Your Health and a Changing Climate: Newsletter - Volume 2

International Research Projects

Community Adaptation to Outbreaks of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning

The research project, being undertaken by Karen Morrison at the University of Guelph and funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the International Development Research Centre EcoHealth Training Award, and the Pan-American Health Organization, uses a case study approach to understanding the public health and sustainable livelihood implications of ciguatera fish poisoning in Cuba. According to Lehane (1999) ciguatera poisoning is the most common illness caused by eating fish that contain toxins produced by a species of marine microalgae (Gambierdiscus toxicus). The illness is increasing in incidence, prevalence and distribution.

Interested and affected communities will be asked to help develop a better understanding of the linkages between coral reefs, climate change, near-shore reef fisheries, human infrastructure, public health, sustainable livelihoods, ecosystem management, tourism and other topics, in order to determine what adaptive, coping and mitigative measures might be necessary for affected communities to respond to the presence of this natural toxin.

This is a case study which will involve the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data, and will rely heavily on community involvement in both the information gathering and analysis stages.

According to Berke (2003) "fisheries are always complex systems of humans and nature". Alternatives to conventional management will be sought as part of this study. They are:

1. consideration of uncertainty and complexity;
   
   
2. fisheries as social-ecological systems and complex adaptive systems;
   
   
3. use of fishers' knowledge;
   
   
4. management objectives that incorporate livelihood issues; and
   
   
5. participatory management with community-based institutions and cross-scale governance.

This study will emphasize the adaptive, coping and mitigative strategies that are available to communities facing the threat of ciguatera fish poisoning. The research proposal has been developed at the request of the Cuban Ministry of Health which perceives ciguatera to be a growing problem in their country and which is interested in the ecosystem health approach.

>>> For more information contact K. Morrison at morrison@eccho.ca

Large Scale Air Quality Study Launched

The New Brunswick Lung Association and C-CIARN Health Air Pollution Network member Dr. Cameron Wake will track health effects as part of this large air quality study. Led by NASA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and involving hundreds of academic and government scientists from the United States, Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, the collaboration will use 12 airplanes, one 274-foot research ship at sea, dozens of balloons equipped with sensors, satellite imaging and a network of ground-based stations for measuring air quality. Dubbed the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation (ICARTT), it will be the most extensive study of air quality ever conducted, providing valuable data about the origins and content of pollution as it moves across North America and the Atlantic Ocean. Results should improve the ability to forecast poor air quality and to better understand how pollution produced in one region affects air quality in other places.

Related experiments, coordinated by Dr. Wake, will measure the public health effects of days in which pollution levels are high.

>>> For more information, contact Barbara MacKinnon at barb.mackinnon@nb.lung.ca