1971

Lake Winnipeg has the second largest walleye fishery in North America. The North and South Basins of the lake differ in many ways, e.g. water temperature, turbidity, and fish community. The study objectives were to determine if (a) growth, condition or diet of walleye, sauger or dwarf walleye differed between basins, (b) among seasons, and (c) whether the invasive rainbow smelt are associated with these differences. Walleye, sauger and dwarf walleye were caught using gill-nets and analysed for growth, condition and diet in all seasons. Walleye and sauger in the North Basin showed higher growth rates and condition than in the South Basin. Diet in the South Basin had more diverse species composition, whereas in the North Basin, the diet consisted almost entirely of rainbow smelt. Some seasonal variation was also documented and the impact of rainbow smelt seems to be positive for these piscivorous fish in Lake Winnipeg.

Lake Winnipeg is under examined, yet a very interesting lake. This 10th largest lake in the world supports a small-scale fishery, which today is pre-dominantly for walleye. Currently, the fishery is very strong. Historically, however, it has been characterized by fluctuations in both catches and returns. The end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s was a turning point for the fishing industry. At that time, the fishery experienced declining catches and diminishing returns. In order to reverse the trend, the Provincial Government of Manitoba introduced a quota system while the Federal Government established the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation (FFMC) to handle the marketing of freshwater fish. Today, the fishery on Lake Winnipeg has been at a record level of production and these two institutions play a significant role in the fishery. To gain an insight into fishers’ social context in the Gimli area, a social well-being analysis was applied following design of the ESRC Wellbeing in Developing Countries Research Group adapted by Sarah Coulthard and colleagues. The social well-being analytical tool shed light on three domains of fisher’s life; material well-being, subjective well-being and relational well-being. Together, these domains give an insight into how satisfied fishers are with their current social environment. The analysis of fishers’ social experience in the Gimli area shows that current policy seems to be working equally well in the areas of relational and subjective well-being. In fact, the quota system and the FFMC still have great impact on the fishers, not only from an economic view but also for their subjective values and relational well-being.

Lake Winnipeg has the second largest walleye fishery in North America. The North and South Basins of the lake differ in many ways, e.g. water temperature, turbidity, and fish community. The study objectives were to determine if (a) growth, condition or diet of walleye, sauger or dwarf walleye differed between basins, (b) among seasons, and (c) whether the invasive rainbow smelt are associated with these differences. Walleye, sauger and dwarf walleye were caught using gill-nets and analysed for growth, condition and diet in all seasons. Walleye and sauger in the North Basin showed higher growth rates and condition than in the South Basin. Diet in the South Basin had more diverse species composition, whereas in the North Basin, the diet consisted almost entirely of rainbow smelt. Some seasonal variation was also documented and the impact of rainbow smelt seems to be positive for these piscivorous fish in Lake Winnipeg.

High levels of phosphorus loading in Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada are causing eutrophication and algal blooms of increasing intensity and frequency. Phosphorus is also a strategic and limited natural resource critical for plant growth, and essential for agriculture and global food security. This research study demonstrated an innovative environmental engineering approach to address multiple sustainable development challenges. Cattail (Typha spp.), a large competitive emergent aquatic plant, was harvested to capture and remove nutrients that would otherwise cause eutrophication in aquatic systems, and utilized as a biomass material for industry. Cattail reaches maturity in less than 90 days, and late summer/early fall harvests yielded average 15 to 20 t DM/ha, and captured 30 to 60 kg/ha/year of phosphorus. Once harvested, nutrients locked in plant tissue are prevented from being released into the environment via natural decomposition. Utilizing harvested biomass as a bioenergy feedstock provided a further benefit displacing fossil fuels for heating, and generated valuable carbon offsets. Cattail was compressed into densified fuel products, and combustion trials revealed an average calorific heat value of 17 MJ/kg to 20 MJ/kg, comparable to commercial wood pellets. Average ash content was 5 to 6%, and no major concerns identified regarding combustion emissions and ash. Estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential from coal displacement was one tonne of cattail biomass generated 1.05 tonnes of CO2 offsets. Additionally, up to 88 % of total phosphorus was recovered in ash following combustion in solid fuel burners. Harvesting cattail biomass offers greatest feasibility if combined for multiple purposes: nutrient capture, habitat, bioenergy, carbon offsets, water quality credits, and higher value end products and biomaterials (i.e. biochar). Economics of harvesting need to be further explored at the pilot and commercial scale for this novel renewable and sustainable ecological biomass feedstock. From an agricultural context, this biomass resource is presently undeveloped. It is a plant species prized for its nutrient capture and water quality benefits, and a biomass feedstock for bioenergy and high value end-products that grows on marginal agricultural land, not competing with prime land and food crops.

Lake Winnipeg has been subject to intense eutrophication and invasive species such as Rainbow Smelt and Eubosmina coregoni for the last 40 years. This study demonstrated significant increases in total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, overall zooplankton abundance, and specifically Cladocera, between 1969 and the first decade of the 21st century. There were specific basin differences in the long-term changes of the Cladocera community, with the species Chydorus sphaericus and Ceriodaphnia quadrangula negatively affected by high levels of phosphorus, nitrogen and chlorophyll-a. Moreover, long-term change in the Cladocera community composition and abundance throughout the years (1969-2011) during summer was correlated with intensifying eutrophication. Additionally, weak diel vertical migration in the zooplankton community was observed for the first time in Lake Winnipeg.

Lake Winnipeg has been subject to intense eutrophication and invasive species such as Rainbow Smelt and Eubosmina coregoni for the last 40 years. This study demonstrated significant increases in total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll-a, overall zooplankton abundance, and specifically Cladocera, between 1969 and the first decade of the 21st century. There were specific basin differences in the long-term changes of the Cladocera community, with the species Chydorus sphaericus and Ceriodaphnia quadrangula negatively affected by high levels of phosphorus, nitrogen and chlorophyll-a. Moreover, long-term change in the Cladocera community composition and abundance throughout the years (1969-2011) during summer was correlated with intensifying eutrophication. Additionally, weak diel vertical migration in the zooplankton community was observed for the first time in Lake Winnipeg.

This practicum investigates the application of ecological literacy theory to the practice of landscape architecture. Ecological literacy can be defined as the ability to comprehend the complex relationships of one’s surrounding environment and live life with greater environmental sensitivity. The Lake Winnipeg watershed is home to over 5 million people, and draws its water from four Canadian provinces and four American states. With the anthropogenic manipulation of the landscape, native watershed functions like water retention and filtration have been compromised. Each year, increasing amounts of phosphorus enter the lake from agricultural and urban fertilisers and effluents. This nutrient loading creates algal blooms toxic to humans and other species that rely on the lake for survival. The proposed programmatic framework and design interventions are intended to address these impacts by fostering watershed sustainability and ecological literacy, while engaging citizens in the processes associated with increasing local ecological integrity.

Governance and participatory democracy theory suggest that strong policy can stem from the inclusion of all societal voices in discussion of options, and that the public must have a strong base of information in order to participate fully in democracy. The news media can be an important vehicle for these voices and a central source of information. However, academic literature has recorded that “elite” sources, such as government, dominate news coverage to the disadvantage of “non-elite” sources, such as civil society groups and citizens, a situation that results in imbalanced information in the news. This thesis examines patterns of civil society inclusion in Winnipeg Free Press coverage of Lake Winnipeg water quality, and discusses the implications of findings for good governance. Three methods of inquiry are used: 1) a literature review, 2) a quantitative content analysis of newspaper articles published in the Winnipeg Free Press from August 1991 through December 2008, and 3) interviews with civil society members with an interest in Lake Winnipeg water quality. Content analysis findings indicate that civil society sources generally received less coverage than “elite” sources, were used less frequently, were given lower prominence within articles, had fewer chances to “define” coverage and were less often used in “hard” news compared to opinion sections. Interview findings challenge the dominant view within media literature that journalists are fully responsible for “elite” source dominance due to journalist bias in source selection, the “beat system” of journalism that focuses on governmental institutions, decisions made by editors and corporate or political preferences of news entities. While journalism practices are undoubtedly a factor, this study finds that there are also shortcomings within civil society organizations and the framework within which they operate that limit their engagement with the media. Four key factors are identified. Registered charities are often hesitant to speak with the media due to real and perceived legal restraints on their communications activities under Canada’s Income Tax Act. Many organizations are apprehensive about voicing concerns in the media for fear of losing funding. Few organizations have communications staff, or even staff members trained in media outreach, resulting in a passive approach to communications. And few organizations have the capacity to deal with media requests for information within journalism deadlines. In addition, the interview data indicate that those organizations actively pursuing media coverage are focusing attention on smaller newspapers, alternative media and self-published pieces, which suggests that the mainstream news media are perhaps of less importance to such organizations than in the past. Alternatively, it is possible that organizations are finding access to the mainstream media effectively cut off. Finally, recommendations are made to civil society organizations on how they can increase their prominence in the news and conquer their reluctance to deal with the media, and to the media on how to improve attention to civil society voices. For the latter, ideas are drawn from public journalism, a journalism movement which emphasizes citizens as sources.

Governance and participatory democracy theory suggest that strong policy can stem from the inclusion of all societal voices in discussion of options, and that the public must have a strong base of information in order to participate fully in democracy. The news media can be an important vehicle for these voices and a central source of information. However, academic literature has recorded that “elite” sources, such as government, dominate news coverage to the disadvantage of “non-elite” sources, such as civil society groups and citizens, a situation that results in imbalanced information in the news. This thesis examines patterns of civil society inclusion in Winnipeg Free Press coverage of Lake Winnipeg water quality, and discusses the implications of findings for good governance. Three methods of inquiry are used: 1) a literature review, 2) a quantitative content analysis of newspaper articles published in the Winnipeg Free Press from August 1991 through December 2008, and 3) interviews with civil society members with an interest in Lake Winnipeg water quality. Content analysis findings indicate that civil society sources generally received less coverage than “elite” sources, were used less frequently, were given lower prominence within articles, had fewer chances to “define” coverage and were less often used in “hard” news compared to opinion sections. Interview findings challenge the dominant view within media literature that journalists are fully responsible for “elite” source dominance due to journalist bias in source selection, the “beat system” of journalism that focuses on governmental institutions, decisions made by editors and corporate or political preferences of news entities. While journalism practices are undoubtedly a factor, this study finds that there are also shortcomings within civil society organizations and the framework within which they operate that limit their engagement with the media. Four key factors are identified. Registered charities are often hesitant to speak with the media due to real and perceived legal restraints on their communications activities under Canada’s Income Tax Act. Many organizations are apprehensive about voicing concerns in the media for fear of losing funding. Few organizations have communications staff, or even staff members trained in media outreach, resulting in a passive approach to communications. And few organizations have the capacity to deal with media requests for information within journalism deadlines. In addition, the interview data indicate that those organizations actively pursuing media coverage are focusing attention on smaller newspapers, alternative media and self-published pieces, which suggests that the mainstream news media are perhaps of less importance to such organizations than in the past. Alternatively, it is possible that organizations are finding access to the mainstream media effectively cut off. Finally, recommendations are made to civil society organizations on how they can increase their prominence in the news and conquer their reluctance to deal with the media, and to the media on how to improve attention to civil society voices. For the latter, ideas are drawn from public journalism, a journalism movement which emphasizes citizens as sources.