Glimpse into a BC kelp forest
A while ago I blogged about Help the Kelp’s re-planting of Gabriola’s kelp at Berry Point. If that interests you, go over to Calling From the Coast and watch the Glimpse into a BC kelp forest video. It’s amazing.
Filed in environment,Gabriola Island,sea creatures 8 Comments so far
8 Responses to “Glimpse into a BC kelp forest”
Michael Mehta on 15 Jan 2010 at 7:35 am #
We’re not really sure what happened to the kelp beds but have some theories (1) there has been a fairly dramatic increase in ocean temperature over the past 30 years, (2) kelp are destroyed by sea urchins whose population has exploded due to the decline of urchin predators like sea otters and wolf eels, and (3) kelp harvesting might be playing a role. In any event, we know that kelp can be replanted… and hope that this works in the long run.
Gabriolan on 15 Jan 2010 at 8:23 am #
Kelp harvesting? Who harvests kelp, and why?
Michael Mehta on 15 Jan 2010 at 10:36 am #
Lots of people harvest kelp for personal and commercial reasons. It’s used in the food industry, by big big pharma, etc.
NW Coast Archaeology on 15 Jan 2010 at 11:58 pm #
Herring roe-on-kelp is a traditional First Nations food, especially on the North Coast.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/2570623775_84023fb483.jpg
In the Spring, herring school up and spawn en masse all over kelp. Aborginal people would then harvest the spawned kelp — they also used ruses like suspending spruce branches in the water to trick the herring to spawn on those.
Nowadays it is harvested for export as well. To make the harvest more predictable, then large floating pens are constructed from boomsticks and netting. Kelp is cut and moved to these pens in the holds of fishboats. The kelp is strung out on wires or lines. A seine boat then live captures herring and dumps them into the pen. The herring spawn all over the kelp, which is then brined or dried and sold for a considerable amount. It is a very important employment opportunity in Springtime Haida Gwaii for example.
I’ve heard in recent years on at least one occasion the boats had to head down to Vancouver Island from Haida Gwaii to find enough high quality kelp. On the west coast of Vancouver Island where the sea otter has been reintroduced then kelp forests have dramatically rebounded for the reasons given by Michael Mehta. Meanwhile in Haida Gwaii, historic accounts tell of impassable kelp forests a km wide between, for example Taanu Village and Kunga Island. Now, there is essentially no kelp there whatsoever.
Having said this, I doubt the roe-on-kelp industry is of such a scale that it affects the kelp population much — other pressures as well as the tipping of the environmental balance in favour of algae grazers like urchins is much more important.
Gabriolan on 16 Jan 2010 at 8:58 am #
NW Coast Archaeology – That is an extremely helpful reply. Thanks for taking the time to provide all this detail. Fascinating!
Gabriolan on 16 Jan 2010 at 9:03 am #
Michael – Thank you – I had no idea. Big pharma turns up all over the place. Do you happen know what use they have for kelp?
Michael Mehta on 16 Jan 2010 at 2:49 pm #
Kelp contains alginates which act as an emulsifier to thicken and improve the consistency of a lot of products. It’s used in paints, processed foods, pharmaceuticals, and for holistic medicines to increase iodine intake. It’s a highly valuable plant that we need to protect.
Gabriolan on 16 Jan 2010 at 8:51 pm #
Thanks, Michael. I’ve been able to identify kelp since I was a little kid, but now I realize that there’s much I don’t know about it.