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  • OPEN ACCESS
    Adaptive capacity of the Maine lobster fishery: insights from the Maine Fishermen’s Climate Roundtables
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 13
    The Gulf of Maine in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean is one of the world’s fastest warming marine regions. Changes in ocean conditions are affecting growth, survival, and distribution of American lobster (Homarus americanus), which supports iconic fisheries along the coast of Maine, USA. In this study, we analyzed 15 years of oral records from the Maine Fishermen’s Climate Roundtables to explore fishermen’s observations of and responses to social–ecological changes. Fishermen reported an overall shift in lobster biomass further east and offshore, resulting in strategic expansion of fishing seasons and areas. Biomass shifts were thought to be connected to increases in temperature, decreases in salinity, a shift in ocean currents, and a loss of predator species. Fishing strategies were categorized according to five domains of adaptive capacity, but the majority of fishers’ responses fell into two domains: “access to assets” and “diversity and flexibility”. Strategies within these domains included increased expansion into federal lobster fisheries and extension of fishing seasons. Fishermen highlighted data gaps that need to be addressed to meet the challenges of climate change. Fisheries learning exchanges, such as the Climate Roundtables, create social networks that foster knowledge sharing to support the continued viability of local livelihoods.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Conserving at-risk aquatic species in agricultural drains
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 10
    Many of Canada’s waterways are modified by the deepening and straightening of stream channels, converting them into agricultural drains to create arable land. While these agricultural drains support diverse aquatic communities and provide important habitat for species at risk, current policies allow for maintenance activities that threaten the survival and longevity of at-risk fish populations. Using three case studies from Ontario, we highlight current challenges to protecting aquatic species at risk in agricultural drains and potential conservation actions that can be taken to protect and restore aquatic species at risk and their habitat within those drains. Conservation actions may vary from ecological modeling to collaborative development of mitigation techniques, and restoration of naturalized habitat in anticipation of future alterations. We provide nine recommendations (including improved legislation, permitting, mitigation, and compliance) on how to better conserve and protect aquatic species at risk in agricultural drains in the future.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Time to treat the climate and nature crisis as one indivisible global health emergency
      FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. i - iii
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Fishing in turbulent waters: resilience, risk, and trust in British Columbia’s declining commercial salmon fishery
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 17
      The impacts fishing communities face as a result of declining fisheries productivity and access may largely hinge on measurable attributes of their social resilience. Wild-origin Pacific salmon populations have been in a marked decline since the 1960s, resulting in progressively declining access for many commercial fisheries. More recent acute stressors have caused appreciable tribulation to commercial fishers in British Columbia, raising concern over their capacity to remain viable in the industry, and underscoring the need to examine the fishery under a social resilience framework. Here, we coupled an online survey instrument with in-depth interviews to assess commercial salmon fishers’ social resilience, socioeconomic characteristics, risk perceptions, trust in fishery management, and the relationships between these variables. Our results show that social resilience is low overall, with older, more experienced, and less diversified fishers being particularly vulnerable to declining salmon access. While 73% of fishers reported having plans to adapt to future declines in salmon access, 92% reported feeling that there are barriers impeding their adaptation, and 75% reported having no trust in fisheries management helping them adapt. Fishers’ social resilience was positively correlated with their trust in, and perceived trust from fisheries management.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Transport does not influence maximum metabolic rate or thermal tolerance of endangered redside dace (Clinostomus elongatus)
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 9
      Reintroduction is an important tool in the conservation and recovery of aquatic species at risk. However, components of the reintroduction process such as transportation have the potential to induce physiological stress and the extent to which preparatory techniques can mitigate this stress is poorly understood in small-bodied fishes. To address this concern, we studied the effect of transport on two fitness-related performance measures: maximum metabolic rate and thermal tolerance in redside dace (Clinostomus elongatus), an imperilled small-bodied stream fish native to eastern North America. Prior to transportation, we manipulated the body condition of redside dace over a 12-week period, by providing either low (1% of their total body mass) or high (2% of their total body mass) rations. The goal of this manipulation was to influence body condition, as higher body condition can enhance physiological performance. Subsequently, redside dace were transported for varying durations: 0, 3, and 6 h. Following transportation, we measured maximum metabolic rate (µmol/h) and thermal tolerance (CTmax, °C). Our results indicate that neither transport nor body condition had a significant effect on maximum metabolic rate or thermal tolerance (CTmax). These findings provide preliminary evidence that redside dace can physiologically tolerate transport based on the endpoints measured and this information may possibly be extended to other small-bodied fish, for which information is lacking.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      An integrated assessment of impacts to ecosystem services associated with prairie pothole wetland drainage quantifying wide-ranging losses
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 15
      In many regions, a tradeoff exists between draining wetlands to support the expansion of agricultural land, and conserving wetlands to maintain their valuable ecosystem services. Decisions about wetland drainage are often made without identifying the impacts on the services these systems provide. We address this gap through a novel assessment of impacts on ecosystem services via wetland drainage in the Canadian prairie landscape. Draining pothole wetlands has large impacts, but sensitivity varies among the indicators considered. Loss of water storage increased the magnitude of median annual flows, but absolute increases with drainage were higher for larger, less frequent events. Total phosphorus exports increased in concert with streamflow. Our analysis suggested disproportionate riparian habitat losses with the first 30% of wetland area drained. Dabbling ducks and wetland-associated bird abundances respond strongly to the loss of small wetland ponds; abundances were predicted to decrease by half with the loss of only 20%–40% of wetland area. This approach to evaluating changes to key wetland ecosystem services in a large region where wetland drainage is ongoing can be used with an economic valuation of the drainage impacts, which should be weighed against the benefits associated with agricultural expansion.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      The state of plant conservation in Canada: a survey of practitioners
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 13
      Plants make up more than one quarter of all species listed under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, but very few have improved in status over time. Ineffective legal protections, lack of public awareness, difficulties in prioritizing species, and a scarcity of research relevant to the recovery of plant species at risk are some of the many challenges facing effective plant conservation in Canada. We used an online survey to ask 243 people who work in plant conservation or who do research in plant ecology or evolution to assess the state of plant conservation in Canada and to identify the actions needed to improve it. Most respondents agreed that Canada is underperforming or merely average when it comes to conserving plants. Based on their responses, we outline a set of recommendations that could form the basis of a national strategy for plant conservation in Canada. These include greater advocacy for habitat protection, connecting researchers with funding opportunities, supporting graduate students working on research related to plant conservation, increasing public awareness of plants, collaborating with and respecting Indigenous knowledge holders, promoting collaboration between researchers and local conservation groups, and increasing capacity to assess the status of species that are potentially at risk.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Determining reasonable response actions following a fly ash spill in the headwaters of Banff National Park, Canada
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 13
      It can be challenging for practitioners to determine reasonable response actions following an environmental spill because there are risks associated with the recovery process, acute constraints on time, and few case studies available from antecedent events. Here, we evaluate environmental risk using a screening level assessment (SLA) and describe risk management actions during the response phase of a train derailment that released 600 tonnes of fly ash into a headwater creek in Banff National Park, Canada. Trace metal concentrations and physico-chemical parameters from downstream of the derailment site were compared to Canadian environmental quality guidelines and upstream reference values. There was a 1–2.2-fold exceedance of sediment quality guidelines (As, Cd, and Se) as well as a 3.6–17.5-fold exceedance of water quality guidelines (Al, Cd, Fe, and turbidity) downstream of the train derailment. Despite uncertainty about site-specific toxicity when using a SLA, we did require the removal of the settled fly ash from the creek based on the multiple exceedances of guidelines, regulatory context, wilderness setting, and potential contribution to cumulative effects downstream. Case studies that evaluate risk and describe risk management actions help practitioners make consistent and efficient decisions during the response phase of a spill.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Seasonal movement and habitat use of Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) near the northern geographic range extent
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 15
      The movement ecology of Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus) in watersheds at the northern geographic range extent is not well understood. We implanted 54 Bull Trout with acoustic transmitters in the Prairie Creek watershed, Northwest Territories, Canada and tracked fish from July 2011 to October 2012 using 19 stationary hydrophones. Bull Trout movement patterns generally corresponded to two groups, as a result of individual variation within and across seasons. The first group exhibited seasonal variations in movement and habitat use, moving most (range 11.7–115.9 km) and occupying the largest home ranges in summer and autumn, while exhibiting little movement during winter and spring. The second group made negligible movements within seasons and resided in localized areas. Restricted movement in winter resulted in a severe range contraction. The average distance moved within a season was 11.5 km (range 0.3–64.9 km per fish). The unusually high prevalence of stationarity in this watershed suggest fish can complete all life processes (spawning, feeding, and rearing) in short reaches (<10 km) of Prairie Creek and tributaries. We encourage researchers to replicate our work in other northern watersheds to determine if the life history we describe represents a regional divergence from more southerly populations.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Assessing species at risk legislation across Canadian provinces and territories
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 18
      Canada’s provinces and territories govern species at risk across most of Canada, with the federal Species at Risk Act generally covering only aquatic species, migratory birds, and species living on federal land. More than a decade after a 2012 report by the environmental law charity Ecojustice on species at risk protection in Canada, we use the same criteria to evaluate the current state of provincial and territorial species at risk legislation, and we provide updates on changes in each jurisdiction since 2012. These criteria are as follows: whether at-risk species are being identified, whether these species are being protected, whether their habitat is being protected, and whether species recovery plans are being created and implemented. We find that there is considerable variation across jurisdictions, with shortcomings that result in inadequate protections for at-risk species, as well as strong components that should be adopted by all jurisdictions. We recommend seven key areas for improvement: dedicated and harmonized legislation, limited discretionary power, increased embrace of scientific and Indigenous knowledge, appropriate timelines for actions, reasonable exemptions to protections, habitat protection across land ownership types, and transparency throughout the process. We urge policymakers to address current shortcomings as they work toward meeting Canada’s biodiversity conservation commitments.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Poor mental health negatively impacts farmers personally, interpersonally, cognitively, and professionally
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 16
      Farmers globally face significant occupational stressors and are reported to experience high levels of depression, anxiety, burnout, suicide ideation, and suicide. While the impacts of high stress and poor mental health have been well-studied in the general population, and to some extent, in specific occupations, the impacts on farmers are understudied. The objective here was to explore the lived experience of high stress and (or) poor mental health in Canadian farmers, including the perceived impacts. Using a phenomenological approach within a constructivist paradigm, we conducted 75 one-on-one research interviews with farmers and people who work closely with farmers, in Ontario, Canada, between July 2017 and May 2018. We analysed the data via thematic analyses and identified four major themes. Participants described myriad negative impacts of farmers’ high stress and (or) poor mental health: (1) personally, (2) interpersonally, and (3) cognitively, which ultimately negatively impacted them (4) professionally, including consequences for productivity, animals, and farm success. The data described far-reaching, interconnected impacts of high stress and poor mental health on participants, the people and animals in their lives, and most aspects of their farming operations, financial viability, and success. Farmer stress, mental health, and well-being are important considerations in promoting sustainable, successful agriculture.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Royal Society of Canada working group on health research system recovery: strengthening Canada’s health research system after the COVID-19 pandemic
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 44
      The Royal Society of Canada Working Group on Health Research System Recovery developed actionable recommendations for organizations to implement to strengthen Canada’s health research system. Recommendations were based on input from participants from G7 countries and Australia and New Zealand. Participants included health research funding agency leaders; research institute leaders; health, public health, and social care policy-makers; researchers; and members of the public. The recommendations were categorized using the World Health Organization’s framework for health research systems and include governance/stewardship: (1) Outline research logistics as part of emergency preparedness to streamline research in future pandemics. (2) Embed equity and inclusion in all research processes. (3) Facilitate streamlined, inclusive, and rigorous processes for grant application preparation and review. (4) Create knowledge mobilization infrastructure to support the generation and use of evidence. (5) Coordinate research efforts across local, provincial, national, and international entities. Financing: (6) Reimagine the funding of health research. Capacity building: (7) Invest in formative training opportunities rooted in equity, diversity, and anti-racism. (8) Support researchers’ career development throughout their career span. (9) Support early career researchers to establish themselves. Producing and using research: (10) Strengthen Indigenous health research and break down systemic barriers to its conduct. (11) Develop mechanisms to produce novel research. (12) Enhance research use across the health research ecosystem.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      An expert opinion process to prioritize One Health information needs during a zoonotic disease outbreak
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 13
      There is a global movement to implement a One Health approach across sectors to holistically address emerging issues that have implications for public, animal, and environmental health. The operationalization of a One Health model can support knowledge sharing and build an evidence base for designing research programs and decision-making tools to evaluate and mitigate intersectoral health challenges. In late 2021, the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N1 2.3.4.4b was detected in eastern Canada, and subsequently spread throughout the flyways of North America. Given the multiyear persistence of the current HPAIV in Europe and the continued detections in North America, Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners recognized the need to prioritize HPAIV-related information needs to inform future decision-making and management. In early 2023, we carried out an expert opinion exercise with partners from across One Health domains and expertise to prioritize information needs related to the conservation and management of migratory birds in Canada. The results informed on-the-ground programming for migratory bird activities in 2023 and onwards. The process illustrates how a One Health lens can be applied with a conservation focal point, using dedicated facilitation to synthesize expert opinions across groups with non-overlapping mandates.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Inuit perspectives on climate change and well-being: a comparison between urban and remote communities in the Arctic
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 12
      The generational knowledge of weather and climate is a foundational component of subsistence for Inuit in the Arctic. This knowledge is now challenged by the reality of anthropogenic climate change at a pace that, for Inuit, is impeding fundamental aspects of life in a single generation. To better understand how climate change moderates relationships between Inuit communities and the ecosystem services they rely on, the literature on how climate change is perceived in the circumpolar Arctic was systematically reviewed. The perspectives of Inuit as described in 75 studies were contrasted with those queried from a series of semi-structured interviews with 16 residents of Iqaluit, Nunavut. Within the literature, the themes most frequently mentioned in remote communities were concerns arising about the environment, community, and health. However, the inverse was true for studies that focused on urban communities. Participants from the semi-structured interviews described how colonialism still shapes knowledge translation, which has lasting effects on Arctic climate literacy for Inuit and non-Inuit. As such, an academic knowledge gap in the colonial context in which climate change operates was identified, which requires a way forward that can lead to improvements in the social context for Inuit.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Food Systems Innovation to Nurture Equity and Resilience Globally (Food SINERGY): insights from the Food SINERGY network
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 15
      The international collaboration network Food Systems Innovation to Nurture Equity and Resilience Globally (Food SINERGY) unites food system experts concerned with the confluence of environmental, geopolitical, economic, and public health stressors that weaken food systems and increase inequalities. In March 2023, Food SINERGY participants from universities, research institutes, food policy advocacy groups, Indigenous networks, farmers’ associations, consumer organizations, social enterprises, and non-governmental organizations from around the world met in Mont Orford, Québec, for a forum to revisit food system structures across local-to-global scales and to identify key junctures for transformation. This article summarizes the network's discussions in the context of the existing literature. Key knowledge contributions include the importance of diversification throughout the food system for cultivating resilience; the value of food sovereignty in promoting equity across scales; the reconciliation between food sovereignty and equitable trade; the need for consonance between policy environments at different scales to enable positive societal actions; the pioneering role of food system innovations that challenge conventional political and economic structures, with emphasis on agroecology; and the need for critical self-reflection around knowledge production and knowledge use to better serve equitable food systems. These discussion outcomes provide insights for actors seeking to transform food systems in support of equity and resilience.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Weaving ways of knowing in practice: a collaborative approach to prioritizing community knowledge and values in wildlife camera monitoring with Magnetawan First Nation
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 17
      There is not one singular way to weave together Indigenous and Western knowledges; creating meaningful cross-cultural collaborations requires a foundation of relationships rooted in the context of specific people and place. As interest in working across knowledge systems increases, our goal is to provide an example of respectful and appropriate cross-cultural collaboration within environmental practice. We demonstrate our collaborative, mixed-methods approach to developing a community-based wildlife monitoring program with Magnetawan First Nation that prioritizes community knowledge and values. Through community interviews and a youth sharing circle, participants highlighted values (respect, interconnection, reciprocity, collaboration, and relationship) as well as research priorities, providing examples of what each may look like in practice, to inform our monitoring approach. These examples, paired with reflections from the research team, are shared to explore the process of weaving together knowledge and values to co-create a community-based wildlife monitoring program, applying wildlife cameras as much more than simply a tool for data collection. This research provides tangible examples of weaving together knowledges and values in the context of environmental monitoring, helping guide future cross-cultural collaboration to ensure this work is being done in a good way.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      A One Health perspective on recreational fisheries
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 9
      Recreational fisheries involve an intimate connection between people, individual fish, and the environment. Recreational fishers and their health crucially depend on healthy fish and ecosystems. Similarly, fish and ecosystems can be impacted by the activities of people including recreational fishers. Thus, amplified by the global interest in recreational fishing, we posit that recreational fishing is particularly suited as an empirical system to explore a One Health perspective, with a goal of creating pathways to better manage such socio-ecological systems for the benefit of people, fish, and the environment. Although zoonoses are uncommon in fishes, fish can carry pathogens, biotoxins, or contaminants that are harmful to people. When captured and released, fish can experience stress and injuries that may promote pathogen development. Similarly, when humans contribute to environmental degradation, not only are fish impacted but so are the humans that depend on them for nutrition, livelihoods, culture, and well-being. Failure to embrace the One Health perspective for recreational fisheries has the potential to negatively impact the health of fish, fisheries, people, society, and the aquatic environment—especially important since these complex social–ecological systems are undergoing rapid change.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Bat handlers, bat bites, and rabies: vaccination and serological testing of humans at risk
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 11
      Globally, bats provide critical ecosystem services. Rabies, caused by rabies virus and related lyssaviruses, is one of the most significant zoonoses associated with bats. Bat biologists study bats in the laboratory and the field. To minimize the risk of disease, all bat handlers should be vaccinated against rabies and undergo routine serological testing to measure their rabies virus neutralizing antibody levels. They should use best practices to avoid exposures, such as personal protective equipment, especially gloves appropriate to the size of the bat(s) being handled. Attention to such details will prevent unnecessary exposures and avoid some of the accompanying negative perceptions that endanger bats on a global level. The small body sizes of many bats (<50 g, many <20 g) and small teeth makes their defensive bites easy to overlook. Breaks in the skin, however small, may result in exposure to lyssaviruses in the animals’ saliva. Exposure to blood-feeding bats is less common because these species are geographically restricted to the Neotropics and are the only species whose natural feeding behavior could involve transmission of rabies virus. Understanding viral transmission, preventing exposures, and responding appropriately to bites will minimize the consequences of this deadly zoonosis.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority: an Indigenous water utility guided by Etuaptmumk or Two-Eyed Seeing
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 10
      The Atlantic First Nations Water Authority (AFNWA) is the first Indigenous-owned and operated water and wastewater utility in Canada, providing service to 12 First Nations (at the time of this publication), with a Board of Directors composed of Chiefs and technical and legal experts guided by an Elders Advisory Lodge. The AFNWA is forging a path of self-determination in water service provision through honouring First Nations knowledge and culture and implementing leading-edge western engineering practices through Two-Eyed Seeing. The story of the formation and development of the AFNWA offers examples and experiences that may be useful for engineering and industry specialists working to build relationships and offer services to First Nations and First Nations organizations. Through this article, Elders, AFNWA staff, and engineers and researchers from the Centre for Water Resources studies share their narratives of how Two-Eyed Seeing has manifested in the formation of the first Indigenous water utility in Canada.
    • OPEN ACCESS
      Does regulation delay mines? A timeline and economic benefit audit of British Columbia mines
      FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 12
      Seeking to capitalize on a surge in global demand for critical minerals, the Canadian mining sector claims that regulatory processes like Environmental Assessment (EA) impede and delay mining’s economic benefits. This paper investigates whether regulation has delayed mining projects and how much economic benefit mines have delivered in British Columbia (BC), focusing the mines’ performance post-EA. We audit the 27 mines granted an EA certificate in BC since 1995 and projected to open by 2022, comparing each mine’s forecasted and actual timelines and economic benefits (production, employment, and taxes), and identifying publicly-stated reasons for any mine delays. Seven of the 27 mines opened on time: 13 remain non-operational, and of the 14 mines that have operated, seven were delayed. Regulation was cited as a factor in only three of the 20 delayed projects; economic factors like commodity prices were the most common cause of delay. Lack of data and transparency on economic benefits significantly constrained our benefit audit, but BC mines for which data are available are underperforming across production (−77%), employment (−82%), and tax revenue (−100%). These findings suggest economic underperformance and mine delays post-EA are common, with delays typically resulting from economic factors, not government regulations.