INNOVATION September-October 2022

INNOVATION IN SUSTAINABILITY AWARD MAPLEWOOD MARINE RESTORATION PROJECT, VANCOUVER FRASER PORT AUTHORITY

After marine construction, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority worked with Indigenous nations to assess and select eelgrass donor harvesting sites as a first step in the largest eelgrass transplant ever performed in Burrard Inlet. By August 2021, 125,000 eelgrass shoots had been harvested, prepared by a shore crew, and transplanted by hand with divers to create a 1.5-hectare eelgrass bed. Eelgrass is a type of seagrass that forms part of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the world. These habitats serve many functions for a variety of salmonids, marine and shorebird species, and play a vital role in capturing carbon, which helps mitigate climate change impacts. Eelgrass provides food, shelter, and protection from predators for many juvenile fish and shellfish of ecological, cultural, and recreational importance. Altogether, the nearly five hectares of restored marine habitat will provide higher-diversity marine habitat for fish, birds, and other wildlife compared to pre-restoration conditions, and supports Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s goal of increasing the health of Burrard Inlet. This project serves as the fisheries habitat offsetting site for the port authority’s Centerm Expansion Project, and its success will be able to inform future large-scale restoration and enhancement projects in the Pacific Northwest.

Led by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in collaboration with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, the remarkable Maplewood Marine Restoration Project restored over 4.5 hectares of marine habitat in a previously degraded location. The project work, located on the north shore of Burrard Inlet, is in alignment with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s Burrard Inlet Action Plan, which sets out the priority to restore critical nearshore habitat. During marine works construction, 230,000 cubic metres, or approximately 300 barges, of dredged Fraser River sand were beneficially reused to restore and raise the Maplewood basin floor so seagrasses like eelgrass can establish. Over 13,000 tonnes of rock were also placed to create a one-hectare rock reef which will support various kelp species and other aquatic species.

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