CoastalCURA Visit to Port Mouton Bay, June 26, 2011
CoastalCURA (Community University Research Alliance) held an international conference called People in Places, Engaging Together in Integrated Resource Management, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 26-29, 2011.
A group of 23 delegates from this conference took a field trip to Port Mouton June 26th. Field trip activities were spearheaded by active FPMB member Gloria Gilbert.
It was an international group. Delegates came from Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Guyana, Taiwan, …Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia.
Boat Tours of Port Mouton Bay
After their boat tour, one group of delegates head off to ther bus, and lunch! (Click for larger view)
Another group of delegates chat with Bob Swim, local fisherman, at the end of their tour of the Bay. (Click for larger view)
Be sure to watch the videos (below) for more fun highlights of the day.
This day long field trip included boat tours given by local fishermen on their own fishing boats. Delegates could chose from one of four boat tours, each with a different focus:
- Oceanography with Ron Loucks
- Marine Ecosystems with Chris McCarthy, Ecosystem Biologist, Parks Canada
- Coastal Development Issues with Clyde Fisher
- Lobster Fishery and Seaplant Harvest with Rollie Burgess, DFO
The community hosted a lively lunch in Southwest Port Mouton. Delegates and locals were treated to freshly-made lobster chowder, an array of desserts, and live entertainment by Tumbleweed!
For the afternoon, delegates chose from beach walk, history and nature tour, kitchen talk, bait shed skills.
The field trip concluded with a wrap-up at West Queens Rec Center with Friends of Port Mouton Bay. Everyone at the "wrap-up" session had an opportunity to speak. We were delighted to hear delegates express appreciation and amazement at the community - its hospitality, and level of community engagement.
CoastalCURA Conference and the “Community & NGO Poster Award”
During the conference, organizations were invited to display “poster presentation” illustrating how their community or group were active in managing their resources. Ron Loucks and Ruth Smith, representing FPMB, presented our poster titled: “A Community’s Experience with Salmon Aquaculture – Port Mouton Bay, Nova Scotia” to all the conference delegates. It was quite unique, we were told, for a community to conduct its own scientific research!
We are also honoured to announce that FPMB won the Community and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Poster Award. The citation for the award reads:
People in Places
Engaging Together in Integrated Resource Management
An International Conference
June 27-29, 2011
View the CoastalCURA Poster Presentation (pdf)
Sponsors - Key to Our Event's Success!
Friends of Port Mouton Bay are grateful for contributions from:
- Acadian Seaplants
- Best Western Liverpool
- Bird Studies Canada
- Mersey Point Fish Products
- Port Mouton Fishermen
- Superstore
- The Quarterdeck
- Tom Sherman
- Tumbleweed Trio
- Van Dyk's Health Juice Products
- White Point Resort AND
- The Best Cooks in West Queens
This event will support the Recovery Monitoring Studies, a partnership of Friends of Port Mouton Bay and Dalhousie University.
Video Documentary of Coastal CURA Field Trip
Professor Tom Sherman, Department of Transmedia Syracuse University, New York finished a video document that tries to capture the energy and information exchange of that wonderful day when CoastalCURA visited Port Mouton. We invite you to watch!