69传媒

The 69传媒 is taking the lead on a team of researchers examining the potential impact of agricultural pesticide run-off on lobsters in the Northumberland Strait. The three-year study is funded by a Strategic Partnership Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and brings together partners from UPEI, the PEI Fishermen鈥檚 Association (PEIFA), and Homarus Inc.鈥攁 non-profit organization managed by the Maritime Fishermen鈥檚 Union.

 

 

鈥淭he lobster populations in the Northumberland Strait have been collapsed for quite a number of years, and no amount of fisheries measures seem to have improved that,鈥� said Dr. Michael van den Heuvel, UPEI鈥檚 Canada Research Chair in Watershed Ecological Integrity and principal investigator of this project. 鈥淭he conclusion is that there are other influencing factors that are not coming from the strait itself. They鈥檙e, in fact, coming from the surrounding land.鈥� 

 

Dr. van den Heuvel explains that estuaries and coastal zones are under environmental pressure due to urban development, agriculture, and climate change. In the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence, this is of special concern.

 

鈥淭he uniqueness of that area is mainly because of the proximity to shore on both sides,鈥� said Craig Avery, president of the PEIFA. 鈥淵ou have a lot more contaminants, a lot more run-off, and you have them coming from both sides. The strait is right there, and there鈥檚 nowhere else for it to go.鈥� 

 

Foremost among those contaminants are pesticides that are highly toxic to invertebrates, especially crustaceans such as lobster.

 

鈥淲e are interested in any effect that could potentially be an explanation. It could be temperature. It could be pesticides. It could be acidification. We are studying all of those aspects,鈥� said Dr. Dounia Daoud, a research scientist with Homarus Inc. 鈥淚 am proud that the fishermen are taking care of their resource. I think it鈥檚 important. They are at the origin of our involvement of this project. It鈥檚 original and new that fishermen are taking care of the future.鈥�

 

This project brings together faculty and student researchers from diverse fields at UPEI, including Dr. Spencer Greenwood, professor of biomedical sciences at the Atlantic Veterinary College and director of the Lobster Science Centre; Dr. Brian Wagner, professor of chemistry; and, Dr. Michael van den Heuvel, professor of biology.

 

Dr. van den Heuvel indicates the project will seek to answer the question of whether or not pesticides are having an influence on organisms in the Northumberland Strait. The project will also establish new long-term monitoring methods to improve our understanding of how the environment changes in response to activity on land.