Blogs
Happy New Year everyone! May 2022 be filled with joy, health and success to the Direct Action team and fellow ambassadors!
It has been more than two months since the start of my placement within the Protected Areas Establishment and Conservation Directorate of Parks Canada. I continue to enjoy working remotely on the Great Lakes Protected Areas Network (GLPAN) Fisheries Survey under the supervision of Scott Parker (Great Lakes Ecosystem Scientist and Regional Coordinator). The GLPAN Fisheries Survey is a binational inventory of fisheries and fish habitat management in the Great Lakes protected and conserved areas. The survey’s goal is to provide a snapshot of the current situation (and not critique any management efforts), as well as shed light on the extent of areas that are fully or highly protected and examples where conservation is enhanced.
As I expected, this is a research and data-heavy placement during which I am able to develop my research and data management skills. A typical day for me is spent in front of the computer, reading through the management plans of various sites, and sifting through governmental databases and reports. At the beginning, these research efforts were quite daunting since I didn’t know where to start. Thanks to Scott, we identified a research methodology that means I am able to be more efficient at finding the information I’m looking for. Currently, the survey includes 60 sites in Canada, and 27 U.S sites. For each site, I’m compiling information on 1) the Site, 2) its designation, 3) its administrative authorities, 4) its fisheries management approach and finally 5) Species at risk. In addition to governmental websites and management plans, I have been using online tools such as the Protected Planet database and the Aquatic Species at Risk Map.
My immediate next step is to obtain data validation from experts from the various management authorities involved in the Great Lakes. This is an exciting step for me since I’ll be able to obtain their professional insights on these protected and conserved sites. I’m particularly interested in identifying some examples of how fisheries authorities and protected area authorities align and integrate their management approaches. At the end of my placement, I hope to have an up-to-date fisheries survey (a ArcGIS geodatabase and excel table), an annotated bibliography of key reports and a project summary report to submit to the Great Lakes Protected Areas Network. So far, this placement has been a very enriching experience, and I look forward to continuing this research.
