Emerging Issues in the Salish Sea Series
The Emerging Issues series highlights recent science and scholarship about the shared waters of the multinational Salish Sea. The papers present, discuss, and communicate transboundary issues in a free and accessible format to reach a wide audience.
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Climate Change in the Salish Sea Region
Aquila Flower, Xi Wang, Natalie Furness, Emily Laura Bradford
Climate change has already altered temperature and precipitation patterns around the globe, and these effects are projected to intensify over the 21st century. While this is a global phenomenon, the rate and specific patterns of change vary regionally. Locally focused analyses are therefore crucial for understanding and preparing for regional climatic changes. Unfortunately, many tools and reports that explore climate change are focused either on the whole globe or on a specific country or other political jurisdiction. This is a particularly significant problem for transboundary regions such as the Salish Sea, in which the full scope of regional climate change can only be understood through cohesive data and maps spanning the U.S.-Canadian border. Until now, no comprehensive assessment of climate change in the Salish Sea region has been available.
Centering Community Values in Marine Planning
Fiona Beaty
Maps are important tools in the management of marine resources as they illustrate everything from shoreline features to natural resources and hazards, political boundaries and more. However, they rarely include data about the human dimensions of the ocean*, such as place-based values and cultural relationships with places and species. These data are crucial to consider, yet often overlooked, when maps are used to inform decisions about ocean access and management. This study illustrates a local and Indigenous-partnered approach that centers community values and knowledge in early marine planning stages.
Mega-Project Impacts
Natalie J.K. Baloy and Isabella Pipp
The Roberts Bank Superport, run by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, is expanding with the approved Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project, but faces legal challenges from Ecojustice and the Lummi Nation over environmental and Indigenous consultation issues. These cases highlight deficiencies in federal environmental assessments and Indigenous consultation processes, with the Lummi Nation's case potentially transforming the approach to industrial development and transboundary environmental impacts in the Salish Sea.
Evidence-Based Hope
Dr. Elin Kelsey and Ginny Broadhurst
The Salish Sea Institute hosted hope scholar Elin Kelsey for events focused on promoting evidence-based hope and countering the prevalent doom-and-gloom narrative about climate change. These events included a 2 ½ day environmental leadership workshop, various speaking engagements at Western Washington University, and community interactions, with insights drawn from Kelsey’s book, "Hope Matters," exploring the impact of climate emotions and doomism on environmental action and mental health.
Urbanization & Forage Fish
Jesse Morin, Blake Evans, and Meaghan Efford
Indigenous people and government bodies often clash over acceptable ecological impacts due to differing historical and cultural perspectives, with Coast Salish peoples like the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) viewing recent historical fisheries records as insufficient compared to their ancestors' harvests. This contrast leads to the argument that ongoing negative impacts on marine resources are underestimated, resulting in mismanagement by Canadian federal and provincial governments, and highlighting the need for Indigenous knowledge to correct misleading conservation baselines and objectives.
Supply Chain Narratives
Derek Moscato
A proposed marine container facility in British Columbia presents a narrative of economic opportunity and expansion for Canadian government and industry, and simultaneously has raised serious concerns in the transboundary Salish Sea watershed region about issues of sustainability, biodiversity, community impacts, and tribal rights. This two-pronged narrative underscores a disconnect between the aspirations of Canada’s federal government and the growing environmental concerns articulated by local and also transboundary constituencies in the Salish Sea watershed.
Noise & Killer Whales
Rob Williams, Cindy R. Elliser, and Ginny Broadhurst
Vessel noise disrupts the behavior of many marine animals, interfering with essential processes like communication, navigation, mating, and feeding. As vessel noise is now the dominant source of anthropogenic noise in the world's oceans, including the Salish Sea, there is a critical need for a carrying capacity study to determine acceptable noise levels that allow marine life to thrive.
Salish Sea Governance
Jacob Jones, Peter Keller, and Eileen van der Flier
Jurisdiction over the Salish Sea marine environment is a shared responsibility involving multiple levels of government in Canada, the United States, and the many Coast Salish Tribes and First Nations that call this land home. Asymmetry in constitutional authority between British Columbia and Washington has resulted in challenges with coordinating marine management efforts today.