Media Highlights -
September 2002 Edition

WELCOME to the September edition of Wavelengths – a collection of media stories and activities that reflect the work and service provided by DFO staff across the country.  These good news stories were promoted to media by Communications staff during a very active summer.

Orca-strating the media: Unless you were on holidays somewhere off the planet in July, you know of the media frenzy that surrounded DFO’s role in the successful transfer of A73, Springer the Orca, from Seattle back to her pod near Vancouver Island. Communications staff in Pacific region are to be commended for their extraordinary efforts in helping media from around the world get the story and pictures they needed, while not allowing their activities to interfere with the operation, or endanger the wild, young whale.

On the East Coast, the signing of a fishery agreement with Burnt Church First Nation was a big success story for all concerned. Media releases, briefings and interviews were coordinated in our Gulf Region with cooperation and assistance from the department and community leaders. Reporters could finally write a happy chapter after nearly three years of tension and conflict.

And in the far North near Cape Dorset, the Coast Guard conducted a successful search and rescue exercise involving the Nunavut Wildlife Service and the Department of National Defence. CBC Northern Service covered the large-scale drill in full detail, including the wildlife officers who kept polar bears at bay during simulated rescues.

Here’s a closer look at some of the DFO good news that was reported this summer. Enjoy this edition of Wavelengths and don’t hesitate to contact the editor with questions, comments or story ideas: dundassh@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Catch(es) of a Lifetime

here’s definitely something in the waters off Newfoundland – something really big.  In June, fisherman Richard Nash could hardly believe his eyes when he pulled his lobster pot out of St. Mary’s Bay to find a 16-pounder attached to it. Several media reported on the catch, and there were many jokes about just how much melted butter it would take to make ‘Louie’ into a feast. But in the end, the 30-year-old lobster found its way into a DFO research facility as an educational exhibit. Counting its claws, the incredible crustacean measures nearly three feet from stem to stern. You’d need hockey tape to keep those claws pinched shut.

Rather than keep the spectacular specimen, DFO held a ‘Free Louie’ earlier this month.

A few weeks after Mr. Nash’s widely reported catch, fisherman Bobby Strickland pulled a 420-pound halibut from the waters near Burnt Islands, Newfoundland. He was quoted in the Gulf News as saying he thought he had hooked into some old trawl gear. It took four men to get the mammoth beast on board.

Just for the halibut, it seems fish this size are not good eating, but they do make great conversation pieces! Don Ball, DFO’s area chief of resource management, estimates that the Strickland catch was about 8 or 9 feet in length and about 30 years old.

Lobster to Halibut: “If we work together, we could probably take him.”

Mussel’ing in as Filters for Aquaculture

DFO scientist was the focus of several media stories in mid-June, when he discovered that shellfish eat up extra food and kelp cleans up fish waste when they’re grown under salmon cages.

Shawn Robinson, a DFO scientist at St. Andrew’s Biological Station, says he’s looking at a multi-species approach for aquaculture that would see mussels keeping the ocean floor clean, while providing food fit for humans. After a year of study, Robinson says the mussels are not only cleaning up after the salmon, but they are thriving.

Robinson is excited about his work. It could neutralize the environmental impact of aquaculture on coastal waters off New Brunswick and beyond.

Red Carpet Treatment for the GG

ewfoundland rolled out the red carpet for Governor General Adrienne Clarkson in early July when she was invested as the honourary chief commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard. Madame Clarkson then toured the Labrador Coast to visit Inuit communities aboard the CCGS Henry Larsen.

Coinciding with the Coast Guard’s 40th Anniversary, the impressive ceremony and reception were well attended and drew much media attention. Madame Clarkson paid tribute to the men and women of the Coast Guard at the investiture for their:
 

‘God Bless DFO’

ow let’s be honest, it’s not every day we hear that. However, Walter Regan, head of the Sackville Rivers Association, praised the department’s efforts to contain the damage of a toxic spill in the river system near Halifax in July.

For several days, print and broadcast media carried the story about a massive fish kill caused by a mysterious substance in the water.  As the investigation continued, DFO, Environment Canada and provincial agencies worked together to control the damage and clean up the mess. DFO officials moved quickly to establish a barrier to prevent adult salmon from swimming into the sludge.

On July 20, Regan noted in an interview with the Halifax Daily News that DFO rescued about 300 live fish from the Sackville River.

Stolen Salmon Bring Health Warning

he story started as a straightforward tale, if a trifle bizarre.  Between 6 to 15 adult Atlantic salmon were stolen from a fish hatchery near Fredericton, New Brunswick. As they were part of a live gene bank project, the robbery had ominous implications for the survival of inner Bay of Fundy salmon.

But then the story took another turn.  It seems the ‘poached’ salmon were injected with antibiotics that made them unfit for human consumption. And they had metal ID tags embedded in their flesh that could choke an unsuspecting fish lover.

Quick-thinking DFO communications staff contacted media and issued a warning to consumers and grocery stores to buy salmon from approved fish markets only. Just about every media outlet in the city picked up the warning and no cases of illness were reported.

Hey, I like your piercing!

Learning More about Cod

esearchers at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute in Quebec drew media attention when they announced they planned to catch 1,300 live cod during one week in July. The purpose of the fish capture in Baie de Chaleur, between Grande Riviere and Micou Bank, was to start a major cod study known as GADOLIFE. The study brings together scientists from Canada and the European Union.

Media jumped on the story, even if they mispronounced the study name as ‘get a life’. RDI and CBC reported on the four-part study. It will examine how cod grow and how temperature, oxygen levels and activity affects their growth and spawning.

New Fishery Officer in Thunder Bay

raham Gordon may consider it all part of a day’s work, but he is on the front line in DFO’s protection of fish habitat in Northwest Ontario. Gordon is the newest fishery officer posted to Thunder Bay and his work garnered him a lot of media attention when he took up the job earlier this summer.

CKPR-TV and a web page, tbsource.com, both reported on Gordon’s work and how he tours the area's waterways, lakes and rivers to ensure nothing adversely affects fish habitat. This includes an evaluation of any development proposed near water, even something as simple as building a dock.

Gordon’s job is to evaluate waterside projects and approve the construction, or ask for remedial action to be taken by the landowner or developer.

DFO Gathers Comments on Irish Moss

uring the build-up to Oceans Day on June 8th, Gulf Region held an open house in Souris, PEI, to let people know about the department’s plans to develop a Marine Protected Area (MPA) at the Basin Head Lagoon.  CBC-TV and the Charlottetown Guardian both reported on the public information session and the importance of the lagoon’s unique marine habitat that produces a type of Irish moss found nowhere else in the world.

Under the Oceans Act, this public consultation is one of the final steps in the process that could designate Basin Head as Canada’s first Marine Protected Area. Community members and scientists have worked three years toward this goal. DFO’s Paul Boyd was quoted as saying Basin Head is the most advanced of any of the other sites that are considered for designation as MPAs under the Oceans Act.