NATURE

Sea, land, river

PEOPLES

Community

For earlier materials see Table of Contents

Back to the future

Dr. Tony Pitcher

Nigel Haggan

A model for the Hecate marine ecosystem

The concept: “it’s like a large accounting program, except the currency is not $ but living material”. So you start with the phytoplankton which = about 60% of the total biomass. They are eaten by zooplankton etc (18%) which are eaten by small fish etc. The model goes all the way up to transient Orcas and seabirds. As I calculated it the largest fish biomass were the rockfish—a big taxonomic group but still surprising.

The model doesn’t distinguish between Hecate and Dixon Entrance; nor is Skeena – Nass system included. Another weakness is that Hecate is considered a closed system

Hecate Straits

Why Back to the future?

Here is a slide show by Dr Pitcher et al using Hong Kong as example--— or another more general slide series-- Each generation depletes the fish resources and we collectively forget ‘how good it was’

Thus we don’t want to sustain the ‘status quo’ but return to a better, healthier ecosystem.

Using the landed values from the report and multiplying by recent fishery values I compute about $45.5 Million a year taken from Hecate.

Supporting the concept Hecate already depleted we see largest values are for crabs geoducks and urchins.

Modus Operandi

About 34 people were interviewed this trip to Prince Rupert.

Each was shown a series of cards with an animal on it; and the interviewers tried to elicit quantitative memories—Have you ever seen a sea otter? A quillback rockfish etc. How many did you see at one time? Etc.

These will help to fill I the blank values for the model. Another workshop will be held in December.


	Alright it is out of focus—but you get the idea---