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- OPEN ACCESSThe creation and deployment of plastic structures made out of pipes and panels in freshwater ecosystems to enhance fish habitat or restore freshwater systems have become popularized in some regions. Here, we outline concerns with these activities, examine the associated evidence base for using plastic materials for restoration, and provide some suggestions for a path forward. The evidence base supporting the use of plastic structures in freshwater systems is limited in terms of ecological benefit and assurances that the use of plastics does not contribute to pollution via plastic degradation or leaching. Rarely was a cradle-to-grave approach (i.e. the full life cycle of restoration as well as the full suite of environmental consequences arising from plastic creation to disposal) considered nor were decommissioning plans required for deployment of plastic habitats. We suggest that there is a need to embrace natural materials when engaging in habitat restoration and provide more opportunities for relevant actors to have a voice regarding the types of materials used. It is clear that restoration of freshwater ecosystems is critically important, but those efforts need to be guided by science and not result in potential long-term harm. We conclude that based on the current evidence base, the use of plastic for habitat enhancement or restoration in freshwater systems is nothing short of littering.
- OPEN ACCESS
- P.J. Duke,
- B. Richaud,
- R. Arruda,
- J. Länger,
- K. Schuler,
- P. Gooya,
- M.M.M. Ahmed,
- M.R. Miller,
- C.A. Braybrook,
- K. Kam,
- R. Piunno,
- Y. Sezginer,
- G. Nickoloff, and
- A.C. Franco
Improving our understanding of how the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide is critical to climate change mitigation efforts. We, a group of early career ocean professionals working in Canada, summarize current research and identify steps forward to improve our understanding of the marine carbon sink in Canadian national and offshore waters. We have compiled an extensive collection of reported surface ocean air–sea carbon dioxide exchange values within each of Canada's three adjacent ocean basins. We review the current understanding of air–sea carbon fluxes and identify major challenges limiting our understanding in the Pacific, the Arctic, and the Atlantic Ocean. We focus on ways of reducing uncertainty to inform Canada's carbon stocktake, establish baselines for marine carbon dioxide removal projects, and support efforts to mitigate and adapt to ocean acidification. Future directions recommended by this group include investing in maturing and building capacity in the use of marine carbon sensors, improving ocean biogeochemical models fit-for-purpose in regional and ocean carbon dioxide removal applications, creating transparent and robust monitoring, verification, and reporting protocols for marine carbon dioxide removal, tailoring community-specific approaches to co-generate knowledge with First Nations, and advancing training opportunities for early career ocean professionals in marine carbon science and technology. - OPEN ACCESSMercury mass balance models (MMBMs) for fish are powerful tools for understanding factors affecting growth and food consumption by free-ranging fish in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Moreover, MMBMs can be used to predict the consequences of global mercury reductions, overfishing, and climate change on mercury (Hg) concentration in commercially and recreationally valuable species of fish. Such predictions are useful in decision-making by resource managers and public health policy makers, because mercury is a neurotoxin and the primary route of exposure of mercury to humans is via consumption of fish. Recent evidence has emerged to indicate that the current-day version of MMBMs overestimates the rate at which fish eliminate mercury from their bodies. Consequently, MMBMs overestimate food consumption by fish and underestimate Hg concentration in fish. In this perspective, we explore underlying reasons for this overestimation of Hg-elimination rate, as well as consequences and implications of this overestimation. We highlight emerging studies that distinguish species and sex as contributing factors, in addition to body weight and water temperature, that can play an important role in how quickly Hg is eliminated from fish. Future research directions for refining MMBMs are discussed.
- OPEN ACCESSThe identification of sustainably managed fisheries is problematic for marketers and consumers of Pacific salmon food products owing to lack of well-defined and robust criteria that take into account current ecosystem science of salmon. We present the rationale for an alternative conceptual framework for salmon management that supports the development of sustainable sourcing criteria. Our approach contrasts with current large-scale fisheries certification programs such as that of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and general consumer recommendation services such as Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch (SFW) program. Our framework is based on the “place-based” character of salmon populations and recognition of fundamental aspects of salmon ecology, particularly the evolution of population life histories that are locally adapted to freshwater spawning and rearing habitats. We describe how this framework underpins development of science-based sourcing criteria and how it differs in important respects from the industrial approach that historically and currently is the basis for most salmon management. We conclude with a discussion of how the framework and its application may provide a model for redirecting salmon management, in general, towards a more science- and place-based approach and why that is likely to be sustainable in the long term in a way that most contemporary salmon management is not.