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Natural resources management (NRM) is complex and relies on decisions supported by evidence, including Western-based science (WBS) and Indigenous and local knowledge. However, it has been shown that there is a disconnect between WBS and its application, whereby managers often draw on non-empirical sources of information (i.e., intuition or advice from colleagues). This article focuses on the role of WBS in decisions made in management of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the province of British Columbia, Canada. We conducted open-ended interviews with NRM branches of Indigenous and parliamentary governments, as well as with nongovernmental stakeholder groups, to examine (a) sources of WBS consulted in decision-making and (b) barriers to accessing WBS by managers. We found that respondents involved with NRM relied on a diverse set of sources for WBS, seldom relying exclusively on one source. However, respondents relied more on internal sources (government databases) compared to external ones (peer-reviewed journal articles). We also found that respondents described WBS as valuable and generally accessible, yet barriers were identified with respect to the interface and organization of government grey data and literature, paywalls associated with peer-reviewed journals and articles, and institutional capacity, time, and support. We recommend strategies and tools to facilitate accessibility of WBS in support of bridging the knowledge-action divide, including increased publishing of open access data/articles, systematic reviews, use of knowledge brokers, specialized WBS training, and knowledge co-production. It is our hope that identification of barriers and the implementation of improved access to WBS will result in more effective NRM by giving managers access to the tools and knowledge they need for evidence-based decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recreational water use is an important source of human enteric illness. Enhanced (episodic) surveillance of natural recreational waters as a supplement to beach monitoring can enrich our understanding of human health risks. From 2011 to 2013, water sampling was undertaken at recreational sites on a watershed in eastern Canada. This study compared the prevalence and associations of human enteric pathogens and fecal indicator organisms. Beach water samples had lower pathogen presence than those along the main river, due to different pollution sources and the hydrological disposition. Pathogen profiles identified from the beach sites suggested a more narrow range of sources, including birds, indicating that wild bird management could help reduce public health risks at these sites. The presence and concentration of indicator organisms did not differ significantly between beaches and the river. However, higher concentrations of generic Escherichia coli were observed when Salmonella and Cryptosporidium were present at beach sites, when Salmonella was present at the river recreational site, and when verotoxigenic E. coli were present among all sites sampled. In this watershed, generic E. coli concentrations were good indicators of potential contamination, pathogen load, and elevated human health risk, supporting their use for routine monitoring where enhanced pathogen testing is not possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella is a major cause of enteric disease in Canada. Cases of salmonellosis were attributed to retail meats, food animal manure contact, and surface water sources using a microbial subtyping approach coupled with adjustments for exposure. Results indicated that 64.7% of cases were attributed to chicken breast meat, followed by frozen raw breaded chicken products (12.9%), ground chicken (9.1%), water (3.0%), pork chops and sausage (1.3%), ground beef and veal (0.7%), turkey parts (0.5%), and molluscs (0.0%). The salmonellosis incidence rate in the FoodNet Canada sentinel sites fell by one third with a parallel drop of one third in the percent of cases attributed to chicken breast meat between 2015 and 2019. Decreases in the contribution of many of the top serovars to the percentage of cases attributed to chicken breast meat indicates some emerging success with broiler breeder chicken vaccination programs. In addition, preliminary prevalence results for frozen raw chicken products in late 2019 suggests the Canadian Food Inspection Agency intervention in 2019 requiring any Salmonella on these products to be below a detectable amount may be having an impact, though more data post intervention is needed to be more conclusive. • Salmonellosis cases were attributed to foodborne, animal contact, water sources yearly to detect the impact of interventions. • Chicken meat was the most important source, with some yearly variations between specific chicken products. • Industry and government interventions having a positive impact in reducing salmonellosis cases and chicken-related serovars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater biodiversity is in a state of crisis. The recent development of a global emergency recovery plan to "bend the curve" for freshwater biodiversity lacks the necessary details for implementation in a regional context. Using Canada as an example, we describe a toolbox intended to equip decision-makers and practitioners with evidence-based tools for addressing threats to freshwater biodiversity. The toolbox includes two rubric-based scoring tools to inform users about the level of the reliability (e.g., transparent methods, critical appraisal) and relevancy to Canadian freshwater systems (e.g., habitat, species) of an evidence synthesis. Those scoring tools were applied to 259 evidence syntheses, also included in the toolbox, across fifty freshwater management actions. Habitat Creation, Invasive Species Removal, and Revegetation were found to have reliable evidence syntheses but there remain several actions for which the syntheses are not robust and where the evidence base is unreliable. We suggest the need for more rigorously conducted empirical tests of freshwater management actions, further evidence synthesis, and clearer conveyance of implications for decision-makers and practitioners. Decision-makers and practitioners should use the two scoring tools on syntheses outside this project and tailor them to their regions. Given the global interest in addressing the freshwater biodiversity crisis and the necessity to engage and empower decision-makers and practitioners on a regional basis, we anticipate this toolbox will serve as a model for regions beyond Canada. Future studies to understand if and how the toolbox is used will be needed to make refinements and ensure it benefits freshwater biodiversity. • Current management of freshwater ecosystems fails to address the global freshwater biodiversity crisis • Evidence syntheses and reviews are a valuable resource to decision-makers and practitioners for informing conservation actions • The toolbox consists of over 250 freshwater management evidence syntheses, scored based on the included appraisal tools • Syntheses demonstrate a poor systematic review conduct but show a strong potential for regional relevance and applicability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]