LOCAL PLASTIC PROBLEM
Producers hope project will highlight work being done in Cape Breton
Cape Breton Environmental Association producing a documentary on ocean pollution.
The Cape Breton Environmental Association is moving its focus away from illegal dumpsites to ocean pollution and is co-producing a documentary to bring awareness to the issue.
Dylan Yates, founder of the volunteer organization, started the group to combat the problem of illegal dumping on the island and organized many cleanups.
“The (Cape Breton Regional Municipality) is doing a really good job with fines for illegal dumping now,” said the 27-year-old Glace Bay resident. “I believe this is because of the awareness that’s been brought to the issue … People are reporting these sites more.”
Last summer, Yates moved the group’s focus to beach cleanups and his eyes were opened to the problem of plastics in the oceans and fishing debris (ghost gear).
Washed up lobster traps, meters of fishing lines and ropes, nets and other fishing gear have become a serious issue along the world’s coastlines and Cape Breton is no different.
Yates said his goal is to use the documentary to bring awareness to the issue, start a discussion about it and highlight work already being done to combat the problem in Cape Breton.
“There’s a lot of stuff happening in Cape Breton with regards to ocean pollution. A lot of people don’t know about it,” he said.
“Cape Breton is known for its beautiful, pristine beaches … but there is pollution washing up every day on our shorelines.”
Yates hired Waves Media to coproduce the documentary, which was originally going to run under 10 minutes. As they interviewed fishermen, scientists and environmental conservationists, the coproducers
realized the film needed to be longer and are now looking at a 25-30-minute documentary.
“There’s a lot of information to get in there so we decided it needed to be longer,” said Waves Media cofounder Chris Ross, 25, who started the company with Gary Axworthy when he was finishing his degree at Cape Breton University.
“I hope this video helps Dylan get the message out … And that people in Cape Breton and elsewhere will learn the negative effects pollution has on the ocean.”
Among those featured in the documentary are artist Elizabeth Whalley, who was interviewed about the sculpture she made using plastics she found on Inverness Beach and Cape Breton University assistant professor Dana Mount discussed human behaviour in relation to littering.
The co-producers have also enlisted the local dive community to help with underwater filming.
One of the fishermen interviewed
said he has lost 150 lobster traps. Some of them wash up and create litter on the shore while others stay at the bottom of the ocean.
“We had a bad year for fishing in Cape Breton and there was a lot of loss and discarded fishing debris … 126 traps off three shores this year,” Yates said.
“If we have one fisherman loosing 150 traps, what about all the other fishermen in Cape Breton? What are the impacts?”
“When lost lobster traps end up on the ocean floor, fish swim in, get stuck and die, becoming bait for lobsters. Lobsters go after the bait, get trapped and also die and the cycle continues until the wooden or steel trap breaks down. This can affect the amount of lobster in the area.”
Yates said his research has led him to case studies where traps were cleared off the ocean floor in some fishing communities and the lobster quotas increased dramatically the next season.
“There’s a lot of science behind this,” he said.
This is the first documentary for both the Cape Breton Environmental Association, which is directing the project, and Waves Media, which is handling the shooting and editing.
Working on a shoestring budget, Louisbourg Seafoods is one company which has donated to the producton. As filming continues, the co-producers are hoping to find more financial sponsors to bring the film “to the next level.”
“It’s going to look good regardless and we’re going to get it done whether we get more money or not,” said Yates. “But with more money if there’s an interview in Halifax we want to get, we can … We might be able to take a zodiac out and get footage around the Cabot Trail.”
Ross said they hope to start editing in late spring or early summer, once they finish all the interviews, and as of now there is no scheduled completion date.
When it is released, there will be a screening of the film in Cape Breton, which Yates hopes will bring together other people interested in ocean conservation. Other distribution avenues may be online or through schools but this hasn’t been nailed down.
“We just want it to reach people,” Yates said.
Anyone interested in sponsoring the documentary can contact Yate by phone at 902-574-8105 or email at cbenviroconservation@gmail.com .