, biomass accumulation rates, and fishery catches and discards. Outputs of the Ecopath model included biomass and flux estimates for individual groups that were refined through the collaborative mass-balancing approach, and useful characterizations of the whole food web. The outputs of Ecosim and Ecospace are also featured. These include simulations of population trajectories through time, and habitat-based re-distributions of organisms in space. The dynamic modelling routines Ecosim and Ecospace can be used to simulate the ecosystem level effects of disturbances and management actions, and to provide insights into ecosystem level changes and dynamics that may occur in Prince William Sound. The Ecopath model of PWS can be used to help guide future research programs in the region, to help assess impacts of the EVOS, and to help resource agencies and local communities achieve ecosystem-based conservation and management in the face of increasing human activities in the region. This approach can also be used to help distinguish the relative importance of physical forces and tropic forces in marine ecosystems. An annotated list of Alutiik words was included in this volume to facilitate cross-cultural flows of ecosystem knowledge. This list might serve as one step in helping to promote a more community based approach to management of the wild living resources of Prince William Sound.Science, Faculty ofOceans and Fisheries, Institute for theZoology, Department ofUnreviewedFacultyGraduat

The Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network: Collaborative environmental surveillance, adaptation decision making, and integration of monitoring programs

The LEO (Local Environmental Observer) Network is an online tool and network that enables First Nations communities and others to detect, document, and communicate unusual environmental changes, and it is now being expanded from Alaska to British Columbia and elsewhere. LEO Network observers can record observations in a regional (and global) database, connect and collaborate with communities of subject-matter experts, understand these observed changes in the context of regional or global trends, help design additional studies as appropriate, and access and leverage broad resources, communities, and other authorities to assist with management or adaptation to these worrisome changes. The approach has also been endorsed by the Arctic Council for a circumpolar implementation, and generally by President Obama, but the Salish Sea region and the broader Cascadia bioregion are among the first identified for expansion. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) developed the LEO Network beginning in 2012, and currently has participation by over 150 Native Tribal Alaskan communities. It is embedded in a ‘OneHealth’ approach wherein ecological and human health are considered as one. It has already engaged local Alaskan communities in the surveillance and detection of a wide variety of environmental changes, and in connecting those communities with experts, agencies, and networks that are helping them understand and communicate those changes so that appropriate planning, prioritizing, and actions can be taken at all levels of government and society. LEO Observers report an overwhelming satisfaction with the network (e.g. 97% observer approval of LEO webinars), and they report that 20% of their observations of environmental change are associated with adaptation actions. LEO has been well received by potential partners in British Columbia, Washington State, and California where planned implementation involves development of coordination hubs and observer development and training, as well as integration of existing and planned monitoring programs