Climate change blamed as Nova Scotia's valuable inshore sea urchins being wiped out by disease
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Toronto Star] By Michael Robinson - September 29, 2014 -
SAMBRO COVE, NOVA SCOTIA, Nova Scotia sea urchin fishery, a dive-based industry managed by licensed harvesting zoning. In its prime, the region supported a rich $2.5 million-a-year business for struggling coastal fishermen who called the urchins 'found money' or 'green gold.'
But in 2012, the value of landings dropped to $956,000.
A disease, paramoeba invadens, was previously unable to survive permanently in Nova Scotia due to the cold winters. But as water temperatures increase, the frequency and intensity of tropical storms may now make the pathogenic agent part of the Nova Scotia ecosystem. It is decimating the inshore sea urchni resource.
Bob Scheibling, a marine ecologist at Dalhousie University, has been studying the plight of the sea urchins since 1982. "Sea urchins . . . they're a thing of the past on this coast," Scheibling says.
Scheibling argues thermal stress during hot summer and fall seasons has forced the bottom dwellers to settle beyond the limits of conventional scuba diving, where the water temperature is cooler...
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