This story was originally published in The Pointer.

The emerald ash borer has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in destruction to local tree populations and forests across Canada. The invasive wood-boring beetle native to parts of Asia arrived here more than 20 years ago and was first seen in Ontario in the summer of 2002.

Researchers believe the infestation probably spread after the first insects burrowed into wood shipping pallets and containers bound for the Detroit area about a decade earlier, then made their way to Ontario.

The federal government reports the invasive species has spread to about 30 U.S. states and five provinces, killing 99 per cent of all ash trees “within eight to 10 years once the beetle arrives in an area.”

A decade ago, the City of Mississauga committed $51 million to manage the emerald ash borer infestation that had decimated the municipality’s tree canopy. Critics questioned what the provincial government was doing to combat the rapidly growing problem of invasive species.

In the Great Lakes, the introduction of zebra mussels was a complete accident. The mollusks, which are native to eastern Europe and western Russia, first made their way to North America through cargo ship ballast water: stored in the bottom of ships to ensure the vessel floats at the right depth and remains stable, it’s often flushed once cargo liners reach their destination. Zebra mussels spread throughout the Great Lakes as well as many other major water bodies across North America. 

“With the global COVID-19 pandemic, people now understand the urgent need to act when a dangerous new virus or other biological threat emerges. The same is the case for responding to invasive species,” Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk wrote in a 2022 report. “Preventing their introduction is the most effective and economical solution for managing them.”

The audit, published by Lysyk in November, reveals these increased threats are not being met by environmental protections. Her audit determined the provincial government, specifically the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, is underperforming in its duty to protect Ontario from new invasive species and control alien species already present.

“Overall, our audit found that the Natural Resources Ministry is not effectively monitoring and managing the introduction and spread of harmful invasive species in Ontario,” Lysyk stated.

While invasive species spread, climate change is becoming a growing concern. Peel Region is warming at twice the rate of the global average, putting the region at risk for the arrival of previously far off species and pathogens. Blacklegged (deer) ticks were previously unheard of in Ontario, fended off by cold winters. But with increasing temperatures, the changing climate welcomes this new species to the ecosystem, and a new pathogen that comes with it: Lyme disease.

According to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, invasive species are one of the five biggest threats to biodiversity, adding to the list of changes in land and sea use, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change and pollution.

Ontario is at a higher risk of new introductions due to its proximity to international shipping channels, multiple land and water entry points and large volumes of imported goods. It has the highest number of invasive species of all the provinces and territories with at least 441 invasive plants and 191 non-native and invasive aquatic species in the Great Lakes. These are only what have been identified. 

The provincial Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry did not respond to The Narwhal’s request for comment.

Ontario fails to collaborate with feds and cities on invasive species management

In her 80-page audit, Lysyk made 12 recommendations, with 37 action items aimed at exposing the failure of the provincial government to protect Ontario’s natural ecosystems, and crucial steps for improvement.

Lysyk’s audit brings to light the mismanagement of invasive species by the Natural Resources Ministry and looks at the role of other levels of government in combatting the growing problem. In Ontario, the ministry is responsible for administration and enforcement of the Invasive Species Act and implementation of the Invasive Species Strategic Plan, as well as providing funding to groups that deal with the management of non-native species.

Lysyk found there are significant gaps in collaboration between the ministry and federal partners. For example, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it has been working since 2019 to collaborate on a response to hemlock woolly adelgid, an invasive insect that kills hemlock trees. According to food agency, the ministry has not responded to any of the calls to action outlined in Canada’s 2018 hemlock woolly adelgid management plan.

“The ministry is responsible for working with and providing guidance to other ministries, partners and stakeholders in Ontario to coordinate actions that address the threats posed by invasive species,” Lysyk wrote.

The auditor general’s office conducted a survey which found 85 per cent of municipal respondents and 74 per cent of conservation authority respondents did not know their designated role in the province’s response. 

Despite the lack of provincial coordination, municipalities across Ontario are implementing strategies to protect their communities from invasive species. 

In Peel Region, Mississauga has a specific management plan and implementation strategy: in its most recent budget, Mississauga put forward $270,000 for invasive species management, with an additional $4,050,000 allocated for emerald ash borer management and $100,000 for aerial spraying for the invasive LDD moth, or spongy moth, and cankerworm. Brampton categorically deals with invasive species in its natural heritage and environmental management strategy.

Despite Queen’s Park’s responsibility, the financial toll is being felt by municipal property taxpayers. It is estimated that invasive species-related costs for 2021/2022 incurred by municipalities and conservation authorities were over $50 million. Meanwhile, the Natural Resources Ministry dedicated less than $4 million annually to programming. The combined amount spent by municipalities, conservation authorities and provincial Ministry of Transportation on a single invasive species — phragmites — was higher than the total the Natural Resources Ministry spent on all invasive species programming the same year. 

Ontario’s programs have long been understaffed

According to a study commissioned by the Invasive Species Centre in 2017, the economic impacts across all of Ontario’s sectors is estimated to be $3.6 billion per year. Yet the provincial government invests only $4 million annually in invasive species programs. 

The Natural Resources Ministry is not properly staffed to deal with the worsening problem. According to the audit, the ministry has only five staff dedicated to full-time work within its biodiversity and invasive species section. It had the equivalent of just one staff member performing risk assessments for invasive species when the audit was conducted. 

In 2014/2015 and 2017/2018, the ministry requested additional funding from the Treasury Board to acquire more staff for invasive species work. The board denied the request for funding, and directed the ministry to divert the funds from other programs and projects. The ministry did not follow these instructions, leaving the positions unfulfilled.

Municipalities have been forced to step in. 

In 2022, the Invasive Species Centre published a Canada-wide survey that determined Ontario municipalities were struggling more than those in other provinces and territories to finance invasive species work. Ninety-one percent of respondents reported insufficient funding, limiting their ability to address dire problems. 

“Credit Valley Conservation Authority’s invasive species strategy identifies 31 priority actions, but its staff informed us that it does not have the funding nor staffing resources to undertake a comprehensive approach to managing invasive species within the Credit River watershed,” Lysyk wrote, adding that not all conservation staff are even properly trained in identifying invasive species. 

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is supposed to receive program funding to help manage invasive species and hires approximately 20 to 25 summer staff each year to deliver community level outreach, species monitoring and management activities across the province. In 2019/2020, the Natural Resources Ministry abruptly reduced the project’s funding by 43 per cent, but did not communicate it with the federation until after work contracts were signed. As a result, the federation cancelled that year’s work. The program has since been reinstated, but with a decrease in staffing. 

No unified framework to identify and respond to invasive species in Ontario

As a result of the lack of staffing and financial resources, Lysyk found there is a significantly prolonged time frame for identification and response to invasive species. In January 2022, 12 new invasive species were regulated (excluding wild pigs which followed a separate process). On average, risk assessments for these regulated species took approximately four years, leaving a large gap between species sighting and regulation. 

The Invasive Species Strategic Plan was implemented in 2012, before the implementation of the Invasive Species Act in 2015, and predates modern technologies that could now be used to control a range of problems. Following the Strategic Plan, the ministry never developed an implementation plan or action plan, and in the 11 years since implementation, the Strategic Plan has not been updated, which Lysyk said has “led to largely fragmented and localized activities across the province.” 

With a lack of uniformity around an implementation plan, there are a significant number of threats going undetected. The audit found 33 high-risk species that have been detected in the province but are not being tracked and reported on by the Ministry. A multinational study conducted in 2017 found Canada ranks in the top 10 of all countries tracked for the sum of recorded invasive species. In 2002, it was estimated there were at least 1,442 such species in the country. More have likely arrived in the 21 years since the estimate, and many may still be undetected. 

A significant proportion of species sliding by unnoticed are terrestrial plant species. The audit concluded they are receiving insufficient assessment compared to aquatic species. 

“This lack of focus increases the risk that new introductions and spread will occur in Ontario,” Lysyk wrote.

The import and sale of invasive terrestrial plant species is largely unaccounted for. Importation of plants for landscaping and ornamental purposes make up 52 per cent of all intentional introductions of invasive plants in Canada. The audit found that six of 30 unregulated terrestrial plant species are being sold in garden centres and nurseries across the province. In 2016, the ministry established a tool to evaluate ecological impacts of aquatic invasive species in Ontario, but in the seven years since, a similar tool has not been made available for terrestrial species. 

Across the province, there is no unified framework to identify and respond to invasive species. The closest thing Ontario has to a widespread system is the Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System, which anyone can use to report invasive species sightings. Rebecca Rooney, a wetland ecologist and associate professor at the University of Waterloo, said easy to use, digital reporting tools like the early detection mapping system and iNaturalist are excellent tools for faster and more widespread identification of species. 

“That’s really allowed a new level of surveillance that even five years ago, was kind of inconceivable, we have these apps now that really detail the distribution of all these species,” she said. “More eyes on the ground capacity for rapid responses are really important.”

But even with the availability of these tools, public knowledge is waning. A study conducted by the auditor general’s office found 66 per cent of Ontarians did not know how or where to report invasive species sightings. Proper coordination is required for further action on their management. 

“If you get rid of whatever invasive species in this part of the watershed is just going to reinstate. You have to get rid of a whole watershed and that really requires some kind of coordination,” Rooney said. 

She stressed the importance of continual measures to monitor environments for invasive species. Otherwise, taxpayers will continue to pay for the consequences of inaction, and our ecosystems will continue to be devastated. 

Just visit an urban forest that was once populated by vibrant ash trees, with their petrified skeletons now scattered across the ground.

“We started the game really ambitious in 2015,” she said. “And we fail to live up to that ambition.”

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Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is at odds with Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. over the risk posed by a potentially invasive aquatic worm found nearby the company’s Mary River mine port on north Baffin Island, Nunavut.

According to the department, Baffinland should be developing a response plan to address Marenzelleria, the “high-risk potential aquatic invasive species that has been introduced to Milne Port.” 

This comes from a letter DFO submitted to the Nunavut Impact Review Board on Oct. 18 as part of the board’s assessment of Baffinland’s phase two development proposal, which would double the mine’s iron ore production to be shipped out of Milne Inlet, from six million tonnes per year to 12 million. 

The board fielded many submissions about the project’s impacts on some of the Arctic’s sentinel species such as caribou and narwhal. 

If Baffinland’s expansion is approved, project-related ship traffic will increase substantially. 

Currently, Baffinland’s permits do not limit vessel traffic, but the company proposed to limit vessels received at Milne Port to 84 per year, which allows the mine to ship 6 million tonnes of ore — their current permitted production level.

Under its second phase of development, Baffinland said the number of ore carriers at the Milne Port would be doubled to 168 per year. Iron ore is primarily used in steelmaking. Canada is one of the top-producing iron ore countries in the world, producing 58.8 million tonnes in total in 2019, according to Natural Resources Canada. Nine per cent of Canada’s iron ore is produced at the Mary River mine.

Milne Inlet opens off Eclipse Sound, just west of the community of Pond Inlet, and south of Tallurutiup Imanga National Marine Conservation Area — protected for its biodiversity and the critical role it plays in Arctic ecosystems, and its cultural importance to Inuit. Despite this level of protection, the marine region is not immune to the varying threats that shipping presents.

The final hearing for the expansion is currently underway in Iqaluit, with territorial and federal departments — including DFO — participating, as well as Nunavut community representatives, hunters and trappers organizations and environmental organizations. 

The hearing wraps up on Saturday with the board expected to release its report on the proposed expansion in the coming months. Final approval rests with the federal Minister of Northern Affairs Canada, Dan Vandal.

Increase in Marenzelleria worms since Baffinland’s Mary River operations began

Both the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and the Mittimatalik Hunters and Trappers Organization voiced concerns over invasive species arriving in the ballast water of Baffinland’s ore carriers during a marine monitoring workshop in Pond Inlet in August 2020, according to a letter sent to Baffinland by the review board.

Marenzelleria is a genus of benthic — or bottom-dwelling — worms known to be highly invasive. One or more species of the worms have invaded parts of the Pacific Ocean, North Sea, Baltic Sea, Barents Sea and others. 

Ralf Bastrop, a research associate at the University of Rostock, in Germany, has studied worms like Marenzelleria for nearly 30 years. In the Baltic Sea, where several invasive species of the worms have invaded, Bastrop said that in great enough quantities, Marenzelleria can have an impact on water chemistry. By burrowing through the seafloor, the worms expose sediment to oxygen, releasing various nutrients. Depending on the geographic area, burrowing could also lead to the release of poisons like polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), highly toxic synthetic chemicals.

Other scientific papers in the field have discussed the possibility that invasive Marenzelleria and changes to the nutrient cycle could potentially alter local food chains.

But as Bastrop is quick to reinforce, what happens in one marine environment, might not happen in another. “It’s very difficult to say what happens in the Baltic will also happen in the Canadian Arctic.”

Marenzelleria was first found through Baffinland’s monitoring efforts at the company’s Milne Port in 2016, after the mine began shipping ore. Although only a single specimen was found that year, and details about where it was found are unknown, two more were identified in 2017 near the existing ore dock.

The following year, 301 specimens of Marenzelleria were found, some around the ore dock, with the majority located in an estuarine area at the mouth of Phillips Creek on the western side of the inlet. The estuary was not tested again in 2019, but 16 specimens were found that year near the existing dock. 

In 2020 the company returned to the western side of the inlet and found 256 specimens, though none were found in the area around the ore dock. 

In an email to The Narwhal, Baffinland clarified that targeted sampling in 2020 at locations where Marenzelleria was found in 2019 yielded no specimens to send for analysis. 

War of the worms: debate over Marenzelleria specimens found near Mary River mine

What sets samples of Marenzelleria found in 2019 and 2020 apart from the previous collections is that they were, at least initially, independently verified by a company called Biologica and the University of Laval as Marenzelleria Viridis — a highly invasive species Baffinland lists as high-risk. Biologica recommended a third expert be consulted to verify the species of the worm.

In an Aug. 17 technical memo, prepared by Golder Associates, Baffinland explained that a third independent reviewer reidentified the marine worms found in Milne Inlet in 2020 as Marenzelleria Arctia —  a species native to the Beaufort Sea in the western Arctic that Baffinland does not consider invasive. 

Baffinland told The Narwhal that while the worm’s reclassification was based on a visual examination, it was supported with other evidence surveyed in Milne Inlet, including a diversity of bottom-dwelling life, no signs of invasive behaviour and environmental conditions such as water temperature and salinity. 

Bastrop agrees that evidence such as temperature and salinity supports the idea that the specimens found are Arctia and not Viridis, though he also acknowledges that visual examinations and a survey of environmental conditions aren’t foolproof.

“The only way to definitely say which species occurs [there] is [through] genetic identification,” Bastrop said.

Baffinland said that samples collected in 2021 are currently being sorted and, should any species of Marenzelleria be found, specimens will be sent to the Canadian Centre for DNA Barcoding at the University of Guelph for analysis. 

In their memo Baffinland also said that they “will treat all identified Marenzelleria specimens as having the potential to be invasive until the classification of [Marenzelleria Arctia] is confirmed through molecular methods.”

But DFO’s position suggests that even if the worms are identified as the Arctia species, there is still reason for concern.

“Regardless of the details concerning the specific species identity, there is clear evidence that all specimens in question are of the Marenzelleria genus. They appeared in close vicinity of the Milne Port ore dock and anchorages, for the first time in 2016, after initiation of project ore-related shipping,” DFO stated in its letter to the board. “Thus, DFO still has concerns about their origins and their potential to become invasive.”

No invasive species identified: Baffinland

Despite ongoing debates about the specimens collected, during a Nunavut Impact Review Board’s community roundtable session earlier this week, Lou Kamermans, Baffinland’s director of sustainable development, doubled-down on the company’s position that the worms found so far are not invasive.

“To date, we’ve not identified invasives in our monitoring program,“ Kamermans said, in response to a question from a community member. 

“There have been times species have been found that we’ve looked at further. But in each case, that’s been ruled out.”

However, DFO notes that Baffinland’s own aquatic invasive species protocol states that “an introduction is considered project-related if a species/taxon was not documented in baseline surveys or if there are no documented occurrences in the Canadian Arctic before the commencement of shipping operations.”

Marenzelleria did not appear in Baffinland’s baseline surveys. But the company explained to The Narwhal that it is not possible for baseline sampling to capture all species living in a given environment, and that the more sampling is conducted, the more are found. As a result, the company said it created and maintains an inventory for Milne Inlet that is updated with newly detected taxa every year and shared with other groups, including DFO.

Without knowing exactly where the Marenzelleria came from, DFO concludes that “as the sole operator at Milne Port, it is reasonable to assume that any new records of Marenzelleria at Milne Port, are attributable to project-related activities.”

Baffinland, however, concludes that “the available evidence suggests that this worm is native to Arctic waters, has a broad Arctic distribution and cannot conclusively be identified as a project-related introduction.”

By the time the second phase would be in operation, Kamermans said new shipping regulations will be in place requiring ballast water exchanges before vessels enter Canadian waters, as well as the treatment of that ballast water.

“For phase two, we have even more confidence that the vessels coming to Milne port won’t be a source of invasives,​​” Kamermans said, during the board’s community roundtable.

According to Baffinland, DFO will be working alongside Transport Canada to monitor those exchanges.

Updated Nov. 9 at 12:34 p.m. ET: this article was updated to clarify that the production increase for Mary River phase two will go from six million tonnes per year to 12 million tonnes per year.Updated Nov. 17 at 11:43 a.m. ET: this article was updated to correct that the species found has been suggested to be Marenzelleria Arctia — not Marenzelleria Arctica.

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The Asian giant hornet, or the Vespa mandarinia, has been in B.C. and other parts of North America since last summer, but there has been a recent interest in this species using the sensationalized name: “Asian murder hornet.”

This hornet does have the potential to do tremendous amounts of damage to local pollinators, negatively influencing the health of ecosystems around the Salish Sea. It has also been known to destroy bee hives, which can exacerbate current pollinator stressors, such as pesticides and colony collapse disorder.

But as we mark Invasive Species Action Month in B.C. and Asian Heritage Month in Canada, it’s important to consider the role of language in science — and how xenophobia can be propagated in the way we broach issues.

We rely on science to be at the forefront of knowledge and developments to manage, prevent and control the spread of invasive species. It’s science that plays an integral role in supporting local ecological balances that are frequently delicate. 

But it’s language, used without an awareness of how xenophobia and racism can be damaging to certain groups and ethnicities, that can distort scientific terms, replacing them with ones that are sensationalist and discriminatory. This has a double negative: it harms communities and reduces the transfer of important information. 

Here’s an example of science-based language: The European green crab or the Carcinus maenas is one of the ten most unwanted species in the world, according to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. This clawed creature, measuring 10 cm, can unbalance an entire ecosystem—and they’ve been in B.C. since the late ’90s, and in Canada since the ’50s.

For more than a decade, there have been strong outreach, citizen-science programs, reporting systems and Fisheries and Oceans Canada-led measures to curb the spread of this species. This approach is based in science, it uses scientific language and the awareness efforts around this species have not been based in propagating fear.

In contrast, the presentation of the Vespa mandarinia uses words like “murder” and “invader.” These are not scientific descriptors; they are meant to scare people, and they reignite fears of the idea that Asian migrants, people, plants — and now this hornet — are an existential threat to white North America. 

Yellow peril has been on the minds of white colonial North America since the building of the railroads, the Chinese head tax and subsequent Exclusion Act, the internment of Japanese Canadians and through to modern examples, including the idea that wealthy Asian foreign buyers are influencing housing prices. 

Particularly during a time of rising anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of the term “Asian murder hornets” is inflammatory and counterproductive as it opts out of using rigorous, accurate, scientific language. Simply put, it is discriminatory.

Just as we must base our approach and communication in science when confronting the novel coronavirus, we must do the same when it comes to invasive species. As environmentalists, teachers, journalists, elected officials, caregivers and kind community members, we must help one another to become aware of how sensationalizing this hornet (or any other creature) is harmful to communities that are already under attack, as well as how this can bolster xenophobia.

Our message is this: carelessness with language can support harmful narratives that you might not have recognized. Let’s remember that as stewards of the environment, it is our responsibility to reflect on how exclusion and oppression can inflict social damage.

Be aware, be informed and be responsible.

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