Fish-WIKS News

Fish-WIKS members to speak at Coastal Zone Canada Conference – Four members of the Fish-WIKS Project are contributing to the Coastal Zone Canada Conference, June 15 – 19, in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The CZC 2014 Conference theme, Our Coasts: Legacies and Futures, offers the opportunity to take a critical look at what has been accomplished in coastal zone management and what lies ahead.

Participating Fish-WIKS members are Lucia Fanning, Principal Investigator, Shelley Denny, Co-investigator from the Unama’ki Institute for Natural Resources, Stephanie Boudreau, Post-Doctoral Fellow, and Amber Giles, Masters of Marine Management student and Fish-WIKS scholarship recipient.

Lucia, Shelley and Amber co-authored a paper titled “Identifying best practices for incorporating traditional ecological knowledge into natural resource development projects: An assessment of two marine-related case studies”.  Abstract:  Traditional knowledge held by First Nations peoples of Canada has been intrinsically linked to the environment for thousands of years.  As the world continues to transform due to climate change and the expansion of towns and cities, there will undoubtedly be consequences for ecosystems that support the natural resources, economic prosperity and all aspects of our lives.  Using two case studies relating to the St. Ann’s Bank Area of Interest for MPA development and the Emera Newfoundland and Labrador Maritime Link Transmission Project, the paper addresses a current gap in our understanding of how a particular form of knowing, characterized as indigenous knowledge, can be used by regulators and proponents of marine-related projects to enhance the quality of their decision-making processes.

Key questions discussed include: 1)How  is indigenous knowledge currently being sought by regulators and project proponents?; 2)What are the benefits and challenges to incorporating indigenous knowledge in marine-related natural resources decision-making processes; and, 3)What mechanism can be used to achieve these benefits, while overcoming the challenges.

Stephanie will present “Decision Making and Western Knowledge Systems in Canadian Fisheries Management”, a paper co-authored with Lucia. Abstract:  The decision-making processes governing the harvesting and allocation of fisheries resources in Canada takes place within the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO).

Traditionally using western science-based knowledge systems and operating under three key pieces of legislation, the Oceans, Fisheries and Species at Risk Acts, the shape, or perception, of how these decisions are put into practice across the six management regions varies.  Framing these decisions from within the context of knowledge systems – the valuation, ownership, and control of knowledge from a western knowledge perspective, we examined the structure of fisheries management in Canada, focusing on four distinct regions, Nova Scotia (Atlantic), Nunavut (Arctic), Ontario (Inland), and British Columbia (Pacific).  Ranging from co-management in Nunavut, Provincial management of inland (freshwater) fisheries in Ontario and different approaches to finfish and invertebrates harvests on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, we highlight case-studies of key fisheries for each region.

Lucia will also discuss the Fish-WIKS project as part of a public panel discussion titled “Emerging Swells”: The Big Picture of Coastal Human Dimensions Research in Atlantic Canada”, bringing together four of the largest research projects in Atlantic Canada examining the complex and multi-scale relationships among human beings, communities and the coastal environment.  Co-panelists are: Tony Charles, Saint Mary’s University, Principal Investigator, The Community Conversation Research Network (CCRN) investigating the role of communities as stakeholders in the stewardship of coastal ecosystems and natural resources;  Ratana Chuenpagdee, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Principal Investigator, Too Big to Ignore (TBTI) examining the role of small-scale fisheries as a key to the economic and environmental security of coastal communities; and Barbara Neis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Principal Investigator, On the Move, examining employment-related geographical mobility in Canada.