Ecological forecasting: new tools for coastal and marine ecosystem management

Policy makers, natural resource managers, regulators, and the public often call on scientists to estimate the potential ecological changes caused by both natural and human-induced stresses, and to determine how those changes will impact people and the environment. To develop accurate forecasts of ecological changes we need to: 1) increase understanding of ecosystem composition, structure, and functioning, 2) expand ecosystem monitoring and apply advanced scientific information to make these complex data widely available, and 3) develop and improve forecast and interpretative tools that use a scientific basis to assess the results of management and science policy actions. (PDF contains 120 pages)

Contaminant trends in US National Estuarine Research Reserves

Inputs of toxic chemicals provide one of the major types of anthropogenic stress threatening our Nation's coastal and estuarine waters. To assess this threat, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA’s) National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program Mussel Watch Project monitors the concentrations of more than 70 toxic chemicals in sediments and on the whole soft-parts of mussels and oysters at over 300 sites around the U.S. Twenty of the 25 designated areas that comprise NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) have one or more Mussel Watch monitoring sites. Trace elements and organic contaminants were quantified including As, Ag, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn, ΣPCBs, ΣPAHs, DDT and its metabolites, and butyltins. The Mussel Watch sites located in or near the 20 Reserves provide for both status and trends. Generally the Reserves have trace element and organic contaminant concentrations that are at or below the median concentration determined for all NS&T Mussel Watch monitoring data. Trends were derived using the Spearman-rank correlation coefficient. It was possible to determine if trends exist for sites at which six or more years of data are available. Generally no trends were found for trace elements but when trends were found they were usually decreasing. The same general conclusion holds for organic contaminants but more decreasing trends were found than for trace elements. The greatest number of decreasing trends were found for tributyltin and its metabolites. (PDF contains 203 pages)

Technologies and Methodologies for the Detection of Harmful Algae and Their Toxins, St Petersburg, Florida, Oct 22-24 2008 : workshop proceedings

The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) Workshop "Technologies and Methodologies for the Detection of Harmful Algae and their Toxins" convened in St. Petersburg, Florida, October 22- 24, 2008 and was co-sponsored by ACT (http://act-us.info); the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET, http://ciceet.unh.edu); and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC, http://www.myfwc.com). Participants from various sectors, including researchers, coastal decision makers, and technology vendors, collaborated to exchange information and build consensus. They focused on the status of currently available detection technologies and methodologies for harmful algae (HA) and their toxins, provided direction for developing operational use of existing technology, and addressed requirements for future technology developments in this area. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in marine and freshwater systems are increasingly common worldwide and are known to cause extensive ecological, economic, and human health problems. In US waters, HABs are encountered in a growing number of locations and are also increasing in duration and severity. This expansion in HABs has led to elevated incidences of poisonous seafood, toxin-contaminated drinking water, mortality of fish and other animals dependent upon aquatic resources (including protected species), public health and economic impacts in coastal and lakeside communities, losses to aquaculture enterprises, and long-term aquatic ecosystem changes. This meeting represented the fourth ACT sponsored workshop that has addressed technology developments for improved monitoring of water-born pathogens and HA species in some form. A primary motivation was to assess the need and community support for an ACT-led Performance Demonstration of Harmful Algae Detection Technologies and Methodologies in order to facilitate their integration into regional ocean observing systems operations. The workshop focused on the identification of region-specific monitoring needs and available technologies and methodologies for detection/quantification of harmful algal species and their toxins along the US marine and freshwater coasts. To address this critical environmental issue, several technologies and methodologies have been, or are being, developed to detect and quantify various harmful algae and their associated toxins in coastal marine and freshwater environments. There are many challenges to nationwide adoption of HAB detection as part of a core monitoring infrastructure: the geographic uniqueness of primary algal species of concern around the country, the variety of HAB impacts, and the need for a clear vision of the operational requirements for monitoring the various species. Nonetheless, it was a consensus of the workshop participants that ACT should support the development of HA detection technology performance demonstrations but that these would need to be tuned regionally to algal species and toxins of concern in order to promote the adoption of state of the art technologies into HAR monitoring networks. [PDF contains 36 pages]

The Siem Reap Meet Proceedings: Asserting Rights, Defining Responsibilities: Perspectives from Small-scale Fishing Communities on Coastal and Fisheries Management in Asia

This publication is a record of the proceedings of the Siem Reap Workshop and Symposium. It provides a bottom-up perspective on how rights are understood, and what rights are seen as important by small-scale fishing communities, if they are to fulfil their responsibilities for managing resources in a sustainable and equitable manner. It is hoped that these proceedings, and the Statement from the Workshop-the Siem Reap Statement-are found useful by those engaged in policy making and advocacy in support of small-scale fisheries, as well as researchers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), fishworker organizations, and multilateral and regional organizations

The Zanzibar Workshop Proceedings: Asserting Rights, Defining Responsibilities:Perspectives from Small-scale Fishing Communities on Coastal and Fisheries Management in Eastern and Southern Africa

The Zanzibar Workshop Proceedings consists of the report and the Statement of the Workshop and provides a rich understanding of the dynamics of traditional, indigenous, small-scale and artisanal fisheries and fishing communities in the Eastern and Southern African (ESA) context. The issues covered include: the saga of rights denied to coastal lands, fishing, and threats to livelihood arising from lack of recognition of traditional rights and the livelihood needs of people in the region; the aspirations of coastal and inland communities to maintain or improve their livelihoods; and a bottom-up perspective on access rights to fishing, post-harvest rights and economic and social rights. This report will be a valuable source of information for community organizers, trade union leaders, government officials and the donor community, including multilateral organizations, researchers and for all those who are interested in the well-being of ESA fishing communities.

The South Atlantic Alliance: A southeastern U.S. state Governors initiative to address opportunities and challenges embodied in the region's coastal and ocean domain

The pressures placed on the natural, environmental, economic, and cultural sectors from continued growth, population shifts, weather and climate, and environmental quality are increasing exponentially in the southeastern U.S. region. Our growing understanding of the relationship of humans with the marine environment is leading us to explore new ecosystem-based approaches to coastal management, marine resources planning, and coastal adaptation that engages multiple state jurisdictions. The urgency of the situation calls for coordinated regional actions by the states, in conjunction with supporting partners and leveraging a diversity of resources, to address critical issues in sustaining our coastal and ocean ecosystems and enhancing the quality of life of our citizens. The South Atlantic Alliance (www.southatlanticalliance.org) was formally established on October 19, 2009 to “implement science-based policies and solutions that enhance and protect the value of coastal and ocean resources of the southeastern United States which support the region's culture and economy now and for future generations.” The Alliance, which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, will provide a regional mechanism for collaborating, coordinating, and sharing information in support of resource sustainability; improved regional alignment; cooperative planning and leveraging of resources; integrated research, observations, and mapping; increased awareness of the challenges facing the South Atlantic region; and inclusiveness and integration at all levels. Although I am preparing and presenting this overview of the South Atlantic Alliance and its current status, there are a host of representatives from agencies within the four states, universities, NGOs, and ongoing southeastern regional ocean and coastal programs that are contributing significant time, expertise, and energy to the success of the Alliance; information presented herein and to be presented in my oral presentation was generated by the collaborative efforts of these professionals. I also wish to acknowledge the wisdom and foresight of the Governors of the four states in establishing this exciting regional ocean partnership. (PDF contains 4 pages)

Supporting regional coastal and ocean managers: Linking ocean observing tools and capabilities to the priority needs of managers and users in the southeast region

Ocean observing has been recognized by the US Commission on Ocean Policy, the Ocean Research and Resources Advisory Panel, the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, and many other ocean policy entities and initiatives as foundational to meeting the nation’s need for more effective coastal and ocean management. The Interim Report of the Interagency Task Force on Ocean Policy (September 2009) has called for strengthening the nation’s capacity for observing the nation’s ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes systems. (PDF contains 3 pages)

The Coastal Barrier Island Network (CBIN): Future management strategies for barrier islands

Barrier islands are ecosystems that border coastal shorelines and form a protective barrier between continental shorelines and the wave action originating offshore. In addition to forming and maintaining an array of coastal and estuarine habitats of ecological and economic importance, barrier island coastlines also include some of the greatest concentrations of human populations and accompanying anthropogenic development in the world. These islands have an extremely dynamic nature whereby major changes in geomorphology and hydrology can occur over short time periods (i.e. days, hours) in response to extreme episodic storm events such as hurricanes and northeasters. The native vegetation and geological stability of these ecosystems are tightly coupled with one another and are vulnerable to storm-related erosion events, particularly when also disturbed by anthropogenic development. (PDF contains 4 pages)

Climate change adaptation through coastal and use management: The context of environmental justice

Despite an increasing literary focus on climate change adaptation, the facilitation of this adaptation is occurring on a limited basis (Adger et al. 2007) .This limited basis is not necessarily due to inability; rather, a lack of comprehensive cost estimates of all options specifically hinders adaptation in vulnerable communities (Adger et al. 2007). Specifically the estimated cost of the climate change impact of sea-level rise is continually increasing due to both increasing rates and the resulting multiplicative impact of coastal erosion (Karl et al., 2009, Zhang et al., 2004) Based on the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, minority groups and small island nations have been identified within these vulnerable communities. Therefore the development of adaptation policies requires the engagement of these communities. State examples of sea-level rise adaptation through land use planning mechanisms such as land acquisition programs (New Jersey) and the establishment of rolling easements (Texas) are evidence that although obscured, adaptation opportunities are being acted upon (Easterling et al., 2004, Adger et al.2007). (PDF contains 4 pages)

Genetic variation between outer-coastal and fjord populations of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) in the eastern Gulf of Alaska

Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) from the Gulf of Alaska were screened for temporal and spatial genetic variation with 15 microsatellite loci. Thirteen collections were examined in this study: 11 from Southeast Alaska and 2 from Prince William Sound, Alaska. Although FST values were low, a neighbor-joining tree based on genetic distance, homogeneity, and FST values revealed that collectively, the Berners Bay and Lynn Canal (interior) collections were genetically distinct from Sitka Sound and Prince of Wales Island (outer-coastal) collections. Temporal genetic variation within regions (among three years of Berners Bay spawners and between the two Sitka Sound spawners) was zero, whereas 0.05% was attributable to genetic variation between Berners Bay and Sitka Sound. This divergence may be attributable to environmental differences between interior archipelago waters and outer-coast habitats, such as differences in temperature and salinity. Early spring collections of nonspawning Lynn Canal herring were nearly genetically identical to collections of spawning herring in Berners Bay two months later—an indication that Berners Bay spawners over-winter in Lynn Canal. Southeast Alaskan herring (collectively) were significantly different from those in Prince William Sound. This study illustrates that adequate sample size is needed to detect variation in pelagic fish species with a large effective population size, and microsatellite markers may be useful in detecting low-level genetic divergence in Pacific herring in the Gulf of Alaska.

Age validation, growth, mortality, and demographic modeling of spotted gully shark (Triakis megalopterus) from the southeast coast of South Africa

This study documents validation of vertebral band-pair formation in spotted gully shark (Triakis megalopterus) with the use of fluorochrome injection and tagging of captive and wild sharks over a 21-year period. Growth and mortality rates of T. megalopterus were also estimated and a demographic analysis of the species was conducted. Of the 23 OTC (oxytetracycline) -marked vertebrae examined (12 from captive and 11 from wild sharks), seven vertebrae (three from captive and four from wild sharks) exhibited chelation of the OTC and fluoresced under ultraviolet light. It was concluded that a single opaque and translucent band pair was deposited annually up to at least 25 years of age, the maximum age recorded. Reader precision was assessed by using an index of average percent error calculated at 5%. No significant differences were found between male and female growth patterns (P>0.05), and von Bertalanffy growth model parameters for combined sexes were estimated to be L∞=1711.07 mm TL, k=0.11/yr and t0=–2.43 yr (n=86). Natural mortality was estimated at 0.17/yr. Age at maturity was estimated at 11 years for males and 15 years for females. Results of the demographic analysis showed that the population, in the absence of fishing mortality, was stable and not significantly different from zero and particularly sensitive to overfishing. At the current age at first capture and natural mortality rate, the fishing mortality rate required to result in negative population growth was low at F>0.004/ yr. Elasticity analysis revealed that juvenile survival was the principal factor in explaining variability in population growth rate.