…and the ocean is also in trouble. Plastic pollution, overfishing, climate change — where can we even begin to start with keeping our oceans healthy?
The Vancouver Aquariumoffers many programs to help people of all ages and from all localities get involved in helping the oceans!
ABOUT
The Vancouver Aquarium is located in beautiful Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC, and has been part of the Vancouver scene since 1951 [1]. It is an OceanWise initiative, and aims to “ inspire the global community to become Ocean Wise by increasing its understanding, wonder and appreciation for our oceans” [2]. Part of achieving this mission is reaching out — inspiring people through experiential education for people of all ages and localities. Education outreach programs have been central to the Vancouver Aquarium for over 20 years! [3]
“Educating young and curious minds is the key to ocean conservation.”
Mobile Programs
Several programs work to give anyone across the country access to the same hands-on experiential learning offered at the aquarium. Programs include the AquaVan, an actual van that drives all over Canada to give hundreds of participants at a time the chance to learn about cool ocean life and how important it is to keep the oceans healthy.
Online Programs
The Ocean Literacy Course among other online learning programs allow people from all over the world to appreciate the wondrous ocean and learn through the Vancouver Aquarium about what they can do everyday to keep it healthy.
IMPACTS
Hundreds of thousands of participants have spent at least one hour learning about how to make a positive impact on the ocean and the organisms that live in the ocean [2]. But did those hours of class time actually make a change for people or the oceans? It is hard to say given what we know. Currently, we only have how many people have participated in these education programs and how many hours have been spent learning as a way to measure actual change in ocean conservation. While these numbers are immense and represent a huge potential for real-world change, they aren’t the most useful when trying to calculate an exact impact.
We also have stories from Laura Van Doormaal and Catriona Wilson, who work at the Vancouver Aquarium Education department, about current volunteers who have been to at least one of these education programs and who were inspired by what they learned at the Vancouver Aquarium to work with the ocean when they were a bit older [3, 4]. This is another source of potential impact on ocean health and conservation, but these stories are hard to quantify and have not yet been studied, and so don’t count toward a measurable conservation success–but it does mean the Vancouver Aquarium is inspiring change for some people, which is incredible!
THE FUTURE
Because so many programs are run and so many teachers and other staff are involved with each unique session, different programs might focus on different topics or discuss different issues. To ensure all their programs are contributing to their goal of creating healthier oceans, the Vancouver Aquarium could centralize and standardize their curricula across all programs. Consistency is key to inducing behavioral change in the name of conservation, after all [5].
Measuring conservation impact requires lots of money, time, and effort. The Vancouver Aquarium could consider implementing post-program surveys for participants to complete a day after the program, a month after the program, and maybe even years after the program. This way, the aquarium can investigate more about how people take what they learn in their programs and turn it into real-world action.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Educate yourself! Learn what you as an individual can do to support the ocean and the life it supports.
This post was a collaboration project between Elizabeth A. Smith and Kaylie D. Higgs and is a publicly accessible summary of our findings of conservation success at the Vancouver Aquarium for a term paper written for UBC BIOL 420. Further questions can be directed to the blog administrator.
References
[1] OceanWise. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ocean.org/
[2] OceanWise. (2017). Annual Report 2017. Retrieved from https://annualreport2017.ocean.org/
[3] Laura Van Doormaal, personal communication, February 22, 2019
[4] Catriona Wilson, personal communication, March 7, 2019
[5] Linda Wilson, personal communication, April 2, 2019
[6] Dr. David Anderson, personal communication, March 28, 2019
An image of the Gulf of Georgia Cannery looking out towards the delta from our Steveston visit. Image credit: Linnea Morgan, 2019.
There is so much I learned from our experiences in Steveston. There’s something about being outside, feeling the cool air, and seeing the river delta so connected to the histories and peoples here that engages a more complete way of learning, and a more full part of myself, than what I usually experience in a classroom setting. While my experiences there were larger than one essay, this reflection brings together some of the connections, feelings, and highlights from that day.
Race and discrimination
One of the themes that struck me during our time in Steveston is the layers of racism and discrimination that are a huge part of its context. Throughout most of Steveston’s settler history (Indigenous peoples have been living in the region for thousands of years), work was separated based on gender and perceived race. White women could have certain jobs while Chinese men could have other jobs; pay was largely based on one’s job and thus, race and gender. Local discrimination and segregation impacted who fished in the community, where people worked, who was paid for their work, and what options and opportunities one had. I imagine that this context might have been similar along the B.C. coast and I wonder what kinds of legacies or ongoing patterns of racism and discrimination are still being felt today and how to change these (e.g. the often unpaid work that many women do was something that came-up as a current pattern).
Japanese-Canadian fishing boats being collected by the Canadian government in 1941 in the aftermath of Pearl Harbour attacks when Japanese-Canadians were removed from their homes and sent to internment camps. Thousands of boats were taken (without compensation) and auctioned off by the government. Image credit: Library and Archives Canada, 1941 via CBC, 2017.
I was also struck by the impact of Japanese internment (1940s) on the Japanese-Canadian and other Steveston community members. Around two-thirds of Steveston residents were of Japanese descent before internment, including all boat makers and many of the business owners. Most of the interned Japanese-Canadians never returned to Steveston, partially because their assets (e.g. boats) had been auctioned off by the government (there was little to return to) and partially because there was a two year ban on their return to the area after internment ended (resulting in many people settling elsewhere in that time).
An “onion world” as formulated by Dr. A. Vincent. Image credit: Dr. Amanda Vincent, n.d.
Within our class themes, this racial and gender discrimination can be tied into the onion world model — with fishers being impacted by broader community and government policies and actions. For instance, Chinese workers in the early 1900s, had little choice in what they did for work or how they were paid, especially as they were required by racist government policies to pay a hefty head tax (up to 500$). While this may seem like a social and moral problem, this reminds me of how these broader layers of communities and governments impact conservation options and individuals. For these Chinese men, the head tax debt and other forms of racism limited where they could work, resulting in them having few choices in what they could do or where they could go at the time. Similarly, as mentioned in lecture, people relying on the oceans may have few opportunities to shift out of fishing, for instance, even if it is not economically or ecologically viable (e.g. if you don’t have land, are in debt, and only have your fishing gear, it can be near impossible to find other options). If these kinds of larger policies facilitate cycles of debt/poverty and reduce options of what people can do for a living, I wonder how policies at the government or community level could help to support the social side of conservation instead, considering the ways it impacts different people in differently.
Our class learning and talking with Erik W. in Steveston, B.C. Image credit: Dr. Amanda Vincent, 2019.
Conversations with Erik
Another part of the field trip that stood out to me was our conversations with Erik W. This part of the field trip was a highlight for me and I feel so much gratitude toward Erik for having taken the time to share his incredible reflections, knowledge, and experiences with us.
One big idea I learned from this is the very limited role that observers can play in monitoring Canadian fish stocks. Between the limited trawlers types they are on, the short hours they work, and the legal weight to the captain’s logbook over their own, the observer role seems more hypothetical than actual in terms of its potential impact and regulation. It was also interesting to hear a fisherman’s perspective on trawlers as Erik did not seem happy with their presence on this coast. Based on what I know of them, this solidified the idea that trawlers should be banned entirely.
Besides this annoyance with trawlers, there were a number of commonalities between Erik, a fisherman, and what I’ve been learning about ocean conservation. I was struck by how Erik thought that fisheries should be more tightly managed (not just “managed to death”). This similarity — that fishers and conservationists both want sustainable fish stocks — seems obvious in some ways, but I hadn’t concretely realized that commonality before. Based on our conversation with Erik, fishers want fair, sustainable regulations around fishing so that people can fish for years to come in a way that fairly benefits those involved.
Along these lines, our conversation around quotas, specifically individual and individual transferable ones is lingering with me as well. The non-individual quota, or in Erik’s words, “madhouse fishery,” does not seem good from a fishers’ or a conservationists’ perspective as it creates a dash to get as much fish as possible before your competitor does. This does not lead to best practices or prices, and can result in huge amounts of waste. However, when quotas are individual, it was interesting to learn how the transferable part could lead to larger, more wealthy people and businesses purchasing all these licenses, which does not seem like a good outcome for the smaller scale fishers and I imagine could lead to other issues too. I wonder what the best way to manage fish stocks is and if there are other methods that have better results.
Overall, this was a hugely impactful field trip and was one that I’m very thankful to have had the opportunity to be a part of!
Our class during the field trip to Steveston. Image credit: Dr. Amanda Vincent, photo taken by Kimberly, 2019.
Acknowledgements
There are so many people who helped shape my learning journey and facilitate our experiences in Steveston. I’m hugely grateful to Erik W., Kimberly, Rachel, Jane, and Andria for taking the time to share the Britannia Shipyards, Gulf of Georgia Cannery, Steveston docks, and their wealth of knowledge and experiences with us during our field trip. Thank you to Dr. Amanda Vincent and Tanvi Vaidyanathan for facilitating this incredible opportunity and our learning journey so far — it has been such a privilege to learn from you!
Beyond this gratitude, I would also like to acknowledge that I am a white settler and while unintended, the writing of this reflection will have been affected by my experiences and positionality. To the best of my knowledge, the writing of this reflection and the place where the field trip occurred took place on the unceded, ancestral, traditional, and current lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. While this reflection has mostly focused on settler-colonial histories, this is not with the intention of dismissing the incredible depth of stories and experiences or presence of these nations and peoples. I feel incredibly privileged and grateful for the opportunity to live and work in this place.
Thank you for reading!
Image Sources (listed in order of image appearance)
@linneamorgan_14. “Had the pleasure of getting a tour of @Steveston for #OceanConsvnUBC on Tuesday. Came out of that field trip having a much better understanding of the socioeconomic side of fisheries here in BC.” Twitter, 14 Mar. 2019, https://twitter.com/linneamorgan_14/status/1106243868989759493.
“Fishermen’s Reserve rounding up Japanese-Canadian fishing vessels on 10 Dec. 1941.” CBC/RadioCanada, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/lost-fleet-exhibit-shows-how-racist-policies-devastated-b-c-s-japanese-fishing-community-1.4041358.
Vincent, A. Ocean Conservation and Sustainability: Content, n.d., https://blogs.ubc.ca/biol420ocean/content/.
@AmandaVincent1. “Eric Wickham, commercial fisherman and author of Dead Fish and Fat Cats, gives my BIOL420 class a wonderful introduction to the realities of fishing. @Steveston. #OceanConsvnUBC @UBCoceans.” Twitter, 12 Mar. 2019, https://twitter.com/AmandaVincent1/status/1105605792105783296.
@AmandaVincent1. “So glad to be @Steveston with the outstanding students from my BIOL 420 class @UBC. Marine conservation comes alive in hearing from people who depend on the sea. #oceanConsvnUBC. @TanviVaidyanath.” Twitter, 12 Mar. 2019, https://twitter.com/AmandaVincent1/status/1105602085540655105.
Much of my childhood was spent obsessing over these incredible beings and this year has lead me to a deep concern and curiosity around what is being done to ensure their longevity. This care has resulted in the following post: a brief investigation into recent actions by the Canadian government to help the SRKW.
The current situation
Resident Killer Whales are piscivorous, yet are considered the same species as carnivorous transient and offshore populations. However, SRKW are culturally and genetically distinct, and don’t interbreed even with the nearby Northern resident population [1].
SRKW have been considered endangered in Canada since 2001, and have had endangered status on the Species at Risk Act (SARA) since 2003 [2]. The SRKW are considered endangered mainly because their population is declining, food source is limited, and environment is impacted by noise and other pollutants [2]. This is especially concerning in the face of current debates over increased tanker traffic and ongoing fishing and aquaculture pressures in their habitat.
Map showing the overlap of the Northern and Southern Resident Killer Whale ranges, as well as the overlap between the SRKW range and main shipping routes out of the Metro Vancouver region (red). Image credit: Species at Risk Public Registry, Government of Canada, n.d. Note: the red line has been added by Kaylie based on maps shared by The Narwal, n.d.
Recent actions
Map showing the addition of new critical habitat areas (yellow) for the SRKW and NRKW, as announced in December, 2018. Image credit: CNW Group/Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada, 2018.
A number of recent actions for the SRKW have been taken by the Canadian government.
In December 2018, the federal government announced a new area of critical habitat off the Vancouver Island coast [3]. This area was legally created by a Critical Habitat Order and under SARA, should prevent any activities that would destroy this habitat — including noise pollution, fishing of key SRKW prey (such as Chinook salmon), and chemical pollution [4].
Additionally, within the past year, allowable catches of Chinook were reduced and new rules and guidelines were put into place for ship traffic [5].
Further considerations
I hope that these actions will conserve the foods and homes of the SRKW, and will benefit the entirety of the ecological communities they are a part of. However, I am concerned that these actions are not clear in their implementation, such as what is allowed in these critical habitats — will this entirely stop fishing in the area or increases in shipping? These initiatives are just the start of addressing the health of SRKW and their ecosystems. I hope these actions lead to more actions including: the government considering the endangered status of many Chinook populations and acting to conserve these fish; ensuring that farmed salmon is healthy for the oceans; and limiting tanker and shipping traffic through the SRKW habitat.
Watercolour of resident Killer Whales. Painting by Kaylie, age nine.
Tale’s end?
Besides their intrinsic value, the SRKW are important culturally, economically, ecologically — and their conservation is significant on many levels [6]. With a new calf, more funds invested in their survival, and high public engagement, I am hopefully that these whales will make a comeback.
This post just a drop in the ocean of stories about the living, vibrant, beautiful SRKW — stories that I hope will continue for many years to come.
