Cumulative Impacts Assessment in the Northumberland Strait
Michael Van Den Heuvel, Kerry Macquarrie, André St-Hilaire and Simon Courtenay, Canadian Rivers Institute
Public concern about the environmental health of the Northumberland Strait developed around the time of construction of the Confederation Bridge, when significant declines in fishery yields of lobster, rock crab, scallops and herring were being reported. The Northumberland Strait Environmental Monitoring Partnership was created to improve cumulative effects assessment in the region and facilitate collaborative efforts. The project focused on understanding the impacts of nutrients, sediments and contaminants from land-based activities on fish and fisheries, invertebrates and submerged aquatic vegetation.