Insight

Connecting the Bay - Hudson Bay Inland Sea Initiative

By Vivek Voora, Karla Zubrycki, Henry David Venema, Christa Rust, Karla Zubrycki, Darren A. Swanson, Henry David Venema, Richard Altman (Animator), Jason E.J. Manaigre (Technical Producer) on April 4, 2013

The Hudson Bay Inland Sea, the largest seasonally ice-covered inland sea in the world, consists of Hudson Strait, Foxe Basin, Hudson Bay, James Bay and Ungava Bay. Its vast seascape is at the heart of the Canadian landscape and receives fresh water from a very large drainage basin extending from the Canadian Rockies to Labrador, covering nearly four million square kilometers.

Today, this region is undergoing major and rapid ecological, social and economic transformations. Shrinking and changing sea ice and shifts in wildlife patterns are affecting subsistence hunting and fishing, and a warming climate is facilitating increases in marine traffic as well as potential hydro, oil and mining developments. In turn, these effects translate into both challenges and opportunities for the communities of the Hudson Bay Inland Sea.

This video describes the Hudson Bay Inland Sea Initiative (HBISI), which strives to bring governments, businesses and communities together to anticipate, plan for, and adaptively manage the opportunities and risks associated with the rapid socioeconomic and ecological transformations being experienced in the region.