By Fiona Brooks
The Nova Scotia Nature Trust is a non-government charity dedicated to protecting Nova Scotia’s natural legacy through private land conservation. Over the past 25 years, we have protected over 100 special places all across the province, from old growth forests to habitat for rare turtles. One of our most exciting campaigns is about protecting the 100 Wild Islands on the Eastern Shore.
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By Brian Murphy
[Editor’s note: In promoting the creation of a Marine Protected Area along the Eastern Shore, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has cited increased tourism as a potential source of new jobs and new businesses. But opponents of the MPA are questioning this assumption, raising questions about the impact of increased tourism, such as increased litter and habitat disruption.
Brian Murphy, has found himself the subject of an unfounded rumor that he supports creating the MPA to further the fortunes of his company, Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean. Murphy contacted the Cooperator, and shared lengthy emails he had written trying to set the record straight. This article is an edited version of two of these emails.]
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Only 3 more days left for a chance to win a $20 gift card from Sobeys, Tim Hortons, Superstore, or Starbucks. All you have to do is go online and fill out an anonymous survey for the Dalhousie-sponsored “SAMoSA Study” (an unlikely acronym for Spatial Accessibility to a Multitude of Services and Amenities.)
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The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has produced a draft "Ecological Risk Assessment of the Eastern Shore Islands Area of Interest" that concludes that
You can read the draft study here.
One of the core questions was whether establishing an Eastern Shore Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA) would limit, or even shut down, the local lobster industry. The inability of DFO to answer this question definitely contributed to the climate of suspicion and frustration in the fishing communities that could be affected. Responding to these concerns, DFO decided to accelerate the portion of the risk assessment dealing with the lobster industry.
By Richard Bell
In the debate over the proposed Eastern Shore Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA), there has been a good deal of confusion about the role of commercial fishing, like lobstering, in a designated MPA. This confusion is in turn a reflection of the federal government’s failure to adopt national standards for MPAs.
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DFO One-Pager on Eastern Shore Islands MPA
Fall, 2018
We got a few words mixed up in our Holiday Greetings in the print version of the newspaper for December. Here are the corrections:
Sending love and light to Judy Smiley from Joan
Let it snow, let it snow! Or not! To Lily Rutledge, Lily's Hill 😊 From Joan
Editorial from Wyn Jones
As much as we are a part of the political conglomeration known as HRM, we are still undoubtedly people of the Eastern Shore. Life is different here to that of our urban and city cousins. We think and respond very differently to the environment we live in. From Mineville to Ecum Secum, from Gaetz Brook to Upper Musquodoboit, we are collectively a community of communities, all of us with our own different set of interests, concerns, and priorities from that of the urban core of HRM.
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By Richard BellThere was a marked increase in November in the intensity of the already contentious debate over the federal government’s proposal to establish a Marine Protected Area (MPA) along the Eastern Shore. That increase is on display in the stories and letters in this issue of the Cooperator. (Go to the Cooperator's MPA information page for MPA articles from all the players.)
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