COASTAL ZONE CANADA ASSOCIATION
NEWSLETTER #16, DECEMBER 2005

This newsletter, which is issued quarterly, is presented in both English (first half of newsletter) and French (second half of newsletter). It is distributed by e-mail to members of the Coastal Zone Canada Association, providing news about the Association, its activities and its members, as well as information of potential interest to members. Please feel free to circulate it among your own networks. Also check out the Association’s Web site at: www.czca-azcc.org.

Season’s greetings to all our readers.

EDITOR’S NOTE

The primary focus of this issue of the newsletter is the Association’s 2005 Annual General Meeting, held on 10 November, 2005. It includes a report on the proceedings of the AGM together with the text of the President’s Report to the meeting.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, 2005

This year’s AGM was held on Thursday, November 10th, with approximately 20 members participating. Following the practice for years when a CZC Conference is not held (i.e. odd years) the 2005 AGM was held via teleconference, although several local members (and the President) actually met together at Environment Canada’s Dartmouth Office and participated in the proceedings from that location.

Following the approval of the Minutes of the 2004 AGM, Directors’ Reports were received from the President, Vice-Presidents and Treasurer (Final, Audited, Financial Statement, 2004-2005). The President’s Report is reproduced elsewhere in this newsletter. The reports of the Vice-Presidents and the Treasurer’s Report (as well as the President’s report) are being posted on the Association’s Web-site.

In presenting his report, President Peter Ricketts reminded members of two key areas of ongoing support provided to the Association at no cost for which he thanked the agencies involved: Fisheries & Oceans Canada (Bedford Institute of Oceanography) for office accommodation for the CZCA Secretariat; and the Council of Atlantic Premiers for financial services. He also thanked Environment Canada for providing support for the AGM teleconference.

In presenting the Financial Statement for the fiscal year 2004-2005, Treasurer Brad Fay reported a balance forward to 2005-2006 of $13,301.00 and, in a subsequent agenda item, the auditors for 2005-2006, Price, Waterhouse & Coopers, were reappointed for 2005-2006.

There followed several items of Special Business:

• (a) An amendment to the CZCA By-laws was passed creating the new position of Vice-President, Québec, to address the current inadequate representation in the Association from this part of Canada.
  
• (b) Following a nomination from the Board, Brian Nicholls was elected as an Honorary Member of the Association.
  
• (c) The President, assisted by other members, provided an update on CZC 2006, which is to be held in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories on August 12-18 (refer also to the report of Steve Newton, Vice-President, Arctic, on the CZCA Web-site). In summary, Peter noted that plans are moving along well and full details are now available on the CZC 2006 Web-site. He urged members to get their registrations in, and noted that the call-for-papers is now on the Conference Web-site. The conference has been identified as an official International Polar Year event through a Letter of Understanding (LOU) with that organization.
  
• (d) The next conference in the series, CZC 2008 (Vancouver), has run into problems. There is currently no conference committee in existence, and work on the event appears to have all but ceased. In the interim, Peter has held discussions with UBC Vancouver on holding the event at that university with promising results (suitable dates are available), and he will continue his efforts to salvage the conference. The top priority is to re-galvanize the organizing group. It is still envisaged that this will be a joint conference with the US-based “The Coastal Society”.
  
• (e) No formal proposals have been received for CZC 2010, but there are indications that a group in PEI is interested in holding the event in Charlottetown.
  
• (f) No formal proposals have been received for CZC 2012, but possibilities suggested at the AGM included: Great Lakes location; Halifax; Québec location.

There was no other business. It was noted that next year’s AGM will be held in Tuktoyakyuk in coordination with CZC 2006. Because of the remote location of Tuktoyaktuk, some members may not be able to attend this conference; so it was suggested that the 2006 AGM be held both via attendance and teleconference.

The meeting adjourned after approximately one hour, at 3:00 pm AST, and was immediately followed by a Board of Directors Meeting.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT TO AGM

My overall goal as President has been to try to raise the profile of the CZCA as an agent of change for the development of Integrated Ocean and Coastal Management (ICOM) in Canada, especially during those periods of time between conferences. This year (2004-05), my activities have taken on three distinct strategies in order to achieve the goal:

1. Developing and producing the CZC 2004 conference statement;
2. Taking that message to key personnel in government; and
3. Building support for the next CZC conference as a key component of ICOM development in Canada and the world.

CZC 2004 Follow Up

The year began with the completion of a great CZC 2004 conference in St. John’s, Newfoundland. We celebrated ten years of CZC conferences with a very dynamic and well-attended event. The development of the draft Ocean Action Plan (OAP) was very much on our minds, and it turned out to be the focal point for the final conference statement and call for action. At CZC 2004, I was delighted to award the H.B. Nicholls Award on behalf of the Association to Dr. Art Hanson, O.C. Art was a very important mentor for me as a young professor in the 1980s, and has remained a great colleague and friend. The Award was a fitting recognition of his important contribution to sustainable development and coastal management in particular over the course of a highly distinguished career.

Following the conference, my first task as President was to coordinate the completion of the CZC 2004 Conference Statement. A lot of work had already been done by the enthusiastic team (known as the “Distillery Group”, it included Geoff Holland, Larry Hildebrand, Andrea Carew, Jason Boire, Grant Gardner, and myself, with critical inputs from Art Hanson and John Lien) who distilled the information from the conference (especially the poll that was organized) to produce the draft statement for presentation at the final plenary session of CZC 2004. Preliminary copies of the statement were distributed to senior DFO staff so that it could contribute to the discussions about the content of the OAP. Once finalized (see the CZCA website for a copy of the statement), the Conference Statement was sent out to over 90 key individuals in the federal, provincial, and territorial governments of Canada. This included the Prime Minister, all members of the federal Cabinet, the leaders of all federal parties, members of key parliamentary Standing Committees, and the Premiers and key Ministers of all coastal provinces and territories. The timing of the mail-out coincided with the lead up to the presentation of the Ocean Action Plan to Cabinet and Treasury Board. The intent was to ensure that the CZCA could lend it weight and influence in demonstrating widespread support for the OAP, as well as identifying many of the key elements that we feel should be incorporated into the OAP as it is developed over time. I received about 50 responses to the mail-out, all of which were very positive about the Conference Statement and appreciative of the work of the CZCA. In addition to providing support to DFO’s efforts to get the OAP supported and funded, this exercise has helped raise the profile of the Association among those that we most seek to influence.

Ocean Action Plan
In association with the Conference Statement and the development of the OAP, I have spent a good deal of time working with key individuals in DFO. I have met twice with Minister Geoff Regan, and I was working with Jeff MacDonald (the Minister’s Political Assistant responsible for the oceans file) to develop a proposal for the establishment of a council to promote ocean and coastal management in Canada. This is an important recommendation in the CZC 2004 Conference Statement. A draft proposal was developed in conjunction with Dr. Peter Harrison, NRC Senior Research Fellow on Oceans, and submitted to Jeff MacDonald. Although the idea of the council was not included in Phase I of the OAP, I am still working on the proposal with Bilal Cheema (Jeff MacDonald’s successor, and who operates from the Minister’s Vancouver office) in the hope that something might be incorporated into Phase II. The concept of such a council was given strong support at the OMRN conference in September, and I am currently working on a revised draft for consideration. I am also working with Bilal to ensure that the CZCA is actively consulted on the development of Phase II of the OAP.

I have also been emphasizing with DFO the importance of providing support for CZC 2006, and I am optimistic that the conference will provide an important opportunity to review Phase I and make a major contribution to the development of Phase II. I was very pleased that we had a very good meeting at the OMRN conference about having DFO use CZC 2006 to review progress towards the integrated management component of the OAP, and in particular the progress and experiences of the Large Ocean Management Areas (LOMAs) under Phase I. The timing of CZC 2006 is perfect for such an exercise. My intent here has been to do what I can as President to support the efforts of Steve Newton and Jack Mathias as the conference coordinators, hopefully without stepping on their toes.

Relations with Other Groups
I was very pleased to join Dr. Tony Charles, Chair of the Board of the Ocean Management Research Network (OMRN) in signing a letter of understanding between the CZCA and the OMRN at CZC 2004. This LOU has established a formal collaboration between the two groups. In particular, the biennial OMRN and CZC conferences will alternate so that the OMRN meeting in Ottawa will occur in those years in between the CZC meetings. This provides for an annual ICOM gathering Canada, one in Ottawa focussed on oceans research; and one in a coastal region of Canada, focused upon policy and community involvement ICOM. I was pleased to have the opportunity to make a plenary presentation to the OMRN conference in Ottawa back in September, at which I talked about the work of the CZCA and the importance of the collaboration between OMRN and CZCA. Unfortunately, a special paper CZCA session was not well attended but the presentations that were prepared will be part of the OMRN conference retrospective. Also, Steve Newton was given the opportunity to make a plenary presentation on CZC 2006, and he did a splendid job in promoting the conference. The lesson from this is that rather than have a special CZCA paper session, we should keep to having a plenary session and if we are going to organize a paper session it should be around a particular research theme rather than on the Association itself.

I also signed LOUs between the CZCA and the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES), which was negotiated by Larry Hildebrand, VP Liaison on behalf of the CZCA, and with the Canada International Polar Year (IPY) Secretariat, which I negotiated with David Hik, Chair of the Canada IPY Secretariat. The relationship with CRAES provides for an important international linkage with the world’s most developing nation and with an organization that would like to emulate the CZCA work in China. We hope to see CRAES representatives at CZC 2006 and they are planning to develop CZC-like conferences for China. The LOU with the Canada IPY Secretariat is an important linkage as we prepare for the CZC 2006 meeting in Tuktoyakuk, and will provide for collaboration on Canada’s contribution to the 2007 IPY. Having CZC 2006 identified as a Canada IPY event will provide critical support for the conference, and hopefully this will result in financial support through IPY.

Special Canadian Issue of the Coastal Management Journal
Promoting the work of the CZCA was also, in part, a motivation for producing a special issue of the Coastal Management Journal devoted to ICOM developments in Canada. In August 2004, I met with CMJ editor Dr. Marc Hershman at the University of Washington to propose such an issue. The CMJ Board accepted the proposal, and so Peter Harrison and I are in the process of co-editing the special issue. At the time of writing this report, we are in the manuscript review process and we are hoping for publication in spring or summer of 2006. It would be great to have it out in time for CZC 2006, but that will depend on the time it takes to complete the final reviews, revisions and production.

CZC Conferences
While preparations are well under way for CZC 2006, the Association has been preparing for future conferences. CZC 2008 will be on the west coast, and we suffered a setback when the initial sponsoring agency pulled back its support for taking the organizational lead. I am working with other Association Directors and members to pull together an organizing committee to ensure that we can hold the 2008 meeting back on the west coast, and hopefully in collaboration with our colleagues in The Coastal Society. I am also pleased that we will be receiving a proposal to hold the 2010 conference in PEI. I encourage members to consider possibilities for 2012, either in Québec or on the Great Lakes.

Regional Restructuring
It has long been a concern of the Board that the CZCA Atlantic Region has covered all of Atlantic Canada and Québec. At the 2004 AGM, it was proposed that the region be split and that we establish a new regional Vice-President for Québec. This proposal will be presented to the 2005 AGM, and I look forward to that being approved and putting in place an interim appointment so that we can work more effectively in building up a Québec chapter of the CZCA. I also want to encourage all regions to establish regional chapters of the CZCA so that we can sustain members and involvement, and plan for future conferences to be held around the country.

Communications and Promotion
One of the major goals of the Board is to improve the communications and promotion activities of the Association. We are looking at the possibility of purchasing a mobile display unit that we can take to various conferences, and I have asked for a costing so that we can see what the association can afford to get. Another important aspect of our communications is the CZCA web site. Keith Mercer has been working on a major revamp of the website, and we hope to have a new and improved site up and running later this year.

We continue to be most grateful to Brian Nicholls and Marie Lagier for their work on producing and translating the CZCA Newsletter. The Newsletter plays an important role in informing the membership about the Association activities and I see it becoming a more important communication tool in the future. This year we have started to use the Newsletter much more for reporting back to the membership on the activities of the Board, as well as information about ICOM activities, events, and developments in Canada and around the world.

Finally, it is time to update the CZCA Brochure and to determine its role in the promotion of the Association.

Board of Directors
I would like to thank my Board of Directors for their continued work on behalf of the Association. I was sad to lose Francois Bailet as Secretary-Treasurer when he left to work in the US, and I am extremely grateful to Brad Fay for continuing on in this position while we determined how to proceed. After some discussion, we decided to split the Secretary-Treasurer position (which is permitted un the CZCA By-laws). Brad agreed to stay on as Treasurer, and I am pleased to welcome Andrea Carew to the Board as the new Secretary of the Association.

Global Reflection
The last year has been an eventful one for coastal management. Major global news events have focused on the hazards of occupying coastal regions of the world. The human death toll from the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in particular shocked the world, and yet those of us who have been involved with coastal management over the past twenty-five years can hardly have been surprised at these tragic impacts. Even watching the inadequacy of emergency evacuation and shelter arrangements in major urban centres like New Orleans and Cancun, and seeing the misery of people herded into facilities that are totally inadequate to support large displaced populations for days on end, makes it obvious that we are not prepared for such events. Knowing how many lives could have been saved by implementing effective management programmes and emergency response plans is depressing, and yet it is never too late for the appropriate actions to be taken. In Canada, we tend to view our coasts as being safe and that the main reason for implementing ICOM is to manage resources on a more sustainable basis. However, we know that Canada’s coasts are not immune to disasters. Whether it be global warming impacts on Arctic sea ice and permafrost, or tsumani and earthquake threats on the west coast, or increased storm damage and surging on the Great Lakes and Atlantic coasts, the lesson from this past year is that the worst will happen eventually, and we had better be prepared. Canada cannot afford to be complacent and take the attitude that “it only happens in other places”.

For me, this only heightens the importance of the work of the CZCA and other organizations dedicated to ocean and coastal management. I believe that our efforts are for the greater common good, and I am honored to be part of this Association. I look forward to another active year as President, culminating in what I am sure will be an exciting and successful conference in Tuktoyaktuk in August 2006. That meeting will mark the end of my second term as President, and I will be seeking candidates to put their names forward to lead the Association for 2006-08. Later this year we will strike a Nominating Committee to present a list of candidates for President, officers and directors for 2006-08, and I ask all members to consider putting their names forward for the various positions.

Thank you for your continued support for the CZCA and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Tuktoyaktuk.

Peter J. Ricketts, Ph.D.
President, Coastal Zone Canada Association

October 27, 2005; Kelowna, BC

COASTAL ZONE CANADA (CZC) 2006 C0NFERENCE

Call for Papers and Registration Now Open (Visit the Conference Web-site for details): http://www.czc06.ca

CZC’06 will bring together approximately 250 main participants and 100 youth in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, from August 12-18, 2006 to learn about “Arctic Change and Coastal Communities”. The purpose of the conference is to raise awareness about the unique challenges faced by residents of the Arctic coastal zone in the face of rapid changes occurring in Arctic marine ecosystems. While the focus is on coastal and ocean issues in the north, we encourage contributions from coastal areas around the world, recognizing that many of the drivers of coastal change, and the adaptation of people to them, are common to many parts of the world.

Steve Newton (DFO), Chair of the Conference Organizing Committee, provides the following news from CZC’06:

1. Canadian Susan Aglukark, the award-winning Inuit singer/songwriter, will be speaking and performing at the CZC’06 opening reception.
2. We have partnered with the Arctic Nature Tour Company to offer participants exciting conference tours to world-class destinations in the Western Arctic.
3. Thomas Suluk (former Nunavut politician) has agreed to a contract with DFO to help promote and identify participants for CZC’06 in Nunavut.
4. Leslie Gratton (CZC’04 Fundraising Coordinator) has agreed to coordinate fundraising for CZC’06. Welcome aboard!! Peter Ricketts and Larry Hildebrand are also helping out with fundraising.
5. Jack Mathias (DFO) is coordinating the Conference Program.

Please visit our Web-site for more information on both the Conference and the Youth Forum: www.czc06.ca.

SHORT NEWS ITEMS

(a) Special issue of the journal AMBIO on sustainable coastal zone management (Contributed by Andrea Morf, Sweden).

The March 2005 issue of the journal AMBIO of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is a special issue on sustainable coastal zone management (AMBIO, vol. 34, no. 2, pp 62-180, March 2005). The issue contains the final reporting from a seven-year research project on coastal management in Sweden (SUCOZOMA). It comprises 17 articles about diverse topics such as different types of coastal planning, conflict management, community participation, eutrophication management (e.g. water quality improvement by mussel farming), fisheries management, economic valuation, knowledge transfer, and the EU-framework directive for water. For further information go to: http://ambio.allenpress.com

(b) Results from the Ocean Policy Summit, Lisbon (Contributed by Larry Hildebrand).

The International Conference on Integrated Ocean Policy: National and Regional Experiences, Prospects, and Emerging Practices (TOPS 2005), held October 10-14, 2005 in Lisbon, Portugal, brought together over 200 participants from more than 50 countries to examine the growing experience with the formulation and implementation of integrated ocean policies at national and regional levels around the world. Significant progress was made in identifying forces that facilitate and impede implementation and specific steps for further dissemination of integrated ocean governance practices were developed. The Conference Report prepared by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) is available on the ENB website at: www.iisd.ca/sd/tops2005/. Presentations from the meeting will be available in the coming weeks at: http://www.globaloceans.org

(c) Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment – grants to non-governmental organizations

Through its Action Plan Grants Program, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment awards grants to non-governmental organizations throughout the Gulf of Maine watershed. The purpose of the grants is to further the goals of the Council while assisting worthy applicants with their own programs to the benefit of the inhabitants of the Gulf of Maine region. The Council invites eligible organizations to apply for funding, including non-governmental organizations (e.g., community associations, cooperatives, civic groups), and schools. The applicants and the proposed project must be located within the Gulf of Maine watershed, which extends from southern Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, and includes all lands that are part of coastal watersheds. In both Canada and the United States, citizen groups, community organizations, and volunteers play an important role in ensuring the vitality of the Gulf of Maine. Recognizing this role, the Council requests proposals for projects that will address the content, technical, and educational aspects of the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment Action Plan, 2001-2006, the goals, objectives, and actions of which may be found at: www.gulfofmaine.org/council/action_plan.
Download the Request for Proposals (RFP) and application forms at: http://www.gulfofmaine.org/council/opportunities.
Applications must be submitted by email no later than January 13, 2006.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS

This item comprises selected events of potential interest to members. The list is based on recommendations provided by members. Events indicated by an asterisk are repeats from previous lists. Your input for future issues is invited.

Feb. 20-24, 2006; 2006 Ocean Sciences Meeting (Includes special session on “Ecosystem-based Management of the Ocean”); Honolulu, Hawaii; Sponsored by AGU, ASLO and TOS.
Information: http://www.agu.org/meetings/os06/

Apr. 19-21, 2006; PICES/GLOBEC Symposium on “Climate variability and ecosystem impacts on the North Pacific: a basin-scale synthesis”; Honolulu, Hawaii.
Information: www.pices.int

*May 14-18, 2006; The Coastal Society’s 20th International Conference (Theme: Charting a New Course – Shaping Solutions for the Coasts); St. Pete Beach, Florida.
Information: www.thecoastalsociety.org/conference/tcs20/

May 29-Jun. 16, 2006; Summer Institute in Coastal Management; Univ. Of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI; Sponsored by the Coastal Resources Center, Univ. Of Rhode Island.
Information: www.crc.uri.edu/

Jun. 14-15, 2006; 10th Canadian Pollution Prevention Roundtable; Halifax, NS; Hosted by the Canadian Centre for Pollution Prevention.
Information: www.c2p2online.com/

*Jul. 5-8, 2006; 3rd National Stewardship Conference (Theme: Valuing Nature – Stewardship and Conservation in Canada); Corner Brook, NF.
Information: www.stewardshipcanada.ca

July 12-16 , 2006; “CoastGIS 2006" (7th International Symposium on GIS and Computer Cartography for Coastal Zone Management); Wollongong & Sydney, Australia; Sponsored by the Univ. Of Wollongong.
Information: www.uow.edu.au/science/eesc/conferences

*Aug. 12-18, 2006; Coastal Zone Canada 2006 Conference & Youth Forum; Coastal Zone Canada Association; Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories.
Information: www.czc06.ca

*Sep. 3-8, 2006; 30th International Conference on Coastal Engineering; San Diego, California; Sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Information: www.icce2006.com

*Oct. 25-27, 2006; 7th BoFEP (Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership) Bay of Fundy Science Workshop; St. Andrews, NB; Hosted by the Huntsman Marine Science Centre.
Information (& Call for Papers): www.bofep.org/2006_workshop.htm

The contribution of Marie Lagier of the World Water Council, Marseille, France, in translating the English version of this newsletter into French, is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are also expressed to Maxine Westhead, DFO, Dartmouth, NS for reviewing the final draft version of the newsletter.

Questions and comments pertaining to this newsletter should be addressed to the editor, Brian Nicholls at nicholls@telusplanet.net

Questions and comments pertaining to the Coastal Zone Canada Association should be addressed to the CZCA Secretariat at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, P.O. Box 1006, Dartmouth, NS, B2Y 4A2 or email coastalz@mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca.