by Ryan Newell

Including this short video from Nicole Ashley Aube. More to come...

Thanks to Sarah Weston for e-mailing this BBC article to me. It is an interesting (albeit sad) update on the status of the the bluefin tuna conservation efforts (or lack thereof).

Environmental stewardship in Nova Scotia:
A review of community-based monitoring
by

Cathy Conrad, PhD
Associate Professor Geography Department Saint Mary's University

Friday, November 28 at 4:00 pm
Room 1014, Kenneth C. Rowe Management Bldg
6100 University Avenue

This presentation will draw upon experiences from the Community-Based Environmental Monitoring Network, housed within the Department of Geography at Saint Mary's University. Over 50 organized environmental stewardship organizations across Nova Scotia are actively engaged in environmental monitoring and stewardship. It has been well documented that the integration of meaningful public participation into environmental management is not only important but also critical for sustainable development and perhaps even one of the most significant developments in resource management since the beginning of the environmental movement. Based on experiences with watershed organizations in the Nova Scotia over the past four years, common benefits, challenges and recommendations for successful citizen science were compiled.

So I think it is fair to say that everyone had an amazing trip to Washington. I want to thank Emma Hicks for randomly posting about the Sant Ocean Hall. I guess what she might not have known at the time is that I like to take good ideas and literally run with them. You only live once, right? This was my first time in Washington and I was thoroughly impressed. One of the best experiences (well, a close second to Obama anyway), was experiencing this with a group of amazing people. I am starting to compile many of your photos and plan to prepare a proper video (accompanied by a proper soundtrack) but in the meantime, I put together a montage of some of my photos. The music gets redundant and it ends abruptly: stay tuned for something far better that will be a part of a reunion "Pictures and Pitchers" event in January. Thank you all for being great students, and for being so engaged in the learning experiences that this trip provided for us all. -Cathy

The Faculty and Students of the Marine Affairs Program invite you to a
seminar:
"Regional Tuna Management in the Western and Central Pacific"
Don Aldous, MMM
Monday, November 3, 2008
12:30 - 1:30 PM
Room 3089
Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building
6100 University Avenue, Dalhousie University Campus
Abstract
The Western and Central Pacific is home for over 40% of the world's tuna resources and the Pacific Islands have traditionally been on the leading edge of cooperative management in the fishery. They were the first to recognize their individual weakness but collective strength with the opening of the Forum Fisheries Agency in 1984. They were the first to develop what has become known as a "positive list of fishing vessels" in implementing the Regional Register in 1986. They were the first to challenge the US tuna Fleet in their courts. Now they are embarking on an ambitious plan to control the fishing effort of the Distant Water Fishing Nations tuna purse seine fleet. The Vessel Day Scheme has no precedent at the international level and poses some difficult issues for the Pacific Islands as they struggle to gain maximum benefit from their resources while ensuring the stocks are sustainable.
Bio
Don Aldous is a fisheries management consultant based in Nova Scotia who has built a career in the global tuna fishery. He spent 12 years with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the last 16 years as an independent consultant. He has been a government fisheries manager, an ICCAT Commissioner and advisor to governments in the Pacific Islands. He is also a graduate of Dalhousie's Marine Affairs program having completed his MMM in 2006. Currently he is working with Pacific organizations and governments as they implement a new regional strategy for controlling fishing effort in the entire Western and Central Pacific.
For more information, contact the Marine Affairs Program, Marine.Affairs@dal.ca, 494-3555