Research Document - 2010/046
Ecosystem Status and Trends Report: Coastal Waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia
By D. Ianson and L. Flostrand
Abstract
Climate variability, including human-induced climate change, drives most of the trends seen in the physical/chemical properties and so appears to drive most trends seen in the marine ecosystem on the West Coast of Vancouver Island (WCVI).
Dissolved oxygen levels are decreasing and dissolved CO2 levels are increasing (therefore pH is decreasing, making waters more acidic) in intermediate waters of the NE Pacific basin and are likely to impact marine ecosystems over the shelf.
Many organisms shift their locations depending on sea surface temperature (SST), moving with the water temperature that suits them best. Marine ecosystems on the WCVI appear to be changing and are likely to continue to change, probably rapidly relative to shifts in the past, due to climate change. Because of shifts in lower trophic levels, some organisms higher on the food chain are experiencing decreased productivity as their target prey items are no longer as abundant as they once were
Populations of most marine mammals that had been commercially harvested or purposefully culled in control programs during the previous centuries and have since gained protected status are recovering. In some cases they appear to have reached their carrying capacity. Human activities still pose a threat to many of these animals primarily through contaminants, lost or damaged fishing gear, shipping and decline of prey food items.
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