Initiatives in the Georgia Basin have been divided into six subject areas: Biological Pollutants, Chemical Pollutants, Physical Pollutants, Habitat Changes, Natural Variability, Stewardship Monitoring and Indicators/Tools.

Below is an incomplete list of Departmental initiatives that contribute to our understanding of Marine Environmental Quality in this Area. The initiatives denoted with a bullet have received direct support from the Department's Oceans Directorate.

  Biological Pollutants

• Survey of Non Indigenous Species in Strait of Georgia Harbours

• Analyses of invertebrate fauna in ballast water collected in ships arriving at British Columbia ports, especially those from the western north Pacific

 Chemical Pollutants

Food-Chain Bioaccumulation Potential of Phthalic Ester Congeners in a Marine Food Chain

Effects of Abandoned Mines Near Ecology, Britannia Beach

Environmental Pathways and Fate of Dioxins, Furans and PCBs

Georgia Basin Assessment

Impact of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers on Canadian Environment and Health of Canadians

Impact of Pulp Mill Effluents/Forestry Practices on Fish Habitat

Risk Assessment of Complex Mixtures of Petroleum-Derived PAH on Recruitment of Fish

National Program for Contaminants in Marine Sediments

  Physical Pollutants

  Habitat Changes

• Ecosystem Delineation in Strait of Georgia and Central B.C. Coast

• Seabed mapping of Race Rocks and Gabriola Passage pilot Marine Protected Areas

  Natural Variability

• Ecosystem Overviews for Nearshore Pilot MPA Evaluations

• Marine Ecosystem Observatories (MEOS)

• Courtenay River Estuary / Baynes Sound Salmonid Sampling

  Stewardship Monitoring

• Stewardship Guides for Monitoring Intertidal and Subtidal Ecosystems

  Indicators/Tools

• Trend Indicators of Ecosystem Health

• Marine Mammals as Sentinels of Marine Ecosystem Health (MEH)

National Contaminants Information System

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