Perceptions of Shellfish Growers towards Marine Protected Areas

1
Perceptions of Shellfish Growers towards Marine
Protected Areas

• An exploratory study.

Dr Rick Rollins Department of Tourism and
Recreation Malaspina University-College Carleigh
Randall, MA Department of Tourism and Recreation
Malaspina University-College
2
Purpose of Study

• What is the level of shellfish growers awareness
  about MPAs
• Attitude towards MPAs
• What issues and opportunities did they face as an
  industry
• What recommendations could they make to assist
  marine protected area planning

3
Methodology

• Focus Group Method
• Opportunity for voice of the shellfish growers
  to be heard and capture points of view
• Purposive sampling
• data lists obtained from the B.C. Shellfish
  Growers Association, Land and Water British
  Columbia Inc., and the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group.
  
• A total of 44 shellfish growers were contacted,
  with 21 shellfish growers ultimately
  participating
• 3 focus groups in November 2003 at Malaspina
  University-College

4
Results Awareness and Understanding of MPAS

• clear lack of understanding about the NMCA
  resulting in a number of concerns
• concerns that First Nations have not been
  consulted about the National Marine Conservation
  Area.
• "the federal government is not communicating
  with us, they just went ahead and did it without
  First Nations consultations and we always find
  out after the fact that they are in place and
  that makes it really hard for us to accept what
  is out there."

5
Results Awareness and Understanding of MPAS

• Who benefits?
• Status of the NMCA was it a done deal
• Does geographical location i.e. high use area
  imply removal of industry and that residents stay
• Why is the government saving an already degraded,
  denuded environment?

6
Results Attitude Towards MPAs

• Advantages
• First Nations saw few advantages and those were
  viewed as a doubled edged sword
• Ie. exclusive harvesting rights will lead to
  commercial and recreational pressures and public
  perception of preferential treatment
• Curtailment of Impact distributed equitably
• There must be some rationale for establishing
  the park in the first place and I guess that I am
  curious as to what constitutes the rationale for
  - this is a good example it is a really high
  residential, high industrial use area so you put
  a park here that means industry goes away and the
  residents stays"

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Results Attitude Towards MPAs

• Advantages
• Benefits accrue to waterfront owner and
  recreationist
• The baby boomers looking for their little
  paradise in the Gulf Islands - so they are the
  ones - I feel a bit cynical - but they are the
  ones that this park is being created for. I am
  just being straight - I think this is a pile of
  crap to be honest. I think sometimes, that
  although there lots of good ecological, there are
  demonstrative ecological arguments for having
  parks, but I would certainly like to see those
  laid out for the Southern Gulf Islands."

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Results Attitude Towards MPAs

• Disadvantages
• creates another set of borders that further
  impedes First Nation harvest and access to the
  benefits of the water
• "To me I think its just more borders put on
  First Nations. Because right now the treaty
  process, they are putting borders where before
  there wasn't any borders - we could go as far
  north and south - but now we are designated
  borders and with these parks - there's more
  borders - that's how I feel about it.

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Results Attitude Towards MPAs

• Disadvantages
• creation of an MPA is added leverage by the
  public to stop commercial activity within park
  boundaries
• "Other thing that I see is a real danger is that
  when a marine park is created, like any other
  park, the first thing that the uneducated masses
  will start screaming for is no commercial
  activity. .If you add a marine protected area on
  top of it, then they will use that against us."

10
Results Issues and Opportunities

• Distinct themes emerged
• Shellfish Growers and Government Relationships
• Public Perceptions and Misperceptions
• Benefits of Shellfish Aquaculture within a Marine
  Protected Area
• Constraints and Disadvantages to Shellfish
  Aquaculture within a Marine Protected Area
• Perceptions of Threats to Water Quality
• Commitment to Shellfish Aquaculture

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Results Theme of Government Relationships

• conflicting provincial and federal government
  agendas often leaves shellfish aquaculture
  growers feeling disempowered and not listened to
  amongst differing government mandates, creating
  stress for shellfish growers and communities
• "Conflicting agendas lead to turf wars between
  agencies with the 'little voices' of shellfish
  aquaculture in the middle.
• a high degree of skepticism in dealing with
  government,
• Over the years, I have been around a little
  while, we have taken part in all kinds of
  fisheries initiatives, put information forward
  and every time it stopped us from doing work

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Results Government Relationships

• Participants feel strongly that what is needed is
  for government to "seek the truth" about
  shellfish aquaculture without the truth,
  shellfish aquaculture growers are concerned that
  they may be excluded from the park
• I think one of the first things that will be
  excluded from marine parks is shellfish
  aquaculture, which is what we do for a living and
  there's only one place in the Gulf of Georgia
  that is experiencing increased wildlife
  populations and better water quality than 50
  years ago and that place is right where the main
  activity is in shellfish farming in Baynes Sound

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Results Public Perceptions

• Participants were also concerned about
  misperceptions by government agencies that have
  tremendous impact on their industry
• "Department of Fisheries and Oceans' perception
  that shellfish aquaculture cannot occur where
  there's eelgrass, where in reality, shellfish
  farming actually stabilizes bed and eelgrass
  grows, there's a lack of understanding by DFO".
  This type of misperception stops them from
  working."

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Results Public Perceptions

• Another concern was that shellfish aquaculture
  was often labeled and lumped in with fishfarms,
  stating a clear need to distinguish between
  finfish and shellfish aquaculture
• "people camping on the beach, looking out,
  walking on the beach, sailing bysome people
  don't like itdon't know what's going - is that a
  fish farm? Fishfarms have a bad name and we get
  labeled with that."

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Results Public Perceptions

• Participants are also concerned that the general
  public will equate marine protected areas with
  having no shellfish aquaculture creating future
  problems
• "That the idea of a marine park starts people
  talking and it is another piece of the equation
  to fight you".
• But what we have to be concerned is with the
  general public's general ignorance on the subject
  that they will equate marine protected areas with
  no shellfish, so what we are saying is you make
  it a marine protected area, the next thing you
  will have is a very self important group lobbying
  the government to stop all the commercial
  activity in that area and what we do is very
  visible, so they will come after us immediately."

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Results Theme - Benefits

• The need to convey benefits to the wider public.
  
• environmental, economic and social benefits
• Shellfish aquaculture may supplement band
  members' food sources. Also, shellfish
  aquaculture may supplement, contribute, or
  improve faltering band economies through job
  creation and First Nations' shellfish product.
• "For our reserve, we have 90-95 unemployment
  rate, for some of them that's their livelihood.
  Indian sweaters that's gone down the road, its
  out the door now, carving was hot for a while,
  but now its not because just like the Indian
  sweaters its gone out the door we have an
  abundance of carvers, abundance of sweaters . so
  that's why we got into leasing"

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Results Constraints and Disadvantages

• Attitudes of resident Saltspring Islanders and
  Islands Trust - NIMBYism
• "It's hard not be a little skeptical about this
  even from the point of view of course, we know
  the attitude of Saltspring Islanders and Islands
  Trust and generally its pretty legendary.
  Basically its any sort of industrial activity or
  anybody that has shades of industrial activity is
  basically attempted to be pushed out of
  existence. That's traditional industry, logging
  or aquaculture in general. Just ask anybody,
  Chris Hatfield runs a salmon farm on Saltspring
  Island, just ask him what, how pleasant life has
  been on Saltspring.
• "Nobody wants us in their backyard."

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Constraints and Disadvantages

• Park Restrictions
• "so the real issue is who is restricted by the
  park. It is not going to be the water front
  property owners in any sense and that's the
  concern right.
• Upland waterfront owners with little or no local
  knowledge, little understanding of the issues and
  what they are entitled to when they buy water
  front property.
• "I think it is a class struggle - it is as old as
  the serfs, I think it is really that simple
  because its people who are quite wealthy that are
  moving into the traditional areas that are
  shellfish growing and we annoy them.

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Results Perception of water quality

• Participants felt the water quality within the
  Gulf Islands area generally ranged from poor to
  heavily polluted
• There's very little suitable water available for
  shellfish aquaculture, and a need for greater
  effort at all levels to reduce pollution of our
  water.

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Results Theme Commitment to Shellfish
Aquaculture

• History of past generations of families working
  together.
• Shellfish aquaculture to them personally and to
  communities by way of job creation and benefits
  to the environment.
• "A lot of people don't want you around, but if we
  don't do it right we self eliminate. The
  majority of people want to stay in this
  business."

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Results Shellfish Growers Recommendations

• Refine and clarify government agendas
• Input
• Education about shellfish aquaculture
• Proposed Working Models
• Use Agreements
• Compensation
• Consultation with First Nations' bands one to one
  to improve communication and poor level of
  understanding.

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Recommendations Contd

• Clarification as to how the park is to be managed
  in light of declining budgets.
• Need for co-management ideas to come forth, need
  for meaningful management in this proposed marine
  park.
• Clarification of ecological arguments for
  creation of park.
• Clarification of the benefits of the park.
• Create a no dumping zone in the Gulf Islands.