| Sustainable
Resource Management
Acadian
Seaplants' Guidelines
All
self-employed fishermen who sell their harvest to Acadian
Seaplants Limited follow these guidelines. It is mandatory
that all fishermen-harvesters adhere to these guidelines,
which include federal, provincial and ASL’s own
procedures. Guideline topics include: harvesting technique,
equipment maintenance, cutting height, by-catch, holdfast
and harvest reporting. Health and safety training is
also provided.
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Harvest
Method |
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ASL
designed and approved harvesting tool |
The
harvest of rockweed is conducted using the approved cutter
rake. This tool is designed to minimize damage to the
resource and substrate through minimal holdfast removal
and controlled cutting height. The harvest is conducted
from a boat using the company-proven hand cutter rake.
This method ensures that rockweed plants are harvested
in a pruning fashion. This process leaves more than ample
canopy for other inter-tidal inhabitants, allowing a rapid
regeneration of harvested and suppressed shoots, and minimizing
the disturbance of the habitat architecture. |
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Safety
& Training |
 Resource
personnel conduct training of new harvesters in the field.
The training includes familiarization with boat handling,
tides and currents of the Bay of Fundy and along south
western Nova Scotia, harvesting equipment and harvesting
technique. Training is also conducted through partnering
of inexperienced harvesters with experienced harvesters
who provide on-the-job training in proper harvesting technique,
boat handling at the harvest site, proper boat loading
procedure and transportation of harvest safely to landing
sites. |
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Compliance
Policy & Monitoring |
Compliance
monitoring of harvesters and equipment is conducted on a daily
basis by resource management and manufacturing staff in accordance
with Government Regulations and Company Guidelines. ‘On-the-water’
inspection is the best method of policing and keeps field
staff in close contact with all harvesters to ensure that
responsible and compliant harvest actions are followed. Also,
compliance monitoring and reporting is conducted on a regular
basis through random inspections of harvesting equipment and
harvest activity locations. Incidence of non-compliance is
reported. These compliance reports are reviewed each month
by senior management and safety personnel.
Area Based Management
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Fishermen-harvesters
operate from small skiffs from May to October |
The
resource along the maritime shore is divided into harvesting
sectors where harvest quotas are assigned annually.
There is a total of 274 harvesting sectors under Acadian
Seaplants Limited leases. The division of the resource
into harvesting sectors facilitates the control of the
harvest, especially the fishing effort. |
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Exploitation
Rates |
Exploitation
rates within Acadian Seaplants Limited leases are maintained
between 17% and 25%, well below the annual growth (35%
- 45%) as a precautionary approach and to reduce habitat
modifications.
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Exploitation
Rates |
By-catch
is the associated fauna harvested along with Ascophyllum
plants. A permanent monitoring program carried out on
board the harvesting boats, provides information on
the proportion of animals being harvested as a by-catch
by the harvesters. The information indicates that minimum
densities of organisms are caught with the rake. Most
of them are small amphypods and isopods and a minor
proportion of periwinkles. |
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Landing
of Rockweed harvest at dockside |
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Cut
Height |
A
minimum
plant cut height of 12.5 cm is mandatory in the
harvest of Ascophyllum nodosum. Cut height
is monitored directly on the beds during and after
the harvest season. Data collected during the last
three years indicate that the average cut height
of plants in ASL territories is over 50 cm.
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Mortality |
Mortality
(measured as holdfast incidence) is monitored both,
directly from the harvester’s boats and at the
drying facilities. Each harvest location is sampled
several times during the harvest season to detect
potential problems and to facilitate immediate action.
Mortality (measured as holdfast incidence) is monitored
directly from the harvester’s boats and at the
drying facilities. Each harvest location is sampled
several times during the harvest season to detect
potential problems and to facilitate immediate action.
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Unique
bagging system employed in New Brunswick to
land Ascophyllum harvests |
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Landing Report |
The
collection of harvest data is essential to the proper
and sustainable management of harvest activity. This
information is used by resource and accounting staff
to monitor harvest progress and to address potential
problems. The resulting data are used in formulating
necessary reports required for the company and governments.
The system of harvest record keeping is based upon the
collection of harvest data consisting of daily landings
by sector. Daily, scaled harvested weights from each
crew are used to control the harvest to specified limits
for each sector. The harvesting in each sector is stopped
when the allowable harvest amount is reached.
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Quality Report |
The
program that monitors the quality of harvested material
starts with random visual inspections of rockweed
in boats, net bags and pallet boxes. These inspections
are conducted on a daily basis. Further inspection
occurs at the solar drying facility where each load
is individually inspected by the quality control staff.
These inspections are made to assess different aspects
such as fluid contamination, rocks and foreign debris,
as well as freshness of material. A quantitative evaluation
of the different constituents is prepared on a daily
basis.
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Pre- and Post-harvest Report Submissions
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Pre-harvest Management Plan Submissions |
The
submission of the annual pre-harvest plan provides detail
on the actions and interactions for the upcoming year. This
Management Plan identifies the amount, locations, timing,
people and equipment used to conduct the harvest. In New Brunswick,
the plan is received and approved by both the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture and the Department
of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada. Once approved the DFO
issues an annual harvesting license. In Nova Scotia, the plan
is received and approved by the Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries.
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Post-harvest Report Submissions |
Post-harvest
report summarizes what occurred during the harvest season.
All aspects detailed in the Management Plan are critiqued
to measure the success of the harvest season. Details of progress
on all stated commitments and plans are analyzed. Using the
analyzed data, the Company prepares a report outlining the
success, failure, or ‘room for improvement’ areas
of the operation.
Upon
completion, this document is distributed to government agencies
that work in partnership with ASL. Once reviewed, recommendations
are made from all parties to improve next year’s harvest
operation. These recommendations are then articulated into
a new Management Plan for the upcoming season.
ACADIAN
SEAPLANTS LIMITED
30 Brown Avenue, Dartmouth,
Nova Scotia, Canada, B3B 1X8
Telephone:(902)468-2840 · Fax:(902)468-3474
E-mail:info@acadian.ca
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