Scotian Shores
Established in 2020, Scotian shores thrives to restore Nova Scotia’s shorelines by spreading plastic pollution awareness and establishing a platform to connect and collaborative with likeminded volunteers. Working towards making a sizeable difference towards the ocean anthropocene debris crisis on the coastline and in the minds of their community, a total of 200,000 LB of shoreline debris has been removed from Nova Scotia shores.
Angela Riley
Founder of Scotian Shores
Angela Riley, born in Nova Scotia, was raised in a family passionate about fishing. Growing up with a love for the ocean. In 2020, when the pandemic hit, she began spending time around NS shorelines. Angela noticed the significance of pollution, notably fishing gear, accumulated on the tidal line. This inspired Angela to go to the Bay of Fundy Cleanup, where she recalls spending an hour cleaning micro plastics from a square foot of heavily polluted land. This changed her perspective, inspiring her to kickstart Scotian Shores in 2020. It began as a small-scale cleanup group based in Eastern Passage, and has grown into so much more than that. She has a goal to clean as much litter from the ocean as possible, creating a more sustainable future for Nova Scotia.
“Fisherman's Cove in Eastern Passage, is what I call one of my favourite tourist traps. We base a lot of our cleanups here- the island that you see behind me actually Lawlor Island and we've pulled over 10,000 pounds of garbage off that one island, which happens to be a bird sanctuary.”
-Angela Riley
Mi’kma’ki Territory
Mi’kma’ki unceded ancestral Tribal Territory includes all of what now is Nova Scotia, PEI, Quebecs Gaspè Peninsula , part of Newfoundland, North Shore New Brunswick, Eastern Maine & St. John River watershed.
Nova Scotia Coastal restoration
Nova Scotia has one of the highest fishery rates in Canada, where ghost fishing & aquaculture gear makes up a significant amount of the pollution of debris found along Nova Scotia’s shorelines. Often lost to sea during large scale fishing and trapping operations, these debris end up in our waterways, threatening oceanic species and surrounding coastal habitats. Ghost Gear includes fishing line, netting, traps, rope, glass, and other equipment using for trapping, fishing & farming.
Scotian Shores works with multiple likeminded groups to clean Nova Scotia’s shoreline. Removing over 200,000 Lbs of marine debris to date while documenting each collection location, with each amount and volunteers involved. View Scotian Shores custom shoreline data chart here. This substantial debris amount is only expected to grow as the organization expands.
Scotian Shores is unique from other organizations, both collecting debris from coastal cleanups and from local fishers, trappers and harvesters. Scotian Shores Provides ghost gear and other materials to local artists for reuse. This project aids in raising money for future projected cleanups.
#everylitterbithelps
Art From Up-Cycled Marine Debris
Scotian Shores provides materials collected during cleanups or by local fishers, to artists to create beautiful recycled artwork. Such as jewelry, rugs & rope art. Profits are reinvested into Scotian Shore in order to help fund shoreline cleanups. Check out their site below to see some sustainable creations.
