Southern Labrador Research Articles

Overwinter thermal habitat use in lakes by anadromous Arctic char

Anadromous Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) migrate back to fresh water in late summer to spawn and (or) overwinter. Upon freshwater entry, feeding is reduced or absent, and movement activity is restricted. While the physiological responses to low temperatures (e.g., growth, metabolism) are understood, specifics of the use of thermal habitat for overwintering remains poorly characterized. This study used acoustic and archival telemetry data from two lakes in southern Labrador, Canada, to study thermal habitat use during the ice-covered period. Results showed that lake-dwelling anadromous Arctic char predominantly occupied a narrow range of temperatures (0.5–2 °C) and used cooler temperatures available within the middle and upper water column. Use of the selected temperatures is likely a strategy that lowers metabolic costs and minimizes energy expenditure, preserving stored lipids for overwinter survival and the energetic costs of preparation for seaward migration. As Arctic char are visual feeders, use of the upper water column is also thought to aid foraging efficiency by increasing the likelihood of prey capture.

Using Photovoice to Understand Barriers and Enablers to Southern Labrador Inuit Intergenerational Interaction

ABSTRACTIn Indigenous communities, strong intergenerational relationships have been identified as valuable due to the ways they contribute to cultural continuity and community wellness. This project uses Photovoice, a qualitative, participatory research method in which participants take photographs to examine Southern Inuit older adult and youth representations of intergenerational relationships in Labrador, Canada. Photovoice proved to be useful in accessing elder and youth perspectives on intergenerational engagement in this community, while bringing diverse generations together in a shared, meaningful activity. Our findings suggest that family, community, and the transmission of cultural knowledge are hubs of intergenerational engagement.

Atlantic and Pacific halibut co‐management initiatives by Canadian fishermen's organizations

AbstractMany fisheries managers and neoliberal fisheries economists promote Individual Transferable Quotas (ITQs) as a solution to the race for fish which can cause rent dissipation under competitive quota or open access fisheries. These actors consider the Canadian Pacific halibut ITQ fishery an example of successful achievement of these objectives. However, critics note the weak performance of this management model in distribution of benefits, increased capital costs to fishermen, deteriorating safety conditions, reductions in crew income and barriers to entry. They point to the layup system which successfully managed effort in the Pacific halibut fishery for four decades prior to the introduction of ITQs. A system similar to the layup has been used for Atlantic halibut since 2013, initiated by the Fish Food and Allied Workers (FFAW) representing owner‐operator license holders in the halibut fishery off the coast of western Newfoundland and southern Labrador. The FFAW rejected the two halibut management plan options presented to them by Fisheries and Oceans Canada: the status quo (a competitive 12‐hr “derby” fishery) or IQs, likely leading to ITQs. Instead, the FFAW worked with license holders to develop a management plan that required harvesters to choose between different fishing periods that spread fishing opportunities over time. This approach improved conservation results, delivered strong economic returns, distributed benefits widely to active fishermen, and allowed an even flow into the market. The authors consider the advantages of these Canadian east and west coast halibut co‐management systems and their broader application.

Determining seasonality of mussel collection from an early historic Inuit site, Labrador, Canada: Comparing thin-sections with high-resolution stable oxygen isotope analysis

Stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) analysis of mussels (Mytilus sp.) from a 16th to mid-18th century Inuit site in southern Labrador, Canada, indicates multiple seasons of shellfish collection, and by proxy, multiple seasons of site occupation. High-resolution δ18O sampling of shell permits a precise season of mussel collection since the temperature and freshwater signal of the local water is retained in the shell. Live-collected specimens of Mytilus sp. obtained from Labrador, were analyzed for stable oxygen isotopes and for growth patterns. These data were used to interpret results from the archaeological shells. Growth pattern analysis was conducted to test the relationship between δ18O values, growth lines and shell colour. Of the two approaches, high-resolution δ18O sampling proved to be more reliable for determining seasonality, and showed that the Inuit at Schooner Cove harvested mussels primarily during the spring months, with some harvesting evident in the winter and autumn.

Linking Inuit Knowledge and Public Health for Improved Child and Youth Oral Health in NunatuKavut.

The oral health of Inuit children in Canada has been identified as a public health crisis. Although efforts are being made to identify and address ways to deal with this crisis, current policy and program approaches are largely entrenched within the prevailing paradigm of dental science to the exclusion of Indigenous people's understandings of health. This article reports qualitative findings of a larger study aimed at identifying, understanding, and addressing rates of oral disease among children living in NunatuKavut, a cluster of small, coastal Inuit communities located in southern Labrador, Canada. Through 18 focus groups with youth (n = 86), caregivers (n = 22), and interviews with key informant (n = 13), this study begins to elucidate southern Inuit understandings of oral health. Theorized using Two-Eyed Seeing, an Indigenous approach to balancing both Indigenous and non-Indigenous understandings of the world, the findings reported here reveal 3 themes, each of which is crosscut by historical and contemporary dimensions: 1) (w)holistic conceptualizations of health are essential to good oral health, 2) achieving optimal oral health is prohibitive for Inuit communities, and 3) community-engaged oral health service delivery is needed. Our recommendations have implications for improved oral public health service delivery for Inuit communities, in that the inclusion of Inuit perspectives on oral health should form an instrumental element of oral public health service delivery. Knowledge Transfer Statement: The results of this study may be used by clinicians and oral health educators to inform approaches to oral health service delivery within the context of Indigenous communities. It may also be used by policymakers to recognize how historical and contemporary issues of colonization relate to the formation of oral health-related policies.

Mobergellans from the early Cambrian of Greenland and Labrador: new morphological details and implications for the functional morphology of mobergellans

AbstractNew morphological features of the mobergellan Discinella micans (Billings, 1871) from the lower Cambrian (Stage 4) of Northeast Greenland and southern Labrador are described. The new features include: (1) the morphology of the larval shell, which is shown to be cap-shaped, subcircular, and with impressions of the internal muscle attachment scars; (2) a range of unusual shell deformations (changes in growth direction resulting in thickened shells, partial detachment of shell laminae and subsequent regrowth, internal projections of shell material increasing the depth of the shell by up to 150%, disturbances and irregular fusion of muscle scars). In addition, we provide new details about the variability in number and shape of the anteriormost internal muscle scars, which often fuse and may vary in number from one to three (resulting in nine to 11 scars in total). Together the new observations provide additional strength for the hypothesis that mobergellan shells represent opercula of an as yet unknown tubular organism.

Encounters: An Anthropological History of Southern Labrador by John Kennedy

<i>Encounters: An Anthropological History of Southern Labrador</i> by John Kennedy

Across the Straits from Port au Choix: Mobility, Connection, and the Dorset of Southern Labrador

Priscilla Renouf’s more than 30 years of research on the human history of the Port au Choix peninsula was longue durée in execution as well as in perspective and contribution, resulting in notable insights into adaptations at Port au Choix itself and on the island of Newfoundland. This paper finds inspiration in Renouf’s work at the site of Phillip’s Garden (EeBi-1) on the Port au Choix peninsula. It proposes a model of integration and shared social context between Dorset in southern Labrador and Dorset in northwestern Newfoundland. Mobility and interconnection, key hallmarks of northern forager societies, are suggested through multiple lines of evidence that include the proximity and contemporaneity of sites in the two regions, the evidence of long-distance networks for exchange of Ramah chert, and the requirements of travel imposed by the twice yearly harp seal migration, which passed close to the Port au Choix peninsula in spring but followed the Labrador shore in late autumn.

Spatio-temporal distribution of beaked whales on Canada’s East Coast

Beaked whales represent some of the least understood marine mammals worldwide with the movements and distribution of many species largely unknown. Around eastern Canada current knowledge is limited to the eastern Scotian shelf and northern bottlenose whales. The acoustic signals of the beaked whale species are recognizable and sufficiently unique to be candidates for passive acoustic monitoring. Thirteen deep-water recorders located along the shelf break off Eastern Canada from Bonnécamps Canyon (42.5 N) to Southern Labrador (55.3 N) collected acoustic data near-continuously from Aug 2015 to July 2016. A minimum of one of every 20 minutes were recorded at 250,000 samples per second to monitor for the presence echolocations clicks of odontocetes, including beaked whales. An automated detector, validated by manual analysts, identified the presence of endangered Northern Bottlenose whales (Hyperoodon ampullatus), Cuvier’s (Ziphius cavirostris), and special concern Sowerby’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon bidens). The presence data were analyzed to determine the occurrence and residency durations of beaked whales throughout the geographic range studied. We then studied the influence of currents, sea ice, surface temperatures, chlorophyll, distance to the 1000 m isobath, background noise and anthropogenic noise on the whales’ acoustic occurrence. Acoustic studies such as this allow us to gain further insights on the occurrence of these notoriously difficult to study species.

Impacts of climate changes on ocean surface gravity waves over the eastern Canadian shelf

A numerical study is conducted to investigate the impact of climate changes on ocean surface gravity waves over the eastern Canadian shelf (ECS). The “business-as-usual” climate scenario known as Representative Concentration Pathway RCP8.5 is considered in this study. Changes in the ocean surface gravity waves over the study region for the period 1979–2100 are examined based on 3 hourly ocean waves simulated by the third-generation ocean wave model known as WAVEWATCHIII. The wave model is driven by surface winds and ice conditions produced by the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CanRCM4). The whole study period is divided into the present (1979–2008), near future (2021–2050) and far future (2071–2100) periods to quantify possible future changes of ocean waves over the ECS. In comparison with the present ocean wave conditions, the time-mean significant wave heights (H s ) are expected to increase over most of the ECS in the near future and decrease over this region in the far future period. The time-means of the annual 5% largest H s are projected to increase over the ECS in both near and far future periods due mainly to the changes in surface winds. The future changes in the time-means of the annual 5% largest H s and 10-m wind speeds are projected to be twice as strong as the changes in annual means. An analysis of inverse wave ages suggests that the occurrence of wind seas is projected to increase over the southern Labrador and central Newfoundland Shelves in the near future period, and occurrence of swells is projected to increase over other areas of the ECS in both the near and far future periods.

Spatial synchronicity in recruitment of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) stocks off Newfoundland and Labrador and the Flemish Cap

Spatial synchronicity in recruitment was examined for Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in the Newfoundland and southern Labrador (NL) and Flemish Cap regions. Recruitment was estimated using a cohort strength model for survey indices of abundance at pre-exploitation ages, and spatio-temporal covariation in recruitment was then examined. Patterns of recruitment synchrony were generally consistent with management boundaries. However, there were some exceptions that suggest structure at the sub-stock level and mixing across adjacent stock boundaries. In particular, we observed weak correlations between the eastern and western 3Ps RV (Research Survey) recruitment indices. We also observed strong correlations between the eastern 3Ps RV and the fall and spring 3NO RV recruitment indices, as well as fairly strong correlations between the southern 3L, central 3KL, and 3Ps sentinel GN and LT recruitment indices. Correlations between the summer 3M RV recruitment indices and all other survey recruitment indices included in our analysis were generally very weak, as was expected. We demonstrate that survey recruitment indices can be used to identify either areas of potential sub-stock structure or mixing or areas where recruitment drivers may be operating across or differentially within stock management boundaries. Hence, our results should improve the design of future stock structure research, and provide useful new information for fisheries management.

Composition of freshwater in the spring of 2014 on the southern Labrador shelf and slope

The Labrador Current is an important conduit of freshwater from the Arctic to the interior North Atlantic subpolar gyre. Here we investigate the spatial variability of the freshwater sources over the southern Labrador shelf and slope during May–June 2014. Using measurements of seawater properties such as temperature, salinity, nutrients, and oxygen isotopic composition, we estimate the respective contributions of saline water of Atlantic and Pacific origins, of brines released during sea ice formation, and of freshwater from sea ice melt and meteoric water origins. On the southern Labrador shelf, we find a large brine signal and Pacific water influence indicating a large contribution of water from the Canadian Arctic. The brine signal implies that more than 4 m of sea ice formed upstream, either in the Arctic or in Baffin Bay and the northern Labrador Sea. Over the midshelf and slope at 52°N, we find a stronger influence of slope water from the West Greenland Current with a smaller contribution of Pacific water and no brine signal. Thus, there is advection of water from the slope region to the midshelf between 55°N and 52°N. Very freshwater with high meteoric content is found close to the coast in June 2014. Observations from 1995 and 2008 suggest a higher fraction of brine and Pacific water on the shelf compared to that observed in 2014.

How to Win Friends and Trade with People: Southern Inuit, George Cartwright, and Labrador Households, 1763 to 1809

British and Southern Inuit traders in late-18th-century Labrador embedded the fisheries and fur trade in their social relations through transculturation. Specifically, British traders such as Capt. George Cartwright changed how they organized their friendships and households, as did Attuiock, an Inuit angakkuq or shaman. Cartwright’s approach evolved from using “luxury” to try to regulate Inuit workers and traders to also including Inuit traders and workers in his friendships and households. Even if Cartwright misunderstood what this meant to his Inuit partners, this approach made sense to them, too, as they were, after all, also agents of this transculturation.

Depth related brachiopod faunas from the lower Cambrian Forteau Formation of southern Labrador and western Newfoundland, Canada

A diverse fauna of organophosphatic brachiopods is described from the late early Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 3-4) Forteau Formation of southern Labrador and western Newfoundland. The total fauna incl ...

“Through their own efforts”: Nutrition Studies and Interventions in Early 20th-Century Northern Newfoundland and Southern Labrador

A small but significant spate of health and nutrition studies was completed in Northern Newfoundland and Southern Labrador in the first third of the 20th century. Published in peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Irish Journal of Medical Sciences, the research was sponsored by the International Grenfell Association (IGA), led by zealous Christian missionary and physician Wilfred Grenfell. The paper contributes to Canadian food studies by providing insights into the challenging social and economic conditions faced by the people of the region and the persistence of European food ways, despite the vastly different geophysical setting. It demonstrates that the studies had widespread impacts as they advanced the understanding of deficiency diseases. Yet the interventions had limited local benefits and were not generally successful over time. In keeping with contemporary approaches, the IGA’s nutrition research restricted community development by maintaining and institutionalizing patron-client relationships. This methodology likely led to missed opportunities in terms of community health and development.

FOCUSING ON DEMENTIA: USING PHOTOVOICE TO DOCUMENT SOUTHERN LABRADOR INUIT EXPERIENCES OF COGNITIVE DECLINE

FOCUSING ON DEMENTIA: USING PHOTOVOICE TO DOCUMENT SOUTHERN LABRADOR INUIT EXPERIENCES OF COGNITIVE DECLINE

Using Photovoice to Understand Intergenerational Influences on Health and Well-Being in a Southern Labrador Inuit Community

This research sought to explore one southern Labrador Inuit community’s intergenerational relationships, with a focus on seniors’ perspectives and understandings of health and well-being. This knowledge is important for accessing and responding to social and demographic change to ensure a continued ability to provide for future generations. Our research employed a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach and a qualitative, arts-based methodology, including photovoice. Participants in this study included six seniors and six youth from St. Lewis, Labrador, Canada, who were provided with cameras and were asked to take photographs that represent how their lived experience related to the research questions. Our findings demonstrated that strong relationships between older and younger generations, particularly within families, exist in St. Lewis. We argue that these relationships contribute positively to the overall health and well-being of the community. Little is known about how youth and seniors in Indigenous communities perceive one another and their respective roles in a contemporary context. Our research suggests that learning more about the factors that shape senior–youth interaction and communication in St. Lewis may lead to interventions that will support intergenerational contact and, hence, promote cultural continuity and increase overall well-being. The promotion of cultural continuity and well-being is of particular importance in Indigenous communities, given the disruption of culture due to colonialism and given that Indigenous communities with high levels of cultural continuity are healthier.

Phenology and yield of native fruits cloudberry/bakeapple (Rubus chamaemorus L.) and lingonberry/partridgeberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea L.) grown in Southern Labrador, Canada

Plant habitat, growth, fruit yield and occurrence of pollinators in cloudberry and lingonberry fields/bogs were monitored and analyzed at three locations in southern Labrador: Lanse’au Clair (51°41’ N, 57°08’ W), Red Bay (51°43’ N, 56°26’ W), and Cartwright (53°42’ N, 57°0’ W) over the two growing seasons, 2011 and 2012. The length of the growing seasons was 100–120 d ( DFRA 2014 ) with 600–700 growing degree days (GDD) ( AAFC 2014 ). The 2012 season was warmer than 2011. The plants recorded in belt transects belong to six families: Rosaceae, Ericaceae, Pottiaceae, Juncaeae, Equisetaceae, and Sphagnaceae. In the Ericaeae family, Vaccinium vitis-idaea, Arctostaphylos alpina, Empetrum nigrum, and Vaccinium angustifolium were found. In both seasons, the cloudberry was the first to bloom, followed by wild blueberry, lingonberry, and Labrador tea. The fruit yields of cloudberry and partridgeberry in southern Labrador were higher than those recorded in Finland, Norway, and in the USA. Pollinators were present in large numbers. Most of the specimens were from three orders: Hymenoptera, Diptera, and Lepidoptera. Temperature, precipitation, wind, and sunlight affected plant growth and the occurrence of pollinators. To our knowledge this is the most comprehensive study of plant growth, yield, and pollinators’ activity in cloudberry/partridgeberry fields conducted in Southern Labrador, Canada.

Identity markers: Interpreting sod-house occupation in Sandwich Bay, Labrador

Documentary evidence suggests that Inuit were present in the Strait of Belle Isle by the late 16th century, yet the archaeological evidence for Inuit settlement in southern Labrador is sparse. Inuit sites are difficult to recognize south of Nunatsiavut, where 19th-century Inuit-Métis families and seasonal Newfoundland fishers occupied settlements that leave similar archaeological surface-traces. In 2009 a SSHRC-funded Community-University Research Alliance was initiated to examine Inuit history in southern Labrador. One of the primary goals of the research was to develop archaeological criteria to distinguish between these ethnically distinct settlements. This paper presents the results from several seasons of research in Sandwich Bay, Labrador. It uses data from community interviews, archaeological surveys, and excavations at four Inuit settlements, one Inuit-Métis house, and one Newfoundland fishery camp to help resolve the issue of site ethnicity for the area immediately south of Hamilton Inlet. Site location and house and site features are used to increase confidence in Inuit site classification and to provide strategies for targeted test-excavations elsewhere in southern Labrador and on the Quebec North Shore. The results of the research also allow for a better understanding of the nature and extent of Inuit occupation in Sandwich Bay.

Labrador Inuit and their arrow shafts

From the 16th to 18th centuries, Labrador Inuit seem to have valued softwoods (from coniferous tree boles) for the manufacture of arrows and darts used in hunting and warfare. Microscopic examination of Inuit arrow shafts from the Twin Island 3 site (EkBc-07) in Red Bay shows that balsam fir (Abies balsamea) was the preferred species for these purposes in the 16th century. Balsam fir is found in abundance in the inner bays of southern Labrador and was easily accessible to Inuit. However, archival sources indicate that by the 18th century Labrador Inuit desired another species of softwood for arrow and dart shafts, one that grew only on the island of Newfoundland. I propose that the sought-after species was one, or both, of the two pine species growing in central Newfoundland (Pinus strobus or Pinus resinosa). Procurement of pine wood from Newfoundland would add another dimension to the established mobility and trading patterns of Inuit in southern Labrador. Conflicts with Europeans during the 16th through 18th centuries in the Strait of Belle Isle and the Petit Nord (on Newfoundland’s Great Northern Peninsula) may, in part, have been a result of the disruption in these travel and harvesting patterns. I suggest that iron products and wooden shallops (boats) from southern Labrador and northern Newfoundland were not the only “southern” commodities actively sought by Inuit during the early stages of European occupation; central Newfoundland’s pine wood was also important for manufacture of arrow shafts.