Hello Fundyforum members,
I'm just a concerned citizen, one who's been doing independent research
on the declining trends in marine life. Beyond the disturbing trends in
the commercial fish stocks, in recent years I've been noticing marked
changes in populations of intertidal organisms with which I've been long
familiar. Barnacles, mussels, periwinkles, seaweeds, nothing looks
quite like it did in my earliest memories, from the 1960s. Most of these
are now looking relatively impoverished. My interpretation of what's
behind these changes, however, tends to be in direct opposition to the
mainstream view of things these days...but the views a heretic such as
myself might make a good start for a discussion.
I would like specifically to draw your attention to the decline that has
occurred in barnacles. Rarely have unexploited intertidal organisms been
systematically surveyed, but there are a few good older records,
including a few locations in the Bay of Fundy. Intertidal locations in
Nova Scotia were carefully observed and recorded by marine biologists in
1948, including sites at Hall's Harbour and Meteghan. Last summer I
revisited those sites and others that the scientists had described and
photographed, and I took current photos for comparison. The decline in
the barnacle populations is very remarkable over 53 years. My hypothesis
is that this negative change is an unsuspected knock-on effect in the
ecosystem due to all of the fish that have been removed...with the result
being a relative degree of starvation in the entire system now as
compared to earlier years. I cannot prove that, but "what has caused
the decline in barnacles?" might make for an interesting discussion.
I would also be very interested in knowing whether anyone has evidence of
significant long term declines in other unexploited organisms in the Bay
of Fundy area. Here's the link to my photos and thoughts on barnacles:
http://www.fisherycrisis.com/barnacles.html
What do you think?
sincerely,
Debbie MacKenzie
http://www.fisherycrisis.com
