After 14 years of collecting data on the health of Patricia Bay, dedicated volunteers have discovered the information is sitting on a federal-government shelf 鈥� and it will likely never be analyzed.
The volunteers鈥� work looks like another casualty of the Harper government鈥檚 cuts to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and its disregard, bordering on contempt, for science.
鈥淎ny analysis of data collected in recent years will depend on program priorities and resources,鈥� said an email from Bruce Reid, regional manager of the oceans program. The department said it does not plan to do any analysis in the future.
Shorekeepers was set up by DFO in 1999 to harness the energy of volunteers to gather data on the health of the complicated ecosystems that exist between the low- and high-tide marks. That data would then be analyzed by marine biologists and other professionals so they could track changes in the health of the shorelines.
The program is not an excuse for ocean-lovers to paddle their feet in the water; it鈥檚 serious about collecting good data. The guidebook says: 鈥淪horekeepers is a rigorous monitoring methodology. The key to getting reliable scientific data is to use standard survey methods so that everyone is collecting data in the same way over time at all sites.鈥�
The guide for setting up a study is detailed, describing everything from marking out the study area to mapping it to laying out transects and quadrats to identifying the habitats to identifying plants and animals. At least one member of each team is expected to take a training course. The last of the 34 steps is: 鈥淓nsure all data forms are complete.鈥�
The volunteers of the Saanich Inlet Protection Society鈥檚 Shorekeepers think all that work to complete the data forms was a waste of time.
They are seeing problems in the bay, which was once the site of an important clam harvest for the Tseycum First Nation, and a later commercial harvest. Sea lettuce is overwhelming other plants. Bacteria are growing vigorously in TenTen Creek, which shows signs of E. coli contamination. Clams are being smothered by sediment.
They hope an analysis of their data could provide confirmation and some answers about what is happening and what might be done about it. The Tseycum saw the project as important to helping restore the clam harvest.
But a data review by DFO in 2011 didn鈥檛 offer any ideas on the cause of the problems or possible solutions.
With the department saying it will do no more analysis, the Shorekeepers have decided to quit. Who can blame them? The department that encouraged them to set up the study won鈥檛 do anything with their data.
It鈥檚 likely DFO staff would be happy to do the work, but with fewer resources, projects have to be cut. They face difficult decisions on which ones to drop.
The future of Pat Bay might not matter in the big picture, but analyzing its ailments could shed light on larger problems. Surely that鈥檚 one reason the department established Shorekeepers in the first place.
It鈥檚 almost a clich茅 to observe that good information is necessary to good decisions. The gradual erosion of data sources 鈥� less-accurate census information, closure of the polar atmosphere research station, layoffs of experts at the Institute of Ocean Sciences, job losses at Environment sa国际传媒, muzzling of scientists 鈥� undermines the quality of decisions our leaders can make.
The Pat Bay Shorekeepers gave up their free time to shine a bit of light on our ocean environment. That lamp has gone out.
