CERCA Cooperation with the University of Victoria

Two new research projects have recently been added to the cooperation initiatives between CERCA and the University of Victoria, currently being implemented under the umbrella of UVIC's Geography Department. The first project focuses on an assessment of tourism in the Cowichan Valley, its current status and potential. The second investigates impacts of inter-tidal logboom-storage and transport on the ecological integrity of the Cowichan Estuary. The latter will place special emphasis on adverse impacts of log-booms on the blue carbon sequestration potential of the estuary’s mud-flats and salt marshes.

Both projects are currently being implemented by a group of three UVIC Geography students each working in close cooperation with CERCA. Results are expected to be available by May.

Project 1:

“Assessment and potential of the tourism industry in the Cowichan Valley with focus on the Cowichan Estuary”

Research Hypothesis:

Nature-based tourism of Cowichan Bay may offer an environmentally compatible and economically attractive alternative to an industry that is non-compatible with conservation objectives for one of BC’s Key estuaries. Project objectives are:

 to assess and document the current economic importance of tourism for the Cowichan Bay Village, a Cittaslow Community;

• to quantify and qualify the estuary as a prime tourist destination and attraction of growing importance;
• to document and highlight current and potential constraints on tourism (non-compatible industry, unresolved issues to house-boats moored in Marinas, crowding, etc.) in the Bay;
• to assess and specify potential for tourism enhancement in Cowichan Bay and the estuary.

Project 2 :

“Document CERCA’s efforts to stop unsustainable log-boom storage in the Cowichan estuary”

This project will address two of CERCA’s priority areas: Restoration and Environmental Quality Improvement of the Cowichan Estuary. By removing the logs from marshes, and shorelines, important bird and fish habitats will be restored and their environmental quality improved. The habitat includes mud, silt, sand and pebble surfaces along the shoreline, marsh, grass and shrub communities in the marsh lands. Once this habitat is allowed to recover forage fish, migratory birds and associated species will benefit from the improvement of the environmental quality and the restoration effort.

Special attention is given to Mariners Island where large sections of highly productive salt marshes and inter-tidal pools are covered by a solid layer of saw logs washed up onto the island over the years thus preventing marsh vegetation from sequestering carbon at the same time destroying valuable migratory bird and forage fish habitat.

 The targeted area provides food and shelter to a wide spectrum of fauna including Chinook, Coho and Chum smolt thriving along some of the still un-disturbed sections of shoreline and in the intertidal pools and side channels of Mariners Island forming an integral part of the Cowichan Estuary. The latter has been classified by local knowledge experts as critical Chinook habitat and a “habitat at risk” limiting the productive capacity of the Cowichan River Chinook fall run. The proposed removal of logs and woody debris is expected to significantly augment smolt survival in the target area.

 It is only recently that research work on forage fish has established the severity of the damage that is occurring due to log scouring in the estuary, specifically damaging to forage fish habitat that is critical for spawning and rearing along shorelines and marshes such as related to Mariners Island. Surf smelt and sand lance spawn rear in gravel and sand beach habitats in the upper one third of the intertidal zone. Many species of salmon, marine mammals and sea birds depend on forage fish.