COASTAL ZONE CANADA ASSOCIATION
NEWSLETTER #18, JUNE 2006

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 (CZCA), 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: http://www.czca-azcc.org.

COASTAL ZONE CANADA (CZC) 2006 CONFERENCE, TUKTOYAKTUK, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Main Conference: August 14-18
Youth Forum: August 11-14

Conference Web site for information: http://www.czc06.ca

THE CLOCK IS TICKING !

The Coastal Zone Canada 2006 Conference (CZC’06) will be held on August 14-18 in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. The conference, titled “Arctic Change and Coastal Communities”, will explore the rapid and significant changes taking place in the Arctic, examine the issues coastal people are facing as a result of these changes, and evaluate current frameworks for ocean management and governance in the Arctic and elsewhere. The conference will be summarized by a series of peer-reviewed papers, most of which will be invited presentations and published in “Arctic”, North America’s premier journal of northern research.

In addition to the technical sessions, other highlights include:

• Susan Aglukark performance
• Mid-conference tours (Babbage River, Husky Lakes, Herschel Island)
• Beach party, northern games, Arctic fashion show, and much more……..
• Youth Forum (to be held immediately prior to the main conference on Aug 11-14)

Space is limited to 300 delegates, and filling-up fast; so please register early at www.czc06.ca.

For more information, please contact Steve Newton, CZC Conference Coordinator by phone at (204) 984-5561 or via e-mail to Steve.Newton@czc06.ca.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

CZC'06 is rapidly approaching and the conference team is working overtime to put together a great event. This conference is shaping up to be a truly historic meeting. I urge you to take this opportunity to visit Tuktoyaktuk and attend CZC 2006 if you can. The Arctic coastal zone has probably never been at greater risk from human-induced change than at present, and I am proud that the CZCA is delivering on its long held goal to hold a CZC conference in the North. We are truly indebted to the CZC'06 organizers for making this goal a reality.

The CZCA Board has now decided that CZC 2008 will be held in Vancouver, BC. We are in discussion with the University of British Columbia to have the meeting at the Point Grey campus, likely in May 2008. Unfortunately this conference will not be a joint meeting with The Coastal Society (TCS) in the U.S., although we are looking at the possibility of a joint CZC/TCS meeting in 2010. Three CZCA directors (Larry Hildebrand, Keith Mercer and myself) attended The Coastal Society conference in St. Pete Beach from May 14-18. We had some good discussions with our TCS colleagues, and while they were not in a position to commit to 2008, they are very keen to hold a joint meeting with us in 2010, preferably at a border location on the Great Lakes. The CZCA Board is enthusiastic about this and we will keep those discussions going with TCS.

We are all hopeful that the new federal government will maintain Canada's commitment to integrated ocean and coastal management by extending the Oceans Action Plan (OAP) beyond Phase I. While we do not know what will happen, we certainly expect that the OAP will be continued. However, what form and shape that will take we do not know at this time. We will have a discussion about the OAP at CZC'06, and I certainly anticipate that we will be coming out with recommendations for Phase II or whatever it will be called. It is critically important that Canada does not lose the momentum gained under Phase I, and that the integrated management component be a central part of the next phase of the Oceans Action Plan.

Some of you will know that I am moving to North Bay, Ontario in July to take up my new position as Vice-President, Academic and Research at Nipissing University. I have enjoyed living in BC, and now I am looking forward to moving to our Great Lakes region. Also, you may have heard that Dr. Peter Harrison has been appointed as Executive Director to the Public Appointments Commission. We are sorry to lose Peter from his special position at NRC as a Research Fellow for Oceans. We are grateful for Peter's strong efforts to push the oceans agenda within government and beyond, and I am sure you will join me in thanking him for his work and wishing him well in his new position with the Privy Council.

Enjoy the summer, and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at CZC 2006 in Tuktoyaktuk in August.

Cheers,
Peter Ricketts

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE RECENT MEETING OF THE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS (Report by Larry Hildebrand, Vice-President, Liaison)

The CZCA Board of Directors met by conference call on May 19, with participation by most of the Board members. The main focus of the meeting was our upcoming conference in Tuktoyaktuk (Tuk). We also covered several other important items of Association business including:

• (a) the updating of our website (Keith Mercer willing to continue hosting the site, but we require somebody else to pick up the maintenance and updating responsibilities);
• (b) nominations and elections (looks like we have a good suite of re-offers and new blood); and
• (c) ongoing liaisons
  --agreement for the Canadian Coastal Science and Engineering Association (CC-SEA) to convene a special session on coastal science and engineering at CZC'06;
  --agreement to pursue a joint conference with “The Coastal Society” in 2010, most likely in a Great Lakes border location;
  --our colleagues at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences will send a contingent to Tuk to observe and discuss our conference planning and continue discussions with us re CZCA assistance in organizing the first Coastal Zone China conference; and
  --discussions continue with the Ocean Management Research Network (OMRN) and the Canadian Centre for Marine Communications (CCMC) about stronger collaboration, and even a 'Super Oceans Event' in the coming years.
• (d) Given the expense and limited capacity of facilities in Tuk this summer, a decision will be made on site as to whether our AGM will be held there, or later in the fall by conference call.

VICE-PRESIDENT, GREAT LAKES, REPORT (Patrick Lawrence)

(a) Great Lakes Lake-wide Management Plans
The U.S. EPA has recently released biennial status reports on each of the five Great Lakes. These comprehensive, bi-national environmental plans provide lake-by-lake details on the steps needed to ensure protection, restoration and environmental maintenance of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. The Lake-wide Management Plans (LaMPs) for lakes Superior, Michigan, Erie and Ontario, and the Lake Huron Bi-national Partnership for Lake Huron, outline the environmental status of each lake, highlight successes, identify problems, and propose solutions. The LaMPs, a requirement of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (see ‘c’ below) between the United States and Canada to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Great Lakes, are collaborative efforts involving state, federal, tribal and provincial governments, as well as stakeholder organizations. http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/gl2000/lamps/index.html

(b) Corps of Engineers Completes Impact Study on Oil & Gas Drilling in Great Lakes
On Monday, May 8, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided a briefing for Congressional staff on the recently completed Report to Congress entitled the "Known and Potential Environmental Impacts of Oil and Gas Drilling Activity in the Great Lakes." Oil and gas resources under the Great Lakes have been accessed in the past by both the United States and Canada, offshore via vertical drilling or onshore via directional or horizontal drilling. Approximately 2,200 vertical gas extraction wells have been drilled in Canada under Lake Erie since 1913, and 13 oil and gas wells have been drilled in Michigan under Lake Michigan and Lake Huron via horizontal drilling since 1979. This study reviews existing information and characterizes the environmental effects of oil and gas drilling under the Great Lakes, including the effects on the shorelines and water of the Great Lakes. The final report serves informational purposes only and does not address any particular Federal action. The full report is currently available on the project Web-site:
http://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/GrtLakes/OilGas/.

(c) The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) Review
The International Joint Commission (IJC) has released a report synthesizing the comments of more than 4000 people and organizations who took part in a public consultation on the upcoming review of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. In June 2005, the governments of Canada and the United States asked the IJC to seek the public's views on how well the GLWQA has worked so far and how effective it has been. In response, the IJC held public meetings in 14 Great Lakes and St. Lawrence cities, as well as via an innovative Web dialogue, in October and November 2005; it also received submissions by hand, mail, fax, phone, e-mail and online. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement between Canada and the United States expresses the commitment of each country to restore and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. First signed in 1972 by Pierre Trudeau and Richard Nixon, it was last revised in 1987. Article X of the Agreement directs the governments to review the operation and effectiveness of this historic agreement following every third IJC biennial report.
http://www.ijc.org

SHORT NEWS ITEMS

(a) Ocean Management Research Network (OMRN)

Mike Butler, Vice-President, Atlantic reports that a “Retrospective” of the 2005 OMRN National Conference is available on the OMRN Web-site at www.omrn.ca. Under the theme, “Canada’s Oceans: Research, Management and the Human Dimension”, this conference focused on the Network’s linkages between research and policy relating to the management of our coasts and oceans. Among other items on this Web-site, Canada’s Ocean Action Plan is covered in detail. Other topics of interest include reports of OMRN’s Socioeconomic Indicators Workshop, held on January 11-12, 2006, and its Marine Protected Areas Workshop, held on March 7-8, 2006. Members may recall that a letter of understanding between the Association and OMRN was signed at CZC 2004.

(b) The World Ocean Observatory

The World Ocean Observatory is dedicated to information, education and public discourse about the ocean defined as an integrated global social system. It is based on the belief that informed citizens worldwide can unite to sustain the ocean through mitigation and change of human behavior on land and sea. The intent is to communicate the full spectrum of ocean issues — climate, fresh water, food, energy, trade, transportation, public health, finance, governance, recreation and culture — as a realization of the belief that the sea connects all things. The World Ocean Observatory serves as a focal point for bringing together relevant information from other sources, official and unofficial, including intergovernmental, governmental and non-governmental institutions or networks. At the same time, it serves as an interactive virtual observation site for ocean-related information on the World Wide Web, providing direct electronic links to relevant (public and private) Internet sites. It comprises the following components: The Physical Ocean, the UN Atlas of the Oceans and other useful sites; The World Ocean Directory, an indexed network of organizations worldwide with ocean interests; The World Ocean Forum, a digest of ocean conferences, publications, exhibits, news and media; and The World Ocean Classroom, an inventory of curriculum, ocean exemplars and educational resources for global distribution. For more information go to: http://www.thew2o.net.

(c) Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is an international work program designed to meet the needs of decision makers and the public for scientific information concerning the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being, and options for responding to those changes. The MA was launched by U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan in June 2001 and was completed in March 2005. It was designed to help meet the assessment needs of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat Desertification, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the Convention on Migratory Species, as well as the needs of other users in the private sector and civil society. If it proves to be useful to its stakeholders, it is anticipated that such integrated assessments will be repeated every 5–10 years and that ecosystem assessments will be regularly conducted at national or sub-national scales. The final two reports were recently issued: the Health Synthesis; and the Wetlands & Water Synthesis. The other four reports in the series are: the Overall Synthesis; the Biodiversity Synthesis; the Desertification Synthesis; and Challenges for Business and Industry. All reports can be downloaded or ordered at www.maweb.org.

(d) New Books, etc.

• 50 Ways to Save the Ocean
  David Helvarg, paperback, 208pp, Inner Ocean Publishing Inc., 2006, US$12.95.
  Information: www.innerocean.com
• Environmental Problems in Coastal Regions VI: Oil and Chemical Spill Studies
  C.A.Brebbia (Ed), Hardback, 496pp, WIT Press, 2006, US$295
  Information: www.witpress.com
• Entanglement: The Intertwined Fates of Whales and Fishermen
  Tora Johnson, Cloth, 289pp, Univ. Press of Florida, 2005, US$29.95
  Information: www.upf.com
• A Retrospective: Three Quarters of a Century at the Halifax Research Laboratory
  James E. Stewart & Andrew Safer, Proc. Nova Scotia Institute of Science, Vol. 43 (Part 1), 19-44, 2005.
  Information: www.bedfordbasin.ca (Newsletter #30)
• Ocean Yearbook
  Vol. 20, A.Chircop er al (Eds), hardcover, 800pp Transnational Publishers, 2006, US$130.
  Information: http://law.dal.ca/

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS

(This item comprises selected events of potential interest to members, the emphasis being on Canadian and US conferences. Events indicated by an asterisk are repeats from previous lists. Members are invited to submit items for inclusion.)

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

*Jul 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/

*Aug 14-18, 2006; Coastal Zone Canada 2006 Conference & Youth Forum; Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories; Sponsored by the Coastal Zone Canada Association.
Information: www.czc06.ca

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

Sep 13-15, 2006; Environmental and Ecosystem Histories in the Northwest Atlantic Symposium; Dartmouth, NS; Hosted by the Scientific Council of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO).
Information: http://www.nafo.int/

Sep 17-20, 2006; California and the World Ocean Conference; Long Beach, CA; Organized by CA Resources Agency, CA Environmental Protection Agency, and CA Coastal Conservation Association.
Information: http://resources.ca.gov/ocean/cwo06/

Oct 17-19, 2006; 5th Annual SABS/AAC Workshop on Aquaculture (Topic: “Exotics – Should non-indigenous species be used in aquaculture?”); St. Andrews, NB; Sponsored by the Aquaculture Association of Canada and the St. Andrews Biological Association.

Oct 19-22, 2006; “Salt of the Earth ~ Creating a Culture of Environmental Respect and Sustainability” (2006 Conference of the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication, Interpretation Canada, and the Nova Scotia Environmental Network); White Point, NS.
Information: www.saltoftheearth.ca/index_e.php

Oct 25-27, 2006; 2nd International Conference on the Management of Coastal Recreational Resources (Theme: Beaches, Yachting and Ecotourism); Goza, Malta: Sponsored by: Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Insular Coastal Dynamics (ICoD).
Information: http://mcrr2.icod.org.mt/

*Oct 25-27, 2006; Seventh BoFEP (Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership) Bay of Fundy Science Workshop; St. Andrews, NB; Hosted by the Huntsman Marine Science Centre. Information: www.bofep.org

Nov 20-25, 2006; 2006 EMAN National Science Meeting (Theme: Data to Outcomes); Winnipeg, MB; Sponsored by Environment Canada’s Ecological Monitoring & Assessment Network.
Information: www.eman-rese.ca/

*Dec 9-13, 2006: Third Conference and Expo on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration (Theme: Forging the National Imperative for Restoration); New Orleans, Louisiana; Sponsored by “Restore America’s Estuaries”.
Information: www.estuaries.org

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