The partners of the St. Lawrence Plan, in cooperation with the Musée de la civilisation du Québec, present The Secrets of the St. Lawrence, an event for people to learn about and discover the St. Lawrence River.
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10:00 a.m. – Vulnerability of Coastal Communities in Eastern Quebec Regarding the Impacts of Climate Change
Speaker: Jean-Pierre Savard, OURANOS Consortium.
In a maritime region, more than a third of the population lives less than 500 metres from the coast, where most socio-economic activity occurs as well. Now, the accelerated coastal erosion is already problematic and endangers major infrastructures, residences and inhabitants. The Ouranos consortium coordinated a study on the vulnerability of coastal populations in Eastern Quebec to the impacts of climate change. Three working groups in particular have analyzed the processes linking climate to shore erosion, while developing information and tools that will enable local decision makers to concretely reduce the risks of climate change.
Place: Auditorium du Musée de la civilisation
Free entry |
11:00 – Exotic Species in the St. Lawrence River: From Beauty to the Beast
Speaker: Yves de Lafontaine, St. Lawrence Centre, Environment Canada.
Since 1820, no fewer than 86 new non-indigenous or exotic species, i.e., nearly half the total estimated number of species for the Great Lakes, have invaded the St. Lawrence, threatening its integrity. The presence of exotic species in the river is primarily linked to the transfer to organisms previously established in the Great Lakes or in the Lake Champlain basin. In spite of the importance of the problem seen over the past two decades, uncertainties persist regarding the exact scope of the situation as well as the impacts to integrity and aquatic biodiversity.
Place: Auditorium du Musée de la civilisation
Free entry |
1:30 – St. Lawrence Estuary Needs Oxygen
Denis Gilbert, Maurice-Lamontagne Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
In its surface waters, the maritime estuary of the St. Lawrence receives freshwater from the St. Lawrence watershed and the rivers that directly feed the estuary. At greater depths, the currents running in the opposite direction of those at the surface bring saltwater to the estuary from the Atlantic Ocean. These two opposing currents each play a role in changes to the oxygen content in the deeper waters of the maritime estuary. Since the thirties, the oxygen content of the deeper waters has fallen to levels that threaten the very survival of certain fish and invertebrate species.
Place: Auditorium du Musée de la civilisation
Free entry |
2:30 p.m. – Where are we after exploiting perch populations in Lac Saint-Pierre for more than a century?
Speaker: Pierre Magnan, Canadian Research Chair in Freshwater Ecology, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
Lac Saint-Pierre is the largest riverine lake in the St. Lawrence ecosystem and has been the site of commercial fishing for over a century.From 1984 to 1994, fish catches averaged 210 tonnes per year, dropping to 40 tonnes in 2007 without any significant change to the fishing effort. The population is showing no sign of recovery, in spite of massive reductions in commercial and sporting fishing. During this talk, we will try to establish the probable causes of the drop in perch stocks since 1994, and will look at the main research being carried out in this body of water.
Place: Auditorium du Musée de la civilisation
Free entry |
3:30 p.m. – Panel: Is the St. Lawrence faring better after twenty years of government action?
The panel is made up of public personalities who will talk about the state of the St. Lawrence. This activity will close the series of scientific lectures. The panellists are:
- Albin Tremblay, Director, Environmental Enforcement Division (EED), Environment Canada
- Émilien Pelletier, Canadian Research Chair in Eco-Toxicology, Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski (ISMER)
- Louise Gratton, Director of Sciences and Natural Environments, Conservation de la Nature-Québec
- Claudette Villeneuve, President, Stratégies Saint-Laurent
Place: Auditorium of the Musée de la civilisation
Free entry
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PERISCOPE : Film Programming
Series 1 – St. Lawrence, a River Equal to the Nile and Amazon
7:00 p.m. – The Feeding Grounds of Migratory Animals
The St. Lawrence is a bona fide feeding ground for many animal species. Some live there all year round. Others come from the other side of the world to breed. The Arctic stern leaves the South Pole to nest here. The Atlantic sturgeon, Atlantic salmon and rainbow smelt leave the salt waters of the ocean to spawn in freshwater. The eel goes in the opposite direction, leaving the tributaries of the St. Lawrence to reproduce in the Sargasso Sea. Every spring and fall, all snow geese from around the world stop here.
Guest Speaker: Marc Mingelbier, scientist at the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune du Québec (Quebec Department of Natural Resources and Wildlife)
Place: Auditorium of the Musée de la civilisation
Free entry |
