Dr. Jonn Matson of the Squamish Streamkeepers with herring roe panel in False Creek
False Creek’s Summer of Sea Sustainability
ED NOTE: A lot will be happening along our shores and on the water of our beloved False Creek – and many opportunities to do important, meaningful conservation work! This article is sent to us from the False Creek Friends Society, one of the many community science organizations in our neighborhood.
Hello False Creek Residents! If you have your calendars out already, please note these significant dates ahead:
April 26 – 28 – Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference and its inspiring goal: Honoring our Ancestors: Visions for Future Generations and the Salish Sea
June 8 – the UN’s World Oceans Day – and its 30th anniversary from when this important celebration was first proposed by Canadian scientists in 1992. Have an idea to help celebrate it? Let us know!
Sept 2 – 8 – IMPAC5 – Fifth International Marine Protected Area Congress, bringing ocean scientists and activists to share research and activities that will help preserve the planet’s vast marine and coastal environment, support the rich diversity of local and Indigenous peoples and coastal cultures, and most importantly for us citizens – to “ inspire our collective efforts, and our world-class ocean science and management regime.”
There are many wonderful opportunities to join in this important conservation work. Many of you are already involved in marine conservation right in False Creek but if you are not, consider volunteering with SwimDrinkFish or Fraser Riverkeepers, who monitor water quality here every week and clean up dangerous plastic.
Dr. Jonn Matson, for example, volunteers with the Squamish Streamkeepers. At the very moment over at the Fishermen’s Wharf, Jonn and his teammates are carefully tending over 140 panels that are being used by herring to deposit their eggs – millions have been laid so far this February, and millions more will hatch later this Spring, bringing back this vital species to False Creek that had been nearly extirpated.
There’s also Hakai Institute’s Sentinels of Change Light Trap project. This is an amazing bit of community science that is currently looking for participants in the False Creek area to monitor these brilliant nighttime traps that help scientists understand Dungeness crab reproduction and recruitment.
There are also special programs to engage our youngest citizens from local elementary schools. If you are looking for a meaningful way to get involved – to escape from being paralyzed by a dread of the planet’s future – please consider joining in! Write us a *email is hidden, JavaScript is required* or let someone at FCSNA know you are interested!