GGGI Small Grant (2022) - Emerald Sea Protection Society (Canada)
Project Summary
The Emerald Sea Protection Society (ESPS) small grant project consisted of targeted ghost gear recovery operations off the coast of British Columbia and media outreach to raise awareness of ALDFG. The original plan was to purchase a boom crane to increase the lift potential of the ESPS field vessel to pull ALDFG from the water to the surface. However, the vessel was deemed incompatible with a boom crane after an engineering assessment. For this reason, ESPS used funds allocated to this project to upgrade the ROVs, GPS systems and associated hardware that the society uses to detect and remove ALDFG.
In February and March 2023, an ESPS field crew completed ghost gear surveys and recovery activities in the region of Port McNeill, British Columbia. The crew concentrated its survey and recovery effort on Alert Bay near Port McNeill. Throughout the areas surveyed in Alert Bay, the crew did not observe a wide distribution of gear but did observe a higher density of gear at a few different locations. An estimated 10,494 pounds of ALDFG was recovered by the crew. The gear that was suitable for recycling was sent to the Ocean Legacy Foundation recycling center in Steveston, British Columbia and the remainder of the recovered gear, which was too heavily contaminated to recycle, was sent to a local landfill for disposal. Inclement weather conditions and strong currents had significantly limited the crew’s capacity to safely survey and recover ALDFG. During its activities, the crew observed that the eelgrass was flourishing in Alert Bay, and they believe that with a more extensive cleanup effort, the seabed habitat would not take long to recover.
With respect to outreach work, ESPS worked with a professional videographer to record footage with the field crew in April 2023, with support from the GGGI Small Grants Program. The resulting film “Untangling an Ocean” showcases ESPS work regarding ALDFG in the Salish Sea. The film, which can be viewed below, will be used to educate the public about ALDFG and the contributions of ESPS and GGGI to addressing this global challenge.
Click the link above to watch “Untangling an Ocean”, a short film documenting this project.
