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Seeking shellfish harvesting safety, security, and sovereignty : Trends in Environmental variables, biotoxins, and shellfish harvesting closure instigations in coastal First Nations Territories in British Columbia Brennan, Liam; Francisco, Megan; Meloche, Luke; Pudritz, Sarah

Abstract

The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) created the We All Take Care of the Harvest (WATCH) Project to address seafood safety, security, and sovereignty among First Nations (FNs) Territories in response to growing concerns over the impacts of climate change on shellfish harvesting. In its pilot phase, the WATCH Project is investigating climatic shellfish harvesting closure trends in four FNs Territories in British Columbia (BC): Gitga’at First Nation, Klahoose First Nation, Malahat First Nation, and Tseshaht First Nation. The data necessary to investigate these trends, however, has been historically difficult to access because the data is collected and managed by various Canadian federal government departments. This report presents a preliminary analysis of the relationships between shellfish harvesting area biotoxin closures administered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), environmental variables, and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) marine biotoxin data from 2016 to 2022. For the purposes of this study, the environmental variables of interest include Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Oceanic Niño Index (ONI), Sea Surface Temperature (SST), and salinity. The marine biotoxins include those associated with amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP), and paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP).

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Title
Seeking shellfish harvesting safety, security, and sovereignty : Trends in Environmental variables, biotoxins, and shellfish harvesting closure instigations in coastal First Nations Territories in British Columbia
Creator
Brennan, Liam; Francisco, Megan; Meloche, Luke; Pudritz, Sarah
Date Issued
2023-04
Description
The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) created the We All Take Care of the Harvest (WATCH) Project to address seafood safety, security, and sovereignty among First Nations (FNs) Territories in response to growing concerns over the impacts of climate change on shellfish harvesting. In its pilot phase, the WATCH Project is investigating climatic shellfish harvesting closure trends in four FNs Territories in British Columbia (BC): Gitga’at First Nation, Klahoose First Nation, Malahat First Nation, and Tseshaht First Nation. The data necessary to investigate these trends, however, has been historically difficult to access because the data is collected and managed by various Canadian federal government departments. This report presents a preliminary analysis of the relationships between shellfish harvesting area biotoxin closures administered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), environmental variables, and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) marine biotoxin data from 2016 to 2022. For the purposes of this study, the environmental variables of interest include Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Oceanic Niño Index (ONI), Sea Surface Temperature (SST), and salinity. The marine biotoxins include those associated with amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP), and paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP).
Genre
Report
Type
Text
Language
eng
Series
University of British Columbia. ENVR 400
Date Available
2023-08-18
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0435282
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/85532
Affiliation
Science, Faculty of; Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
Peer Review Status
Unreviewed
Scholarly Level
Undergraduate
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International