Publication Type: Poster
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The annealing algorithm in MARXAN was used to build possible marine reserves by selecting the best of 26 heterogeneous rocky intertidal sites using various modeling parameters. Four surrogate data sets were used to design marine reserves; habitat, substrate, mobile species abundance and sessile species percent coverage. Habitat characteristics observed were; substrate type; formation type; slope; habitat heterogeneity; presence of microhabitats and wave exposure. Macro-algae and macro-invertebrate abundance and coverage were quantified for a 30 m2 area of each site. Variable by site Multi Dimensional Scaling showed similarities between surrogates and Conical Correspondence Analysis ordination displayed a significant correlation between substrate and species distribution. MARXAN was used to develop a network of sites for each biodiversity surrogate, conserving 10%, 30% and 50% of the input variables, while minimizing the sites chosen. Mean species richness and diversity were higher for reserves designed based on species assemblages than reserves designed based on habitat or substrate, but not significantly so. Habitat level surrogates would be an effective method to identify valuable intertidal areas as high priority sites for inclusion in a larger MPA network. Site irreplaceability analysis determined that several sites were chosen > 65% of the time for all annealing runs. The habitat at these sites suggests that two different types of intertidal produce unique species assemblages: low sloping boulder fields and large areas of bedrock bench. Given that different habitats produce diverse species assemblages, it would therefore be important to include representatives of multiple intertidal habitat variations in a reserve network.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: In Atlantic Canadian waters, the abundance of porbeagle shark is estimated to be 12-15% of its pre-1961 unfished level. Despite the steep decline in abundance and ongoing directed fishing, the Government of Canada in 2006 recommended not listing porbeagle shark as an endangered species under SARA. The decision was justified based on the economic costs of listing to industry and communities, and on the loss of information for government scientists. In this paper, I highlight a number of key shortcomings in these arguments: (1) lenient definitions of population �recovery�; (2) inadequate consideration of alternatives to fishery dependent data collection; (3) an over-emphasis on the direct economic costs of listing; and (4) an under-emphasis on the external costs imposed on Canadian society arising from ongoing exploitation of porbeagle shark. Arguments regarding the economic impacts of listing to the commercial sector were particularly weak as only two fishers in Atlantic Canada derived more than 25% of their gross fishing revenue from porbeagle shark landings. The porbeagle shark case provides a useful illustration of how quasi-economic arguments can be used to oppose the implementation of policies consistent with a precautionary approach to fisheries management. A balanced accounting of costs and benefits in Canada suggests that listing porbeagle shark as endangered under SARA would impose minimal costs on fishers and fishing communities, and may benefit society as a whole.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Group influence is an important element of study within political science. How much influence do organized interests exert within the policy process? Is this influence a normatively �good� thing, i.e., linking citizens to government? Or is it a �bad� thing? This study steps back and examines the question from the perspective of how groups might use their resources to influence public policy. I do so not at the legislative or agenda-setting phase of public policy, but at the implementation of policy, where agency officials have discretion to design rules and negotiate agreements without the scrutiny of elected officials. I argue that groups are active in securing the benefits or ameliorating the effects of legislation and devise cooperative or conflictual strategies to affect this process.

Measuring cooperation along a continuum, I argue the degree of cooperation groups exhibit is affected by the policy context, in addition to group resources. The policy context shapes the relative degree of information and access available to groups. Groups lacking access and specialized information regarding the process will fight the process more visibly than those groups with these resources.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper sets out a framework for understanding regulatory challenges in the developing world. The privatization boom over the last twenty years has created new regulatory dynamics in which a range of previously state-driven activities is now carried out partially or wholly by private actors. These activities include the construction and operation of basic infrastructural services and utilities by a mix of domestic and foreign corporations, as well as the regulation of these entities and their activities by partially or fully independent regulatory agencies. Beyond debates over economic efficiency, this shift has raised other concerns, primarily around issues of distribution, access, accountability and legitimacy.Whatever the challenges privatization has engendered in advanced industrialized societies, these problems are only exacerbated in the Global South. Both because many core government and governance functions have shifted to the private sphere, and because the state often has weak regulatory capacity , the activities of private actors and their international sponsors are a crucial piece of the overall governance framework. Given that enforceable legal demands are largely absent in relation to these actors, to what extent do private actors seek to “do no harm” or develop pro-poor governance frameworks?This paper sketches a “field” view of the global governance of private participation in public infrastructure in the global south. Drawing upon neoinstitutional theories, it argues that “compliance” (to the extent that it occurs) with norms of sustainable development and human rights in the absence of legal sanctions occurs through a confluence of the activities of a variety of actors with different endowments of power, capabilities, and constituencies that shape their relative responsiveness to the needs of the most marginalized in society.

Publication Type: Abstract
Abstract: The Great Lakes and their surrounding watersheds are a treasured national resource related to agriculture, transportation, commerce and recreation for both the USA and Canada. The invasion of invasive species threatens the healthy and sustainability of these watersheds. Through collaborative efforts, 14 Federal agencies and their partners have come together to address terrestrial invasive species threatening the Great Lakes Basin from a regional level. This effort grew out of the already-existing strong partnership of the members of the Midwest Natural Resources Group to address natural resource concerns in the Midwest.