Gail S. Fraser

ADVANCING A NATIONAL STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE CANADIAN OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON CUMULATIVE EFFECTS

Cumulative environmental effects from the offshore oil and gas industry in Canada are inadequately addressed in the Environmental Assessment process due to the complexity of analysis required to overcome unknowns with respect to offshore environments. Limited Environmental Assessments can lead to deleterious consequences for wildlife populations and their habitats dependent on offshore marine ecosystems, particularly as adverse effects become additive and synergistic. A Strategic Environmental Assessment generates guiding policies and programmes for future industrial activities, while taking environmental concerns from all and potential sources into consideration. To address the cumulative impacts of the offshore oil and gas industry in Canadas three marine regions, this paper advances the idea of a National Strategic Environmental Assessment to ensure the health of marine ecosystems is secured throughout present and future industrial activities sustainably.

Mortality of Migratory Birds from Marine Commercial Fisheries and Offshore Oil and Gas Production in Canada

There is an imminent need for conservation and best-practice management efforts in marine ecosystems where global-scale declines in the biodiversity and biomass of large vertebrate predators are increasing and marine communities are being altered. We examine two marine-based industries that incidentally take migratory birds in Canada: (1) commercial fisheries, through bycatch, and (2) offshore oil and gas exploration, development, and production. We summarize information from the scientific literature and technical reports and also present new information from recently analyzed data to assess the magnitude and scope of mortality. Fisheries bycatch was responsible for the highest levels of incidental take of migratory bird species; estimated combined take in the longline, gillnet, and bottom otter trawl fisheries within the Atlantic, including the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Pacific regions was 2679 to 45,586 birds per year. For the offshore oil and gas sector, mortality estimates ranged from 188 to 4494 deaths per year due to the discharge of produced waters resulting in oil sheens and collisions with platforms and vessels; however these estimates for the oil and gas sector are based on many untested assumptions. In spite of the uncertainties, we feel levels of mortality from these two industries are unlikely to affect the marine bird community in Canada, but some effects on local populations from bycatch are likely. Further research and monitoring will be required to: (1) better estimate fisheriesrelated mortality for vulnerable species and populations that may be impacted by local fisheries, (2) determine the effects of oil sheens from produced waters, and attraction to platforms and associated mortality from collisions, sheens, and flaring, so that better estimates of mortality from the offshore oil and gas sector can be obtained, and (3) determine impacts associated with accidental spills, which are not included in our current assessment. With a better understanding of the direct mortality of marine birds from industry, appropriate mitigation and management actions can be implemented. Cooperation from industry for data collection, research to fill knowledge gaps, and implementation of mitigation approaches will all be needed to conserve marine birds in Canada. RESUME. Dans les ecosystemes marins, le declin de la biodiversite et de la biomasse des grands predateurs vertebres s’accentue a l’echelle globale et les communautes marines subissent de plus en plus de perturbations. Etant donne la situation, il est important de faire des efforts de conservation et de pratiques exemplaires de gestion pour ces ecosystemes. Nous avons examine deux industries du milieu marin qui entrainent des prises accessoires d’oiseaux migrateurs au Canada : 1) la peche commerciale; et 2) l’exploration, le developpement et l’exploitation du petrole et du gaz au large des cotes. Afin d’evaluer l’ampleur et les sources de mortalite, nous avons compile l’information issue de la litterature scientifique, y compris de rapports techniques, et presentons les resultats d’analyses recentes. La peche commerciale etait responsable du plus grand nombre de prises accessoires d’oiseaux migrateurs : les prises accessoires combinees de la peche a la palangre, aux filets maillants et aux chaluts de fond a panneaux dans les regions de l’Atlantique (y compris le golfe du Saint-Laurent) et du Pacifique, s’echelonnaient de 7 579 a 38 798 oiseaux par annee. En ce qui concerne l’industrie petroliere et gaziere extracotiere, les estimations se situaient entre 188 et 4 494 oiseaux morts par annee, en raison de la decharge d’eau souillee qui forme un film d’hydrocarbures, et des collisions avec les plateformes et les navires. Cependant, ces estimations pour le secteur petrolier et gazier marin sont fondees sur de nombreuses premisses non verifiees. En depit de ces incertitudes, nous pensons que la mortalite causee par ces deux industries n’affectera vraisemblablement pas les communautes d’oiseaux marins au Canada, mais que la peche commerciale est susceptible de causer certains effets sur les populations locales. De plus amples recherches et suivis seront necessaires pour : 1) obtenir de meilleures estimations de la mortalite causee par la peche pour les especes vulnerables et les populations pouvant etre affectees a l’echelle locale; 2) determiner Coastal & Freshwater Group, Cawthron Institute, Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Wildlife Research Division, Environment Canada, Population Ecology Division, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Department Fisheries & Oceans Avian Conservation and Ecology 8(2): 4 http://www.ace-eco.org/vol8/iss2/art4/ l’effet des films d’hydrocarbures issus des rejets d’eau souillee, de meme que l’attraction des plateformes et la mortalite qui y est associee (collisions, lumiere et brulures par torcheres), afin d’obtenir de meilleures estimations de la mortalite causee par l’industrie petroliere et gaziere extracotiere; et 3) determiner les impacts associes aux deversements accidentels, qui ne sont pas pris en compte dans notre analyse. Grâce a une comprehension accrue de la mortalite directe des oiseaux marins par l’industrie, des mesures d’attenuation et de gestion appropriees pourront etre instaurees. Afin de conserver les oiseaux marins au Canada, il sera necessaire d’obtenir la cooperation de l’industrie pour la collecte des donnees, la poursuite des recherches destinees a pallier le manque de connaissance et la mise en place de mesures d’attenuation.

OFFSHORE HYDROCARBON AND SYNTHETIC HYDROCARBON SPILLS IN EASTERN CANADA: THE ISSUE OF FOLLOW-UP AND EXPERIENCE

The Environmental Assessment (EA) process should involve the generation of testable predictions generated using clearly stated methods and followed by the collection of environmental monitoring data. Follow-up programs should aim to determine the accuracy of the initial predictions. We examined the follow-up process for six oil and gas extraction projects in eastern Canada with respect to assessing batch spill (

Double-crested cormorants and urban wilderness: conflicts and management

In this paper we examine the management of human-double-crested cormorant conflicts in urban nature areas using the Leslie Street Spit in Toronto, Ontario as our focal study area. We examine the management perspectives of various stakeholders and how they shift over time in response to site ecology and stakeholder input. We categorize management perspectives on a spectrum from complete human domination to near absence of human intention. Two broad management categories emerge from this framework: interventionist and laissez-faire. Interventionists recognized need for management of cormorants, laissez-faire argued for no management of a cormorant colony that has deforested 24% of the site through their nesting activities. We conclude that for urban nature areas, particularly those with a unique, rare, or contentious ecology, a hands-off, laissez-faire management approach is not conducive to improving human-nature relations. Rather, for urban nature sites nature management must promote a respectable balance between human and non-human life, for the long-term benefit of both.

Impacts of Offshore Oil and Gas Development on Marine Wildlife Resources

This chapter provides an overview on the impacts of offshore oil and gas activities on marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds and coastal wetlands in the United States Gulf of Mexico, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia. Using a 1987 publication on the long‐term environmental effects of offshore oil and gas development as a benchmark, the chapter also considers whether the existing knowledge base has improved for cetaceans, sea turtles and seabirds. The chapter examines what intensification of offshore oil extraction will mean for the future conservation marine wildlife in U.S. Atlantic coast, deepwater Gulf of Mexico and British Columbia. There continues to be large degrees of uncertainty in our knowledge of the impacts of offshore oil and gas operations on wildlife primarily relating to a lack of population‐level information for pelagic organisms. For areas not yet opened to development, identification and formal protection, including protection from noise from seismic testing, of marine biological hotspots is critical. Experimental designs incorporated into mitigation practices and resulting data collected by independent researchers, would contribute towards improving the assessment of mitigation effectiveness and towards quantifying impacts of offshore oil and gas operations on wildlife.

Avian frugivory on a gap-specialist, the red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)

Abstract In the temperate zone, few plants produce fruit during the peak of the avian breeding season when arthropods are abundant. This study examined avian frugivory on red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa pubens), a gap-specialist that fruits in late June and early July. First, we videotaped fruiting elderberry plants (n = 67 hr) within a forest to determine which avian species ate elderberry fruit. The birds that fed most frequently on red elderberry fruits were Scarlet Tanagers (Piranga olivacea) and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (Pheucticus ludovicianus). We then analyzed radiotelemetry data for Scarlet Tanagers to determine (1) whether tanagers shifted their territories when elderberry was in fruit, and (2) whether tanagers traveled long distances off territory to visit fruiting elderberry. During the fruiting period, male tanagers shifted their home ranges and spent more time near elderberry bushes; however, they left their territories only 0.25 times per hr and moved an average of only 115 m during trips off territory. These results suggest that while tanagers do focus their activity near fruiting elderberry, they do not leave their territories regularly to find fruit.

Effects of egg oiling on ground-nesting double-crested cormorants at a colony in Lake Ontario: an examination of nest-attendance behaviour

Abstract Context. We assessed the effects of egg oiling on ground-nesting double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) in the context of an emerging management strategy for the largest known cormorant colony on the lower Great Lakes. We designed the present study to answer specific questions in response to concerns raised by stakeholders and members of the public regarding this management technique. Aims. The aim of the present study was to examine the behavioural response of adult cormorants to egg oiling. Prior work on this issue has focussed on population-response questions rather than the behavioural level. Consequently, detailed observations on how cormorants respond to egg oiling are lacking. Methods. Using instantaneous and focal observations to measure behaviours, we compared Treatment nests (n = 24, 23) to Control (n = 24) and Sham (handled, but not treated; n = 24) nests. We observed nest attendance, incubation and mate-presence behaviour, and divided observations into pre-chick and entire-season categories for analysis. Key results. Our study determined that egg oiling does not cause immediate nest desertion by adult birds; Treatment birds incubated their nests as long as did Sham and Control birds. We found no difference among the three groups in the proportion of time a mate was present during incubation for Control and Sham nests in the pre-chick period. We found that the total seasonal duration of nest attendance by Treatment birds was shorter than that for the birds in the other groups. Conclusions. Both incubation and mate-presence data suggest that egg oiling did not measurably affect the behaviour of adult cormorants in the pre-chick period. Our study also suggests that Treatment birds attended their nest long enough to preclude re-nesting within the breeding season, although this may not apply for regions with longer nesting seasons. Implications. Our study indicates that egg oiling, administered judiciously, may be an appropriate management technique for ground-nesting cormorants, although management targets must be clearly articulated.

Living with Double-Crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus): A Spatial Approach for Non-Lethal Management in Toronto, Canada

Abstract. Tree mortality incurred through the nesting habits of Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) can cause human-wildlife conflicts, often resulting in the lethal control of cormorants to reduce local population numbers in North America. In a protected area in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that supports the largest colony of Double-crested Cormorants in North America, a non-lethal management approach to mitigate cormorant-induced tree mortality was adopted by the site managers in 2008. Double-crested Cormorants were managed for space occupancy rather than population size, with the main objective of minimizing tree mortality while supporting the cormorant population. Targeted non-lethal deterrence of tree-nesting Double-crested Cormorants was labor intensive, but effective in protecting trees. Between 2008 and 2016, the tree-nesting colony was prevented from expanding. Accessing ground-nesting Double-crested Cormorants only at night to avoid Larus sp. predation of Double-crested Cormorant nests appeared to be highly effective in minimizing disturbance; the ground-nesting colony expanded 899% over an 8-year period, with a 44% decrease in tree nesting. Ground-nesting Double-crested Cormorants had less impact on trees than tree-nesting individuals, and this spatially focused approach allowed for the sustained existence of a thriving colony.