Coastal Environmental Baseline Program - Quebec
Learn about the various projects working to understand coastal ecosystems in the St. Lawrence estuary. The Coastal Environmental Baseline Program (CEBP) was established in 2017 as one of the initiatives under the Protecting the Marine Environment pillar of the Government of Canada’s Oceans Protection Plan. This Program contributes to coastal and waterway protection by providing funding for scientific activities that help us learn more about Canada’s coastal ecosystems.
Transcript
The Coastal Environmental Baseline Program
North shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
Yanick Gendreau
Biologist responsible for the Coastal Environmental Baseline Program
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Initially there was a lot of interest from coastal communities, given that there was a lack of data on coastal ecosystems across Canada. Then, in response to that, the Department launched the Coastal Environmental Baseline Program to allow departments, and especially partners (local partners from First Nations and Indigenous groups, scientific researchers, conservation NGOS) to participate in the data collection.
Six zones were chosen across Canada for all of the oceans, Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic. This will allow us to have an initial knowledge baseline that we didn’t have before and that we will be able to compare to what happens in the future.
Valérie Desrochers
Project Coordinator
Estuary North Shore ZIP Committee
The program enabled us to carry out a project that focused on the characterization of tidal marshes on our territory—along the North Shore of the Estuary.
Within the framework of the characterization of the tidal marshes, there are four components to the study: flora, geomorphology, fish and invertebrates. We will use different tools and technology for each of them.
Today we carried out the fish inventory. A fyke net was used to try to capture a greater diversity of species. We identified each species that was caught. Afterward, we will count them. We want to learn about abundance, how many species were captured; we will measure the length of the first 30 specimens caught. This tells us a bit about the stage of growth of the fish that were caught.
In terms of the morphological component, we use a drone, which enabled us to fly over the entire marsh and take aerial pictures to help us when we analyze the data afterward. We also use GPS, which helps us find precision points for the location of our stations, and also identify the maximum limit of our tide, to track it over time, to see if it progresses or if there is erosion.
Sandrine Vigneron
Director, Marine Operations
Explos-Nature
Education-Research
Our collaboration with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was quite natural overall. Our organization has expertise in scientific diving and our focus is on characterizing the coastal condition in the rocky infralittoral zone.
Right now, we are preparing to work in a transect for each site. Divers roll out tape over 30 metres at a depth of between six and 14 metres and will count the macroinvertebrates they find in this transect. They will also take a picture to get an idea of the abundance of green sea urchins, for instance, on the rocky bottom. So these standardized photos that will be taken will then be analyzed to get an idea of the biomass of the urchins and the size. Divers will also take notes on waterproof paper and collect data on the number of invertebrates, the species that they see elsewhere, etc.
These data are also shared through Explos-Nature educational programs. The public and school groups learn more about estuaries and it is also an opportunity for us to share newly acquired knowledge to benefit a generation that will later be able to make the right decisions and potentially make changes.
Valérie Desrochers
Project Coordinator
Estuary North Shore ZIP Committee
The program’s importance for communities like ours on the North Shore of the Estuary is that is helped us update knowledge and build a baseline; the knowledge is then used within municipalities in management and conservation measures, based on the priorities that were set.
On-screen text:
Special thanks to Comité ZIP de la Rive Nord de l'Estuaire and Explos-Nature.
We respectfully acknowledge the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of Nitassinan (Traditional homeland of the Innu) on which this production was filmed.
The Coastal Environmental Baseline Program was established as a key initiative as part of the Government of Canada’s Ocean Protection Plan.
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