Filling in the data gaps April-May 2016 Journal

In May 2012 ESIP released a first version of the Eutrophication Fact Sheet. The fact sheet covered four important eutrophication indicators: dissolved oxygen, nutrient loading, chlorophyll a, and water clarity. Unfortunately, due to a lack data, the fact sheet did not really include the Bay of Fundy portions of the Gulf of Maine. ESIP’s Eutrophication Subcommittee did add a focus box on the first page of the fact sheet describing the data gap for all four indicators in the Bay of Fundy. In addition, the Contaminants Subcommittee also noted a lack of information available for sediment information for the Bay of Fundy.

Eastern Charlotte Waterways and ESIP then worked together to develop a proposal to monitor several of these indicators. Environment Canada funded the work and consequently there is now information on chlorophyll a and water clarity for the Bay of Fundy. A monitoring plan was also developed to sample sediment contaminants at locations where previous Gulfwatch sites were located. The results have allowed ESIP to release a revised Eutrophication Fact Sheet and are also included in ESIP’s Indicator Reporting Tool and Monitoring Map. The water sampling sites are shown in Figure 1 below. The sediment sampling sites are shown in Figure 2. Watch for a more information from this project to come out with the annual ESIP newsletter!

Figure 1: Location of new water sampling sites as a result of Gulf of Maine Initiative funding.

Figure 2: Location of new sediment sampling sites as a result of Gulf of Maine Initiative funding.