Andrew Trites wins the Timothy R. Parsons Medal

Andrew Trites wins the Timothy R. Parsons Medal

Dr. Andrew Trites, professor in the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries has been awarded the Timothy R. Parsons Medal from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

This award is awarded for distinguished achievement in ocean sciences, leadership through teaching or mentoring, and significant contributions to multidisciplinary facets of ocean sciences.

Andrew Trites

Dr. Andrew Trites has been studying marine mammals (primarily Steller sea lions, harbour seals, northern fur seals, and killer whales), in the North Pacific for over 30 years. In 1993 he, with Dr. Peter Larkin, created the North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium to bring together the very best research talents from west coast universities (Universities of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon State) to collectively resolve critical research problems pertaining to marine mammals. He also established the UBC Open Water Research Station to undertake open-ocean diving and foraging studies with free-swimming trained sea lions, and oversees field programs in Alaska and British Columbia. He leads the UBC Marine Mammal Research Unit (MMRU), a research program that furthers the conservation and understanding of marine mammals and resolves conflicts between people and marine mammals.

One of his nominators said, “Perhaps the greatest impact that Dr. Trites has had in the field of ocean sciences is his research on the roles of marine mammals – particularly the Steller sea lion and Northern fur seal – in the marine ecosystems of the North Pacific. Through a combination of innovative interdisciplinary studies on the physiology and energetics of captive seals, and field studies of the behaviour and ecology of wild populations, he has shed much needed light on the causes of the unexplained and precipitous decline of these species. This knowledge will be key to the future conservation and management of marine mammals in the North Pacific.”

He has published more papers on northern fur seals and Steller sea lions than any other researcher, according to the Web of Science.

Dr. Trites has published over 240 journal articles, symposium chapters, non-refereed articles, reports and book chapters. These include Marine Mammals in the Strait of Georgia – a book chapter in the BC best seller The Sea Among Us: the Amazing Strait of Georgia, and three chapters in the recently published Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. He has over 8,800 citations and has published more papers on northern fur seals and Steller sea lions than any other researcher, according to the Web of Science.

He is a Fellow of the Pacific Wildlife Federation and Scientific Advisor on Bering Watch, the Alaska SeaLife Center, and the Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Strait of Georgia Coho and Chinook Program. He is also the Canadian Delegate for the PICES Advisory Panel on Marine Birds and Mammals and co-Chair of the including the Marine Mammal Specialist Group for COSEWIC (the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada).

Another one of his referees summed him up this way, “Dr. Trites ranks in the top 5% of the scientists in our [marine research] profession.”

Dr. Trites was given the medal at a gala luncheon in Halifax, NS on June 12, 2018.

Dr. Andrew Trites receives the Parsons Award from Andrew Stewart, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

 

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Half of all high seas fishing grounds would be unprofitable without current subsidies

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Nathan Bennett wins 2018 Early Career Conservationist award

Nathan J. Bennett

Nathan J. Bennett, postdoctoral fellow in the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries’ OceanCanada Partnership, has won the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB)’s 2018 Early Career Conservationist award.

Dr. Bennett was nominated by SCB’s Social Sciences Working Group, and won for his leadership in advancing the role of social science in conservation policy. SCB noted that his research had provided critical insights into the role of indigenous people in conservation in Canada, the relationship between small-scale fishers and marine protected areas in Thailand and the Mediterranean Sea, and the effective and equitable governance of marine protected areas globally.

His nominators said of him: “Dr. Bennett is exceptional in his leadership skills and ability to bring diverse stakeholders, academics and policy makers together to discuss important conservation issues. Further, he has made extensive efforts to help further the incorporation of social science and human dimensions considerations in global conservation policy and practice.” One also called him a “talented and dedicated early-career scholar, [who] has done more for conservation governance than any early (let alone later) scholars than I know or can imagine.”

Dr. Rashid Sumaila, Director of the OceanCanada Partnership, said “Nathan is energetic, enthusiastic and full of ideas. He is already making a big impact, bringing social science to the forefront of conservation deliberations. This award is a great recognition, and an opportunity for him to continue his important work.”

Said Dr. Bennett of the win, “This award really is a great honour. Through my research, I examine the relationship between human society and the coastal and ocean environment. I try to understand how people connect with and rely on the ocean, the challenges that small-scale fishers and coastal communities are facing in a rapidly changing world, and how to take the rights, needs and aspirations of coastal peoples into account in marine management and policy. The social sciences provide a rigorous approach to integrating human dimension considerations into policy and practice. This will help produce more equitable and robust solutions to the marine conservation and ocean governance challenges that we face in the 21st century.”

Dr. Bennett will receive his award at the North American Congress for Conservation Biology (NACCB) in Toronto in late July, 2018.

 

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Vast majority of patents on marine genetic sequences linked to corporations

Majority of Earth’s marine environment lies beyond jurisdictions against bioprospecting

A single corporation has registered nearly half of all existing patents associated with genes from marine organisms, according to a new study. Researchers from the University of British Columbia and the Stockholm Resilience Centre examined the patents associated with marine species and found that BASF, the world’s largest chemical manufacturer, has registered 47 per cent of the 12,998 genetic sequences from 862 marine species.

The unique genetic adaptations of marine organisms, which have evolved to thrive in various ocean environments, make them particularly attractive to commercial enterprises. Of the top 30 largest patent owners, who accounted for 84 per cent of patents, all but five were corporate entities. Public and private universities accounted for 12 per cent, while governmental agencies, individuals, hospitals, and non-profit research institutes registered four per cent. Overall, entities located in just 10 countries accounted for 98 per cent of the patents, according to the study published in Science Advances.

Colette Wabnitz

“By 2025, the global market for marine biotechnology is expected to reach $6.4 billion and span a broad range of commercial purposes for pharmaceutical, biofuel, and chemical industries,” said Colette Wabnitz, research associate in the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, and co-author on the study.

A single company has registered half of all existing patents associated with genes from marine species. Companies, universities, government bodies, individuals, and hospitals located in only 10 countries accounted for 98% of the patents.

While countries are protected from exploitative bioprospecting by The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity, two-thirds of the Earth’s surface exists beyond national jurisdiction. A considerable portion of all patent sequences (11 per cent) are derived from species associated with deep sea and hydrothermal vent ecosystems, many of which are found in these unregulated areas.

“Roughly half of the Earth’s surface is left with no regulations on accessing or using genetic resources,” said Robert Blasiak, fellow at the Stockholm Resilience Centre and first author on the study.

“Establishing a legal framework for marine genetic resources will be a core issue when international negotiations on a new UN treaty on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) begin in earnest in September 2018.”.

Countries that are signatories to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) have committed to promoting the development and transfer of marine technology, a commitment which may have implications in the upcoming negotiations. Of the 30 countries involved in patenting these resources, 27 are parties to UNCLOS.

“Equity is deeply embedded within UNCLOS and the language of the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Wabnitz. “Ensuring that the process moves forward in an inclusive manner means that states should increase their commitments to disclose the geographic origin of marine genetic resources, and promote greater international participation in discovering and using the benefits of marine biodiversity.”

The authors note that the existence of a handful of corporations with a disproportionate influence also suggests an opening for more direct engagement with them. “It is clear that these industry leaders must be involved in the upcoming BBNJ treaty negotiations, if only by virtue of their ownership of such a large share of the marine genetic sequence patents,” said Wabnitz. “Such engagement could help companies distinguish themselves through their proactive behaviour and contribute to providing new norms and standards associated with transparency, capacity building, and benefit sharing.”

The study, “Corporate control and global governance of marine genetic resources” was published in Science Advances.

Background:
Researchers created a database of 38 million sequences of genetic material associated with patents by accessing the publicly available records of the PAT division of GenBank from the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Records of patent sequences from 862 marine species were extracted from the database and analyzed with regard to patent applicants. In total, 12,998 relevant sequences were found to be registered by a total of 559 entities.

Information collected on the applicants led to their subsequent classification into three broad categories: companies, universities and their commercialization centers, and others (national institute or agency or government body, individuals, hospitals, nonprofit research institutes).

Sequences from a wide range of species have been associated with patents, from the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and giant oceanic manta ray (Manta birostris) to microscopic archaea and plankton.

Supplementary material for this article is available at http://advances.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/4/6/eaar5237/DC1

 

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437 million tonnes of fish, $560 billion wasted due to destructive fishing operations


Industrial fisheries that rely on bottom trawling wasted 437 million tonnes of fish and missed out on $560 billion in revenue over the past 65 years, new UBC research has found.

The study, carried out by the Sea Around Us initiative at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF), documents the growth of bottom trawling between 1950 and 2014, a practice where industrial fishing vessels drag large nets along the sea floor and pull up unwanted or unneeded fish. The research suggests that bottom trawling generates the most waste of any fishing method because the unwanted catch is dumped back into the ocean.

Tim Cashion

“Industrial fisheries do not bring everything they catch to port,” said Tim Cashion, lead author of the study and a PhD student at IOF. “During the period we studied, they threw out more than 750 million tonnes of fish and 60 per cent of that waste was due to bottom trawlers alone.”

Cashion and his colleagues identified the fishing tools used by industrial and small-scale fisheries in each maritime country and territory and paired them with the millions of records in the Sea Around Us catch database that include reported and unreported catches by fishing country, fishing sector, year and species.

They found that globally, industrial and small-scale fisheries caught 5.6 billion tonnes of fish in the past 65 years. While almost 28 per cent of all fish was caught by industrial bottom trawling, this fishing method also generated the most waste, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the fish dumped back into the ocean.

“They threw away fish that— even though are not the most valuable— are perfectly good for human consumption,” said Deng Palomares, co-author of the study and Sea Around Us project manager. “The worst part is that, in general, bottom trawlers are so expensive to operate that the only way to keep them afloat is by giving them government subsidies. Ironically, had they landed that catch, they would have made $560 billion according to our dataset of prices.”

Small-scale fisheries, in comparison, were responsible for 23 per cent of the global catch or approximately 1.3 billion tonnes in the past 65 years. However, their catch was worth significantly more because they use small gillnets, traps, lines, hand tools, and similar utensils to catch the fish they want.

“Catching fewer quantities of higher-value species, such as crabs and lobsters, made small-scale fisheries almost $200 billion,” said Palomares.

According to the researchers, calculating the amount of waste generated by different fishing tools and practices, as well as knowing what’s brought to shore and used is crucial to evaluating the costs and benefits of fisheries at national and global levels.

“This information can also be used to boost artisanal fisheries. As the data show, with very little infrastructure and support they already generate more value,” said study co-author Daniel Pauly, who is the principal investigator of Sea Around Us. “If, based on these results, artisanal fisheries received the $35 billion in subsidies that industrial fisheries get every year, they would be able to employ more people than they already do, take better care of their catch, supply specialized markets with a superior product and provide nutritious food for the communities where they operate, all of this while reducing the amount of fish that are discarded or turned into livestock feed.”

The study was published in Fisheries Research.

Note: Please see related Fisheries Centre Research Report: “A global fishing gear dataset for integration into the Sea Around Us global fisheries databases”

 

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Measuring body fat in Steller sea lions and other pinnipeds

Dr. David Rosen, Research Associate with the Marine Mammal Research Unit (MMRU) of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries recently received a New Technology research grant from the North Pacific Board for $US60,000 to test a new portable device to measure body fat in Steller sea lions and other pinnipeds.

Body fat is a prime determinant of animal health for pinnipeds, and researchers will use FatMeter technology, which is currently used in the commercial fish industry to estimate lipid content, to determine whether it will provide reliable data for estimating body composition of Steller sea lions.

Considerable scientific effort and resources have been devoted to analysing the potential causes of the decline of Steller sea lions in Alaska, and to the development of science-based species management strategies. Being able to reliably measure the relative body condition of individual sea lions is key, however current methods to estimate the relative lipid stores of sea lions are both time-consuming and logistically difficult.

Rosen and his team will use a hand-held device that estimates lipid stores in eight trained Steller sea lions. The researchers will collect data during natural seasonal changes in body condition, as well as during episodes of nutritional stress.

In addition to the FatMeter readings, Rosen’s team will collect a standard suite of morphological measures, which will be combined into a statistical model to determine the best combination of measures to predict body condition and nutritional status.

The goal of this study is to provide a quick, reliable tool that can be used to evaluate the physiological status of Steller sea lions and other pinnipeds in the field.

 

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Amanda Vincent wins FSBI’s Le Cren Medal

Dr. Amanda Vincent, professor in the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries has been awarded the Le Cren medal by the Fisheries Society of the British Isles (FSBI).

This medal is awarded to one or more individuals who have made a lifelong contribution to all aspects of the study of fish biology and/or fisheries science, with a focus on conservation, training or public understanding of the discipline.

Dr. Amanda Vincent

Dr. Amanda Vincent

Dr. Vincent was the first person to study seahorses underwater, the first to document the extensive trade in these fishes and the first to initiate a seahorse conservation project. In 1996, Dr. Vincent co-founded and still directs Project Seahorse, an interdisciplinary and international organisation committed to conservation and sustainable use of the world’s coastal marine ecosystems. The group engages in connected research and management at scales ranging from community initiatives to international accords. Collaborating with stakeholders and partners, team members use seahorses to focus efforts in finding marine conservation solutions. Project Seahorse undertakes biological and social research, empowers local communities, establishes marine protected areas, manages small-scale fisheries, restructures international trade, promotes integrated policy, and advances environmental understanding.

Dr. Vincent holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, England and a Hons. B.Sc. from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She was a Visiting Fellow in Sweden and Germany (1990-1991) and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, England (1991-1996). She was on faculty at McGill University, Montréal, Canada (1996-2002), where she was named a William Dawson Scholar in 2000. The same year, Dr. Vincent was named a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, the world’s pre-eminent award in that field. She moved to UBC in 2002, with a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Marine Conservation.

Dr. Vincent is very active in marine management and policy issues. She is Chair of the IUCN SSC Seahorse, Pipefish and Stickleback Specialist Group. She is the marine representative on the IUCN’s International Red List Committee and is the Chair of its Marine Conservation Subcommittee. From 2000-2004, she chaired the Syngnathid Working Group for the 180-nation Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Project Seahorse played a pivotal role in the landmark CITES decision to begin regulating international trade in marine fishes. In addition, Dr. Vincent has held special responsibility for coastal species as a member of the Steering Committee of the IUCN Species Survival Commission.

Dr. Vincent has written hundreds of scientific papers, technical reports, popular articles and policy briefings. She published the first monograph on the international trade in seahorses and has also co-authored a book on seahorses. Her work has been documented in five full-length television programmes, and much other media coverage globally. Her background includes extensive rough travel through more than 60 countries. Project Seahorse research and management initiatives are supported by not-for-profit organisations, government, private enterprise, research councils and individuals.

Dr. Vincent’s research and advocacy work for marine conservation have earned her the following awards and accolades, among others: Whitley Award in Animal Conservation (1994); Grand Prix International pour l’Environment Marin (Conféderation Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques: 1997), Rolex Award for Enterprise (1998); TIME magazine Leader for the 21st Century (1999); La Presse Personality of the Year (2000); Chevron Conservation Award (2005); Yves Rocher Foundation Woman of the Earth (2007); Le Cren Medal (2018). She was also one of six global finalists for the Indianapolis Prize for Animal Conservation in 2010 and 2016.

 

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Sea Stars: the Trilogy

A team of researchers based at universities and institutes along North America’s Pacific coast1 recently released a paper2 looking at the a wasting disease that is affecting the sea star populations along the Pacific North American coastline. The paper examined the conditions which may have led to the outbreak of this disease, and the impact it is having on the coastline populations of several sea star species.

Christopher Harley

Dr. Christopher Harley, a professor in UBC’s Department of Zoology and the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, who is one of the authors on this study, to discuss the impact on the British Columbia coastline, as well as the virus that may be causing the disease, and the ecological effects we will see on the extended Pacific Northwest coast.

And as it is Star Wars Day today (May 4, 2018), the interview was packaged accordingly (Sea stars, Star Wars, get it? Okay, bit of a stretch but it does work).

Thus we present to you our Sea Stars Trilogy!

Sea Stars


Sea Stars II: The Virus Strikes


Sea Stars III: The Return of the Coastline

1 University of California, Santa Cruz; University of California, Los Angeles; California State University, Fullerton; Western Washington University, Bellingham; University of British Columbia; University of California, Santa Barbara; Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve; California State Polytechnic University; Olympic National Park; Channel Islands National Park; and Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

2 C. Melissa Miner, Jennifer L. Burnaford, Richard F. Ambrose, Liam Antrim, Heath Bohlmann, Carol A. Blanchette, John M. Engle, Steven C. Fradkin, Rani Gaddam, Christopher D. G. Harley, Benjamin G. Miner, Steven N. Murray, Jayson R. Smith, Stephen G. Whitaker, Peter T. Raimondi (2018) Large-scale impacts of sea star wasting disease (SSWD) on intertidal sea stars and implications for recovery. PLOS ONE March 20, 2018 doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0192870

 

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Climate change to cause dramatic drop in Persian Gulf biodiversity and fisheries catch potential

Dhow on Dubai Creek, by A.Davey / Flickr CC 2.0

The Persian Gulf, also known as the Arabian Gulf, may lose up to 12 per cent of its marine biodiversity in some areas before the end of the century if countries in the region do not take measures to address climate change.

According to scientists at the University of British Columbia and the University of Western Australia, a business-as-usual climate scenario will severely affect species richness off the coast of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by the end of the century.

Colette Wabnitz

Some species may be able to avoid changes in environmental conditions by migrating north toward cooler waters off the coasts of Kuwait and northern Iran. “Climate-driven changes in salinity and temperature will make most of the southern Gulf unsuitable for species that are presently occurring there,” said Colette Wabnitz, lead author of the study and a Research Associate with the Changing Ocean Research Unit at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. “However, the northern Gulf is surrounded by land, creating a cul de sac effect, meaning marine species will not be able to shift their distributions further poleward. Consequently, the area suitable to species currently present in the Gulf will be shrinking substantially under climate change.”

By using a method called “environmental niche modelling,” the scientists were able to identify the environmental preferences of 55 marine species – identified by local stakeholders as important from an ecological and fisheries standpoint – and project where they would go and how fisheries catches may change as water temperature and salinity increase.

Among the eight countries that comprise the Gulf, the UAE is expected to perform the worst, with a projected loss of 45 per cent of its catch potential.

Myriam Khalfallah

“This is unlikely to have major economic consequences because the UAE is not very dependent on its fisheries. The marine fishing industry generates around 0.08 per cent of its GDP,” said Myriam Khalfallah, a PhD student with the Sea Around Us research initiative at UBC. “On the other hand, Bahrain could lose almost 9 per cent of its catch potential by 2090. This is likely to significantly affect Bahraini coastal communities that rely heavily on fisheries for food and employment,” she added.

Although they looked at 55 species of the thousands that occur in the region, the researchers suggest that the general pattern of response to climate change they found is likely to be applicable to many fishes and invertebrates in the Gulf.

“Solutions to these climate impacts are two-fold,” said William Cheung, associate professor at UBC’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and Principal Investigator of the study. “In the short-term, reducing other human pressures on the Gulf such as overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction improve the ability of marine species to cope with the changing climate. However, reducing warming by mitigating greenhouse gas emission is the ultimate and necessary long-term solution that needs to be done simultaneously.”

The scientists published their findings in an article titled, “Climate change impacts on marine biodiversity, fisheries and society in the Arabian Gulf.” The paper was published today in PLOS ONE.

 

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Sailing the Southern Ocean – for science

Natasha Henschke, with a Stygiomedusa gigantea, the world’s largest deep-sea jellyfish species

UBC Institute of Oceans and Fisheries (IOF) postdoctoral fellows and researchers, Boris Espinasse, Natasha Henschke, and Marina Espinasse, of the Marine Zooplankton and Micronekton Laboratory and Pelagic Ecosystems Lab recently embarked on a 6 week voyage aboard the R.V. Marion Dufresne to the Southern Ocean.

Marina Espinasse

The French research voyage, titled: “MOBYDICK – Marine Ecosystem Biodiversity and Dynamics of Carbon around Kerguelen: an integrated view” departed from La Réunion Islands, setting sail to study four previously established oceanographic sampling stations near Kerguelen Islands. The region encompasses two contrasting ecosystems: a ‘Low Biomass Low Export’ (LBLE) and a ‘High Biomass Low Export’ (HBLE), and focused on describing the regional biodiversity, carbon sequestration and transfer, and the impacts of climate change. The voyage, managed by Bernard Quéguiner and Chief Scientist Ingrid Obernosterer, included 30 scientists from around the world. IOF’s Dr. Evgeny Pakhomov and Dr. Brian Hunt are ‘ground’ collaborators on the project.

Boris, Marina and Natasha worked on “Work Package 6: C cycling and diversity-function of zooplankton and metazoans”, coordinating the sampling strategy, the biomass and taxonomic identification of the organisms and their grazing activity (diets, rates), based on experimental approaches and observations on collected material (gut contents, stable isotope analyses δ15N and δ13C) and data processing.

Boris Espinasse

More information about all the cruise work packages

(Photo: Boris Espinasse)

 

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