April 2nd and April 9th -- Climate Reality and Wind-up

For this two classes, we have two presentations on these two weeks.Climate Reality and Wind-up should be the two topics of these two days.
We talked about the Winnipeg Harvest for our topic.
For our proposal, we have chosen to investigate the topic of by-catch in Manitoba and the different ways we can reduce/redirect the wasted fish. Manitoba is home to three major water bodies including Lake Manitoba, Lake Winnipeg and Lake Winnipegosis and approximately 300 smaller lakes that are used by commercial fisheries. The quota for commercially fished lakes in Manitoba is 13.0 million kg, excluding non-quota species. At the present only a certain number of fisheries in Canada are managed with by-catch quotas or by-catch mitigation quotas. By-Catch is the unintentional capture of non-targeted aquatic species during the harvest of other aquatic species. Once the fish is caught, many of them die immediately. By-catch is often discarded and left unused due to numerous reasons such as political and economic factors. Local communities in Manitoba are being affected by the environmental, cultural, social, economic and political impacts as a result of by-catch.
Disposed fish have a negative impact on the environment. It is estimated that globally by-catch constitutes 40.4 percent of fishery catches. This practice is rapidly breaking down our marine ecosystems by disrupting the balance of the various aquatic populations (Davies et al., 2009). Not only is the species being discarded as by-catch being affected, but also it subsequently affects the species that they feed upon, and the species that feed upon them resulting in a trophic cascade. This could ultimately cause an explosion of a population further down the food chain, or the collapse of a predatory species that depends on their existence.The problem of by-catch on Lake Manitoba is a significant sustainability issue, which impacts a variety of sectors in Manitoba, including the environment, as well as political, economic, social, and cultural impacts. However, with our proposed solutions, we hope to first prevent “bushing” of by-catch from occurring, and if not, find solutions to utilize the wasted fish that would have otherwise been discarded. Preventative measures to stop by-catch from occurring include: dissolving or amending the Freshwater Fish Marketing Act, altering harvesting techniques, and increasing the frequency and extent of patrols of Conservation Officers.
Solutions to mitigate the issue if preventative measures do not completely eliminate the problem include the partnership of Manitoban fishers with food banks, such as the Grand Rapids Fisherman Co-op with Winnipeg Harvest, in order to redirect the wasted fish to people who can then utilize it. Through these solutions, the issue of by-catch can be eliminated, and the benefits to the people of Manitoba will be great.