Building a sustainable community of coastal leaders to deal with sea level rise and inundation

Sea level rise and inundation were stated to be the highest priorities in the community-developed Ocean Research Priorities Plan and Implementation Strategy in 2005. Although they remain stated priorities, very few resources have been allocated towards this challenge. Inundation poses a substantial risk to many coastal communities, and the risk is projected to increase because of continued development, changes in the frequency and intensity of inundation events, and acceleration in the rate of sea-level rise along our vulnerable shorelines. (PDF contains 4 pages) There is an increasing urgency for federal and state governments to focus on the local and regional levels and consistently provide the information, tools, and methods necessary for adaptation. Calls for action at all levels acknowledge that a viable response must engage federal, state and local expertise, perspectives, and resources in a coordinated and collaborative effort. A workshop held in December 2000 on coastal inundation and sea level rise proposes a shared framework that can help guide where investments should be made to enable states and local governments to assess impacts and initiate adaptation strategies over the next decade.

Looking for safe harbor in a crowded sea: Coastal space use conflict and marine renewable energy development

Technological advances in the marine renewable energy industry and increased clarity about the leasing and licensing process are fostering development proposals in both state and federal waters. The ocean is becoming more industrialized and competition among all marine space users is developing (Buck et al. 2004). More spatial competition can lead to conflict between ocean users themselves, and to tensions that spill over to include other stakeholders and the general public (McGrath 2004). Such conflict can wind up in litigation, which is costly and takes agency time and financial resources away from other priorities. As proposals for marine renewable energy developments are evaluated, too often decision-makers lack the tools and information to properly account for the cumulative effects and the tradeoffs associated with alternative human uses of the ocean. This paper highlights the nature of marine space conflicts associated with marine renewable energy literature highlights key issues for the growth of the marine renewable energy sector in the United States. (PDF contains 4 pages)

Oceans and human health: Sentinel habitats and sentinel species

The health of the oceans and people are inextricably linked. For many years we focused research and policy on anthropogenic impacts to oceans and coasts. Recently we have started to think about how the health of the oceans affects us. In response to the Oceans and Human Health Act of 2004, a NOAA initiative was created to explore the “One Health” of the oceans and coasts. The Center of Excellence in Oceans and Human Health at Hollings Marine Laboratory (HML) is one of three Centers dedicated to understanding the connections and forecasting changes in ocean and coastal health and human health. The Center at HML is developing new tools and approaches, including sentinel habitats and sentinel species, to evaluate linkages between ecological process and human health and wellbeing. The results provide environmental and public health managers, policy-makers and communities forecasts and assessments to improve ecosystem-based management that protects health and mitigates risks for the oceans, coasts and people.(PDF contains 4 pages)

Food security and poverty alleviation under the National Special Programme for Food Security: a preliminary socio-economic assessment of Yamama Lake, Kebbi state, Nigeria

The World Food Summit in its meeting in Rome in 1999 estimated that 790 million people in the developing world do not have enough food to eat. This is more than the total populations of North America and Europe combined. Nigeria is one of the developing countries affected by hunger, deprivation and abject poverty by its citizenry inspite of its enormous natural and human resources. To reduce poverty and increase food supplies to the masses the Federal Government of Nigeria embarked on a programmed-tagged National Special Programme for Food Security (NSPFS) in the year 2002. The programme's broad objectives are to attain food security in the broadest sense and alleviate rural poverty in Nigeria. One of the areas of the programme's intervention is in the aquaculture and inland fisheries development because Nigeria imported 681mt of fish in 2003 with a total cost of about N50 million. The paper assesses the socio-economic conditions of one of the selected water bodies (Yamama Lake) with a view to introducing community-based fisheries management plan for the rational exploitation and management of the fishery and other aquatic resources of the water body thereby increasing fish supply and improving the living standard of the fisherfolk in the area. Data were collected using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools and questionnaire administration

Design for Survival: Sustainability for Planet and Structure

Buildings in Port Aransas encounter drastic environmental challenges: the potential catastrophic storm surge and high winds from a hurricane, and daily conditions hostile to buildings, vehicles, and even most vegetation. Its location a few hundred feet from the Gulf of Mexico and near-tropical latitude expose buildings to continuous high humidity, winds laden with scouring sand and corrosive salt, and extremes of temperature and ultraviolet light. Building construction methods are able to address each of these, but doing so in a sustainable way creates significant challenges. The new research building at the Marine Science Institute has been designed and is being constructed to meet the demand for both survivability and sustainability. It is tracking towards formal certification as a LEED Gold structure while being robust and resistant to the harsh coastal environment. The effects of a hurricane are mitigated by elevating buildings and providing a windproof envelope. Ground-level enclosures are designed to be sacrificial and non-structural so they can wash or blow away without imposing damage on the upper portions of the building, and only non-critical functions and equipment will be supported within them. Design features that integrate survivability with sustainability include: orientation of building axis; integral shading from direct summer sunlight; light wells; photovoltaic arrays; collection of rainwater and air conditioning condensate for use in landscape irrigation; reduced impervious cover; xeriscaping and indigenous plants; recycling of waste heat from air conditioning systems; roofing system that reflects light and heat; long life, low maintenance stainless steel, high-tensile vinyl, hard-anodized aluminum and hot-dipped galvanized mountings throughout; chloride-resistant concrete; reduced visual impact; recycling of construction materials.

The structure and margins of the Lake Chilwa fisheries in Malawi: a value chain analysis

Small freshwater pelagic fisheries in closed lakes are very important to millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa providing livelihoods and nutritional security. However, returns from these fisheries have been shown to �uctuate in response to climatic variability. In order to understand the impact of these fluctuations on the livelihoods of people dependant on these fisheries, there is a need for information on how the fish value chain is organized and how it functions in response to variation in supplies. The results will feed into strategies that build resilience in fishing households against the uncertainties arising from unstable ecosystems. The Lake Chilwa fishery value chain is composed of fishers, processors, traders, fish transporters, boat owners, owners of fish processing shades, fisheries associations, gear owners, gear makers, firewood sellers, and traders of fishing gear and equipment. The value chain employs many people and local authorities can consider using this information in the design of rural development strategies for employment generation in small-scale fishing communities. The findings from this study have a number of implications for the improvement of the livelihood of fishers and enhancing their capacity to mitigate against the effects of climate change.

Fisheries co-management and transaction costs

Fisheries co-management is increasingly seen as a solution to the problems of resource use conflicts and overexploitation. The importance of transactions costs may not have been given adequate attention. The transaction costs are 1) information costs, 2) collective decisionmaking tools, and 3) collective operational costs. The various components of transaction costs of fisheries co-management systems are described in this paper. These costs need to be determined for evaluating the feasibility of a co-managed fishery compared to a centrally managed one.

Preliminary results from the Caribbean Acoustic Tracking Network (CATn): a data sharing partnership for acoustic tracking and movement ecology of marine animals in the Caribbean Sea

We have recently exchanged and integrated into a single database tag detections for conch, teleost and elasmobranch fish from four separately maintained arrays in the U.S. Virgin Islands including the NMFS queen conch array (St. John nearshore), NOAA’s Biogeography Branch array (St. John nearshore & midshelf reef); UVI shelf edge arrays (Marine Conservation District, Grammanik & other shelf edge); NOAA NMFS Apex Predator array COASTSPAN (St. John nearshore). The integrated database has over 7.5 million hits. Data is shared only with consent of partners and full acknowledgements. Thus, the summary of integrated data here uses data from NOAA and UVI arrays under a cooperative agreement. The benefits of combining and sharing data have included increasing the total area of detection resulting in an understanding of broader scale connectivity than would have been possible with a single array. Partnering has also been cost-effectiveness through sharing of field work, staff time and equipment and exchanges of knowledge and experience across the network. Use of multiple arrays has also helped in optimizing the design of arrays when additional receivers are deployed. The combined arrays have made the USVI network one of the most extensive acoustic arrays in the world with a total of 150+ receivers available, although not necessarily all deployed at all times. Currently, two UVI graduate student projects are using acoustic array data.

Operatives training programmes in India

During the last few years great changes have taken place in the fishing industry as a result of which production of fish in the world has increased enormously. From an insignificant trade employing tools and methods of primitive nature, fishing in many countries has become an important industry utilizing complex modern vessels equipped with electronic equipment and operating in the high seas with highly mechanized fishing gear.

Techniques for the transport and maintenance of scleractinian coral

Several small scleractinian coral colonies were collected from a remote reef and transferred [to] the Louisiana Universities Marine Center (LUMCON) for in vitro reproductive and larval studies. The species used here were Porites astreoides and Diploria strigosa. Colony size was ~20 cm in diameter. Colonies were brought to the surface by liftbag and stored in modified ice coolers. They were transported from Freeport, TX to Cocodrie, LA by truck for nearly 15 hours where field conditions were simulated in waiting aquaria. This document describes the techniques and equipment that were used, how to outfit such aquaria, proper handling techniques for coral colonies, and several eventualities that the mariculturist should be prepared for in undertaking this endeavor. It will hopefully prevent many mistakes from being made.

Pilot plant for production of fish ensilage and the economics of production

This communication describes the design aspect and functions of individual pieces of equipment of a pilot plant for the production of fish ensilage based on lactic acid fermentation process. Details about the equipment, process flow sheet and equipment layout of the pilot plant have been given. An attempt has been made to prepare an estimate of the cost of production of liquid ensilage and solid feed mix.