Best wishes for a summer-like August?!

The BCMCA Project Team

This workshop is an opportunity for users to share their perspectives on the BCMCA Data Library and Marine Atlas. Several speakers from different agencies and organizations will kick off the workshop with short talks about how they have used BCMCA maps or data products or how they plan to incorporate them into upcoming projects. Then we will break into smaller groups to discuss improvements in design and delivery of products, additional data needs, and ideas for long term efficient access. We’ll be there to listen to you!

To help us improve our products and delivery of them, please take this short survey. We will report on results at the workshop and in this journal, so you don’t need to attend the workshop to take the survey.

Although an RSVP is not absolutely necessary, if you plan to attend please email Tanya (tbryan@email.com) so we can ensure enough space for the breakout groups. Please feel free to bring your own lunch, as lunch is not provided as part of the workshop. There will be a cash & carry lunch option available daily at the exhibit hall (Crystal Gardens) just across the street.

Looking forward to seeing you there and hearing your comments on the BCMCA products!

All the best

The BCMCA Project Team

The BCMCA Marine Atlas and Data Library is an online, open access resource where you can browse, view, or download ecological and human use maps, data and metadata for the Canadian Pacific. The Data Library and Marine Atlas is designed to inform coast-wide integrated marine planning and management initiatives.

A key feature of the Data Library and Marine Atlas is that it is a comprehensive, digital collection that holds over 260 maps in more than 20 different categories, illustrating both ecological and human use marine features of the Canadian Pacific. Currently, all the ecological content is available, while some human use pages are still under review and will be available shortly.

The human uses that are mapped fall into these categories: commercial fisheries, recreational fisheries, shipping and marine transportation, energy, recreation and tourism, and marine or foreshore tenures such as aquaculture or log booms. The ecological features fall into these categories: physical representation, plants, birds, fish, invertebrates and mammals.

The content of the Data Library and Marine Atlas is the result of several years of assembling, collating and reviewing data. This assembly and review process relied upon experts from a variety of backgrounds including governments, First Nations, user groups, stakeholders, academia, non-governmental organizations, and consultants and we thank all those who generously gave their time.

We will be adding more content on a regular basis during the next months and will continue to post project updates on BCMCA project journal.

If you need assistance, find an error or have a request please email us. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

The BCMCA Project Team

• The project team agreed on a planning unit re-design.
• We had to redo a lot of the GIS work put into preparing input files for Marxan.
• Marxan calibration will start afresh in the later half of June.
• Our products are delayed!

Project Team members are sticking with the project and now anticipate wrap up in October, 2010. Watch for the release of products including:

• On-line and printed atlas with descriptive facing pages
• Data repository with maps, metadata, and data links or data sources
• Results from a series of Marxan analyses…

Over the summer, BCMCA Project Team, staff and contractors will be nose-to-the-grindstone finalising these products. Then in the fall, we’ll be looking for opportunities to communicate and present all the fruits of our labours.

Please contact one of the BCMCA Staff or Project Team members for more information or to request a presentation this fall about the BCMCA products.

A report of the workshop recommendations has been compiled and has now been posted on the BCMCA and PacMARA Websites. The report can be downloaded: Marxan Workshop Workshop Proceedings Report, June 2010 (0.5 MB PDF). The workshop report highlights the discussions and recommendations made by participants that advise both the BCMCA Marxan Analysis and improvements that can be made to the Marxan Good Practices Handbook.

The workshop was held May 26-27, 2009 at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC. A total of 29 experts and observers attended from places including Australia, Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Washington DC, and British Columbia. Invited participants included government staff, university researchers, graduate students, NGO staff, Marxan consultants, professional economists and climate change scientists. Five BCMCA Project Team members attended the workshop.

The primary objectives of the workshop were to:

• Obtain expert guidance on proper and robust use of Marxan specific to the BCMCA; and
• Provide advice to PacMARA on sections of the Marxan Good Practices Handbook that currently do not provide sufficient or clear guidance;

The workshop attendees broke into three sub-groups (robust analysis, human use, climate change) to facilitate active participation and discussion. These smaller groups periodically reported to the larger group in lively plenary sessions.

Subsequent to the workshop, PacMARA hosted an “Introduction to Marxan” course which was delivered by the Australian workshop guests (Eddie Game, co-author of the revised Marxan Manual, and Dan Segan of the University of Queensland). Sixteen attendees included students from Parks Canada, DFO, Environment Canada, First Nations and academia, and four of these were members of the BCMCA Project Team.

In response to the dispersion of global data, there is a network of agencies known as the Global Data Partnership for Critical Marine and Coastal Ecosystems, which are working together to develop and collate comprehensive datasets. The partnership promotes an inclusive and transparent process and is convened by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC).

If you have comments or feedback, or would like to contribute or participate, please contact Louisa Wood (louisa.wood@unep-wcmc.org) by June 15^th 2010. An initial teleconference will be planned for later in the year.

Conservation Biology recently published an online article (May 3, 2010) by Mascia et al, which examined the effects of marine protected areas (MPA) on fishing communities. The research concluded that MPAs cannot be definitively labeled as good or bad and the effects of MPAs on fishing communities vary within and among groups, when comparing different indicators of social well being. For example, the research did indicate that MPAs can enhance food security, but at the same time current MPA practices can negatively affect a minority of fishers.

Further, the authors suggest that more research is required to better explain inconsistent effects on the social well being in fishing communities and to establish a scientific foundation to inform policy decisions.

Perhaps the goal of the BCMCA, to identify areas of high conservation utility and human use in Canada’s Pacific waters, will contribute to ongoing research that is required to better understand the complexities of popular conservation strategies such as MPAs.

The Commercial Fisheries Data Review Workshop was held in Tsawwassen on March 2nd 2010 as part of a process of reviewing data gathered to represent human use of the BC marine environment. Other human use data have been subjected to review through similar workshops, and also using other methods including participation in meetings with other human use sectors, comments solicited through e-mail, telephone, and individual review by sector experts.

The objectives of the Commercial Fisheries Data Review Workshop were to:

• finalize the data review process for the commercial fisheries sector;
• make recommendations on how the data from the commercial fisheries sector will be portrayed in the atlas;
• identify any gaps in the data;
• make recommendations on a richness map using human use data; and
• discuss and make recommendations on use of the data in Marxan analyses.

Feedback from participants indicated that the workshop served as a valuable opportunity for them to view and provide input on the maps created from datasets for each fishery. The Commercial Fisheries Data Review Workshop report is available for download at the BCMCA website. Click here

If you or anyone you know is interested in learning how to use the software, you can spread the word as there is a course being offered in Victoria, BC from July 5-6^th, 2010 and in Edmonton, Alberta on July 8-9^th, 2010. This is a valuable opportunity, as a leading Marxan trainer from the University of Queensland will be teaching the courses. In addition, there is a course entitled, “Train the trainers”, which is a one-day course designed for those with previous Marxan experience. At the end of this course, which is also offered in July 2010, instructors will be recognized by the University of Queensland Ecology Center and the Pacific Marine Analysis and Research Association (PacMARA.org) as trained to teach entry-level Marxan courses.

This is a great opportunity for anyone working, or considering work in integrated ocean management. For more registration and more information, please visit this website.

If you would like to learn more about the development of Marxan at the University of Queensland, please feel free to contact us or  click here for more information.