1.
Environmental Damages Fund Grants
The
Environmental Damages Fund (EDF) follows the Polluter Pays Principle to
help ensure that those who cause damage to the environment take
responsibility for their actions. Created by the Government of Canada in
1995, the EDF is a specific account administered by Environment Canada
to provide a mechanism for directing funds received as a result of
fines, court orders and voluntary payments to priority projects that
will benefit
our natural environment. Priority funding is given to projects that
restore the natural environment and conserve wildlife in the geographic
region where the original incident occurred. To be eligible, projects
must be delivered in a cost-effective, technically feasible and
scientifically sound manner, and must address one or more of the
following EDF categories:
-
Restoration
(highest funding priority)
-
Environmental
Quality Improvement
-
Research and
Development
-
Education and
Awareness
Eligible
Recipients include:
-
Non-governmental
organizations
-
Universities and
academic institutions
-
Aboriginal groups
-
Provinces,
territories and Municipalities
Since 1995,
the EDF has received over $4 million and has funded 136 projects across
Canada. For more information and to apply visit:
www.ec.gc.ca/edf-fde
2.
Salmon News
ASF has
recognized 65 camps for their commitment to live release angling. When
making plans for salmon fishing, please consider these camps. To see
who they are and how to reach them, please visit:
http://www.asf.ca/docs/uploads/liverelease/recognition.html
ASF-recognized
camps gladly help anglers develop proper live release techniques. To
learn more about live release before reaching the river, go to:
http://www.asf.ca/live_release.php?type=techniques
ASF's 2010
Annual Report is now available on-line. It provides information on the
progress of ASF’s projects and programs. To download ASF's 2010 annual
report (10.7mb):
http://www.asf.ca/docs/annual/asf-annual2010.pdf
A two-page backgrounder, including the latest
scientific information, details the critical situation for the
ultra-important large Atlantic salmon returning to North American
rivers. http://asf.ca/docs/media/2011backgrounder-may15.pdf
ASF's
concern about the very low numbers of large Atlantic salmon returning
from Greenland feeding grounds (2nd lowest return in 40 years), together
with a concern that some Greenlanders wish to return to commercial
salmon fishing, has generated strong interest across Canada. It has
appeared so far in more than 100 news reports.
Macleans Magazine's
coverage of the Atlantic salmon situation:
http://asf.ca/news.php?id=680. Check out
CBC Radio's podcast of Bill
Taylor explaining the concern for these important salmon.
http://asf.ca/news.php?id=674
Despite the protests of its Greenland
fisherman, the Greenland Government agreed to maintain its commercial
salmon fishery quota at zero for the final year of a three-year
regulatory agreement that applied to 2009 to 2011.
For this and other NASCO
outcomes go to:
http://asf.ca/news.php?id=686
The Atlantic
Salmon Conservation foundation is an independent, volunteer led,
non-profit conservation organization established through a one-time $30
million grant from the Government of Canada. Every year, between April
1st and mid-December we call for funding proposals for innovative,
on-the-ground projects carried-out by community groups and focussed on
conservation of the wild Atlantic salmon and its habitat. Visit our web
site to learn more on how to apply for funding.
www.salmonconservation.ca
•
www.conservationdusaumon.ca
The Atlantic Salmon Federation has engaged
Gardner Pinfold Consulting Economists Ltd to carry out the most
comprehensive study of the economic benefits of wild Atlantic salmon to
eastern Canada ever undertaken.
http://asf.ca/news.php?id=691
ASF's involvement in international meetings in
Greenland that gave wild Atlantic salmon a year's reprieve from a
commercial fishery on their feeding grounds at Greenland has received
wide coverage.
http://asf.ca/news.php?id=690
3.
Controversial NS Aquaculture Site Approved - Appeal Launched
On June 10,
2011 the Halifax Chronicle Herald, reported that the NS and Federal
Governments had given approval for a controversial salmon aquaculture
farms in Saint Mary's Bay owned by Cooke Aquaculture of Black's Harbour,
NB. The St.
Mary's Bay Coastal Alliance is fiercely opposed to the operation
claiming that the government has totally ignored community concerns. The
Alliance notes that 83% of the population of the region signed a
petition opposing the plan, citing concerns about impacts on the marine
environment, traditional fisheries and tourism. The paper reports that
Jordan Nikoloyuk, sustainable fisheries
co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax, hoped the
minister would reconsider the decision."It’s outrageous," Nikoloyuk
said. "It was approved very quietly and he’s ignoring the united
community outcry." On July 11th, 2011
local community members from St. Mary's Bay and the Atlantic Salmon
Federation filed an
appeal to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to oppose this creation of one of the
province's largest fish farms in the community's traditional fishing
grounds. The appeal addresses whether the Minister had the
constitutional jurisdiction to issue the licenses and whether it was
reasonable for him to neglect communities concerns, gaps in the
scientific evidence and socio-economic impacts.
4.
Aquaculture Fishery Interaction Article
The Oceans
and Coasts Network (OCN) Canada Policy Briefs Volume 1 (January - April
2011) includes an article entitled
"Aquaculture -Traditional Fishery Interactions in Southwest New
Brunswick:
Implications for Future Research" by Melanie G. Wiber, Sheena Young
and Lisette Wilson.
5. Marine Invasive Species Monitoring
Guide Available
The
Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management's Aquatic Invasive
Species (AIS) Program has revised and updated the
Monitoring Marine Invasive Species:
Guidance and Protocols for Volunteer Monitoring Groups to
reflect important changes in the Marine Invader Monitoring and
Information Collaborative (MIMIC) protocols. Established in 2006, MIMIC
trains citizen scientists to monitor priority marine invasive species to
better understand distributional patterns and enable timely data
collection to inform managers and rapid response efforts. For more
information, see the
AIS Program
website.
6. NOAA Photo Library on Flickr
The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has launched
NOAA Photo Library's
Photostream on Flickr, the popular photo-sharing website. Users can
search and download NOAA images from a selection of more than 4,000 of
the 47,000 public domain images found in the
NOAA Photo Library.
7. A Student's Guide to Global Climate
Change
The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed
A
Student's Guide to Global Climate Change, a website that provides
current information about the basics of climate change and its impacts,
along with tools to help students explore climate change issues and what
they can do about them.
8. NS
Socio-economic Data now Searchable by Watershed
The Nova
Scotia Community Counts website presents socio-economic and other data
that illustrate the unique nature of each community in the province. A
new feature has been added to the website which allows users to explore
socio-economic data by watershed, Simply click on
'Map Centre'
.
9. Controversy continues over Alewives/Gaspereau in the St. Croix River
In a
controversial decision, the Maine government unilaterally approved plans
to block a type of herring called alewife from the river by closing
fishways built to bypass the dams. The small fish, also known as
gaspereau, is a food source for larger species, including the bald eagle
and the endangered Atlantic salmon. The move to deny alewives access
came at the behest of Maine bass anglers, who claimed that the native
alewives were a threat to smallmouth bass — ironically, a species not
native to the St. Croix.
The Telegraph Journal reports that as of May
30, 2011 the St. Croix International Waterway Commission counted 15,937
alewives or gaspereau at the Milltown Dam at St. Stephen-Calais, Maine
border. However, just 1,227 alewives came through the fishway during
the week ended Monday, May 30.
More
The Atlantic Salmon Federation reports that
the IJC has failed to act to open fishways for native alewives/gaspereau
on the international St. Croix River on the border of Maine and New
Brunswick. More.
A June 2011
Canadian Geographic
article gives excellent background to the controversy over the alewives
in the St. Croix. More.
