A serene scene of a small motorboat with three people gliding over calm, misty blue water. The horizon blends softly into the sky, creating a tranquil atmosphere.

Coastal Ecosystems Project

The Coastal Ecosystem Project builds a sustainable, Indigenous-led assessment program to support Cree action concerning coastal habitats of Eeyou Istchee on the Eastern Coast of James Bay, Québec. The project focuses on eelgrass, a marine plant important to coastal Cree culture through its ecological support of waterfowl and fish.

  • Start Date: January 1, 2025

In this region, eelgrass (Zostera marina) historically supported a vast coastal habitat that reliably supported a seasonal waterfowl migration. In the late 1990s, eelgrass in Eeyou Istchee disappeared along much of the coast. The decline is attributed to hydrological changes related to hydroelectric power, marine climate change and ecological feedbacks. Eelgrass habitats have failed to fully recover. In response, coastal Cree communities have built a partnership with government and researchers to develop a research and monitoring program to support management of these habitats in the future.

This partnership brings together university researchers with expertise in ocean and ice science, remote sensing and eelgrass ecology, to work together with Cree community stakeholders (Niskamoon Corporation and the Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board), Hydro-Québec, Parks Canada and Québec’s Centre d’expertise en gestion des risques d’incidents maritime (CEGRIM). Together, this team will advance scientific understanding of how the ice, rivers, sediments and eelgrass are changing in the region, and how best to support a sustainable future for the eelgrass and the wildlife that relies on it. The partnership will produce materials on eelgrass status and health, protocols and data pipelines for in situ and remote sensing monitoring, and recommendations for restoration in the region. It will also train 14 graduate, undergraduate and post-doctoral trainees over the course of the project, as well as Cree community patners and youth in the Eeyou Istchee region.

Academic Research Team

  • Principal Investigator Mary I. O’Connor, University of British Columbia
  • Co-PI Zou Zou Kuzyk, University of Manitoba
  • Co-PI Jens Ehn, University of Manitoba
  • Co-PI Fanny Noisette, UQAR/ISMER
  • Co-PI Simon Bélanger, UQAR

Cree Partners

  • Niskamoon Corporation (Mélanie L. Leblanc PhD Wildlife Biologist, Mimie Neaccapo Cree Social Scientist, Ernie Rabbitskin Special Project Manager, Niskamoon Local Officers)

Regional Partner

  • Eeyou Marine Region Wildlife Board

Industry Partner

  • Hydro-Québec