|
Fall
2017
|
Volume 6| Issue 4
|
|
| |
|
In this issue
-News Highlight-
-Feature Stories-
|
|
|
Note from NOAA in the Caribbean:
|
 |
|
|
Goes-16 imagery of hurricane Irma and Jose |
Our thoughts continue to be with our colleagues, friends, and the millions of people still recovering from the impacts of this year's Atlantic hurricane season. This is our third newsletter of the year and will be a shorter version than you are used to. Our staff and partners in the Caribbean have been working around the clock to provide information and aid to the region. With these actions in mind, NOAA in the Caribbean is working on a special issue newsletter that specifically focuses on the efforts of NOAA and our partners in hurricane preparedness, relief efforts, and rebuilding. We hope that you find our newsletters useful and informative. Please keep safe.
|
|
|
Feature Stories
|
Partnerships for Transboundary Protection
|
|
|
Partnerships for Transboundary Protection
|
|
To build partnerships linking and aligning place-based and species conservation efforts within and outside U.S. waters, NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) and Office of Protected Resources (OPR) created Partnerships for Transboundary Protection (PTP) in 2015. The PTP program has the following goals:
* Improve coordination between marine protected area management plans and species recovery plans to increase protection of species under multiple jurisdictions;
* Identify strategies and mechanisms to conserve species and places that fall outside management and recovery plans; and
* Identify, support, and enhance interagency and international collaborations that conserve marine species and places.
The PTP program is part of NOAA's Endangered Species Act (ESA) efforts; specifically, Section 7(a)(1) of the Act that requires Federal agencies use their authorities to conserve endangered and threatened species through conservation programs.
The PTP program addresses ESA requirements and the need for long-term collaboration between ONMS and OPR by creating linkages between offices to meet complementary conservation goals. The PTP program provides a platform for domestic and foreign collaborations to protect marine species and places. The premise of PTP is connectivity-driven marine conservation. The cornerstones of connectivity are species, important habitats, legal authorities, and the human dimension. Species with broad ranges that cross-political boundaries provide opportunities for connectivity among partners to coordinate marine protection efforts. PTP implementation is beginning with a project in the Caribbean to compile data regarding ESA-listed coral species and their distributions in U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions. This information will guide and inform recovery, planning, and other conservation efforts by ONMS and OPR.
For more information, place contact Lisamarie Carrubba ([email protected]) or Lauren Wenzel ([email protected]) or visit http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/ptp.html.
|
Mapping for spatial management: Puerto Rico's Northeast Marine Corridor
|
|
|
|
NOAA Habitat Focus Area |
The Northeast Marine Corridor is a large, land-sea management area with an existing reserve network and many rare and threatened wildlife, making it unique in the region for both its size and the integrated land-sea approach to management. Sustainable management of the region is a management priority for the people of Puerto Rico. In 2010, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), guided by Puerto Rico's coastal managers and coral reef scientific experts, voted the region as one of the most important sites for coral reef conservation in Puerto Rico and in 2015 the region was recognized as a
NOAA Habitat Focus Area under the NOAA Habitat Blueprint initiative.
To support effective decision making in the management of this spatially complex, multi-use marine managed area, NCCOS scientists and geospatial technicians together with staff from the Office for Coastal Management (OCM) and assistance from local partners have developed two new spatial data products that will inform the management strategy for the region.
The Digital Atlas for the Northeast Marine Corridor of Puerto Rico
will allow local planners, managers, stakeholders, researchers, resource users, and the public to visualize a wide range of data on the region's oceanography, seafloor habitats including coral reefs, endangered and threatened species, protected areas, coastal land use and ocean uses. The tool includes information on places of special ecological interest and potential impacts from human activities. The accompanying report titled
Mapping Ecological Priorities and Human Impacts to Support Land-Sea Management of Puerto Rico's Northeast Marine Corridor
describes the spatial characterization conducted to support the development of an integrated management plan for Puerto Rico's Northeast Marine Corridor. Ecological priority areas were identified and ranked based on the number of ecologically important attributes across the region and analysed relative to the distribution of threats and stressors to help managers identify and prioritize areas of concern.
These two products were developed as part of a Coral Reef Conservation Program funded project implemented through a partnership between NOAA NCCOS, OCM, and Puerto Rico's Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER).
|
Coastal Wetlands Effectively Sequester "Blue Carbon"
|
|
|
|
Coastal wetlands near Rehoboth Beach, Del |
Carbon that is sequestered by oceans and coastal wetlands, known as blue carbon, is especially important, as more than 70% of Earth's surface is covered by water. Coastal wetlands, from mangrove forests to salt marshes to bright green beds of seagrass, are particularly effective at sequestering carbon. Although they occupy less area than woodlands, coastal wetlands take in carbon emissions and convert them into plant biomass more quickly, are better at trapping organic carbon from within their own ecosystem and other sources, and delay the decay of organic material (which releases carbon) for longer periods. Many coastal habitats are able to store carbon for hundreds, even thousands, of years.
These waterlogged carbon sinks are exceedingly effective but naturally limited; at some point, the ever-increasing amount of carbon in the atmosphere will exceed the amount these sinks can take in. As such, environmental scientists are concerned about how coastal regions will respond to future changes in climate, sea level, geology, and human pressures.
To find out, Kelleway et al. studied coastal wetlands in southeastern Australia that have similar types of vegetation.
The researchers collected samples of mud, water, and other organic matter-cylinders of soft earth, about 5 centimeters in diameter, called cores-at one marine (saline ocean water) site and one fluvial (upstream, brackish water) site at each of two locations: Wapengo Lagoon and Port Stephens.
They then measured the amount of carbon stored at each site and calculated the rate at which it had accumulated by comparing current conditions with detailed environmental histories of each site.
The researchers linked high levels of stored carbon at both of the Port Stephens sites to mangrove tree roots deep below the soil surface. Neither of the Wapengo Lagoon sites contained mangrove roots, but the researchers did detect well-preserved charcoal formed from the burning of plant biomass during wildfires thousands of years ago, representing large amounts of stored carbon.
This study demonstrates the importance of considering both contemporary and historical environmental factors to better understand the ability of coastal wetlands to sequester carbon in our ever-changing global environment.
(Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JG003775, 2017)
(Story written by Sarah Witman, Freelance Writer for
EOS News)
|
|
The Coral Reef Economy
|
Coral reefs are one of Earth's most productive ecosystems - both in terms of biology and cold, hard cash. Healthy coral reef ecosystems do everything from supporting millions of jobs to protecting lives and valuable coastal infrastructure, like hotels and roads, from storms and waves. In fact, each year coral reefs pump more than $3.4 billion into the U.S. economy and that's a conservative estimate!
Despite all they do for us, our coral reef ecosystems are threatened. Climate change, pollution from the land and harmful fishing practices top the list of threats. Fortunately, it's not too late to protect these resources.
In an effort to reach diverse audiences on a topic that resonates among many, CRCP Communications Specialist, Alicia Clark and collaborators have created this
fast-draw video
about the economic value of coral reefs.
For more informatio
n, contact:
[email protected]
|
New Tool to Assist with Assessing Coral Reef Impacts and Mitigation
|
Project applicants, proponents, permittees working in marine areas that support coral reefs and coral reef and coastal resource managers and regulators now have a new tool to assist them in understanding, avoiding and minimizing impacts to coral reefs and identifying potential options to compensate for unavoidable coral reef impacts. The Handbook on Coral Reef Impacts: Avoidance, Minimization, Compensatory Mitigation and Restoration is a product of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Coral Injury and Mitigation Working Group. Coral reefs are subject to numerous local, regional and global stressors. Managers and regulators working to address impacts to coral reefs are further constrained by the difficulty in restoring and replacing these complex systems. Natural reefs are biologically, chemically, physically and morphologically complex, take many years to develop, and are difficult to restore. While existing guidance and tools have been developed for mitigation and restoration for stream and wetland impacts, new guidance and tools are needed to guide mitigation and restoration for coral reef impacts due to their differences in ecological structure, function, and dynamics and the difficulty in replacing lost functions.
The Handbook provides a characterization of the federal mandates; review of existing policies and federal agency, state and territory roles and responsibilities; and a compendium of best practices, science-based methodologies for quantifying ecosystem functions or services, and protocols available for use when assessing unavoidable impacts to coral reef ecosystems and mitigating or restoring for unavoidable impacts to coral reef ecosystems where warranted through appropriate compensatory action to replace the lost functions and services. This product is an amalgamation of coral reef best management practices.
The Handbook was developed by the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Coral Injury and Mitigation Working Group in response to 2006 resolution that called for coordinating efforts to improve tools and capacity for responding to both planned and unplanned injuries to coral reefs. The Handbook is also developed in response to the 2013 National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan as a key action to preserve, conserve, and restore coastal and ocean habitats by reducing adverse conditions that reduce coastal and ocean resilience.
The U.S. Coral Reef Task Force brings together representatives from 12 federal agencies, officials from state and territory governments, and delegates from three freely associated states to further coral reef conservation. Key partners in this effort include, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Interior, U.S. Navy, the State of Florida, the State of Hawaii, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
|
Fact Sheets on Ocean Economies
|
The economic summaries will be updated every four to five years. If you have suggestions for additions to the fact sheets, or if you wish to receive future updates, please contact
[email protected]
.
|
|
New Lidar Data sets
|
Several new lidar data sets in Florida, Puerto Rico and USVI, have recently been added to the
Digital Coast and are available for download. The data include NGS and USACE topobathy lidar collected along the shoreline and a full county data set for Martin County.
The USACE topobathy data set, 2017 USACE FEMA Topobathy Lidar: Florida East Coast, Florida Keys, and Collier County, was collected post Hurricane Irma. Both the lidar point cloud and the bare earth Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are available. The Digital Coast allows the user to either customize downloads to specific parameters, such as area of interest, projection, datum, and format, or to bulk download the data in the basic parameters of geographic coordinates and NAVD88 meters.
|
Upcoming Events
|
Three Fishery Acoustics Training's
Three activities related to training and expanding capacity in the use of fishery acoustics in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico to be held as part of the upcoming Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute Annual Meeting in Merida, Mexico,
November 4-10, 2017. Please refer to the meeting
website or contact Bill Michaels or Chris Taylor using phone or email provided below.
The Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) and SouthEast Acoustic Consortium (SEAC) will hold a special session entitled "Acoustic Technologies to Improve Reef Fish Ecosystem Surveys." Given the complexity of the life history and habitat of reef fish, the difficulties of sampling reef ecosystems have resulted in data-limited assessments in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean regions. Ongoing advances in both active and passive underwater acoustic technologies have brought a variety of tools to scientists for improving surveys and experimental research in reef habitats that can address a variety of operational research objectives. For example, active acoustic instruments (echo sounders) provide measurements to estimate fish abundance, map distributions, delineate spawning aggregations, observe behavior, and characterize community structure. In addition to remote sensing of the biological community, active acoustics can also provide seafloor bathymetry and classification of their habitats. As scientists strive for integrated sampling operations, passive acoustic instruments (hydrophones and acoustic tags) are also used to locate and monitor spawning aggregations, monitor aquatic ecosystem integrity, and investigate the impact of ocean noise on marine resources.
The objective of this special session is to provide the current state-of-the-science, challenges, applications, and recommendations on the best practices for integrating active and passive acoustic technologies into reef fish and ecosystem surveys to provide high quality and timely scientific information for the management of living marine resources. The special session also serves to communicate how integrating acoustic technologies into reliable and sustained survey and observation systems will provide socioeconomic benefits from the scientific gains. Abstracts for this session should submitted by the deadline in the GCFI announcement.
GCFI-SEAC Workshop on Best Practices for Acoustic Reef Fish Survey Operations
(Registration deadline is 15 August 2017 )
The Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (GCFI) and SouthEast Acoustic Consortium (SEAC) are planning a one-day workshop entitled "Best Practices for Acoustic Reef Fish Survey Operations" to be held concurrently with the GCFI conference. This workshop will provide an overview of research objectives, operational methods, survey design, and analytical procedures relevant to the acoustic technologies available for conducting reef fish research and survey operations. Ongoing advances in underwater acoustic technologies bring a variety of tools to scientists to conduct surveys and experimental research in reef habitats that can address a variety of management objectives. Therefore, the intent of workshop is to inform scientists, managers, and stakeholders on the state of the science, best practices and applications to consider when investing and implementing in acoustic technologies to optimize reef fish research and survey operations. Case studies will help to identify the challenges, lessons learned and recommendations in building scientific capacity with acoustic technologies to improve data for the sustainability of living marine resources in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean regions. Attendance will be limited to the first 25 participants that register. Please contact Bill Michaels or Chris Taylor below.
GCFI-SEAC Training Workshop for Conducting Acoustic Reef Fish Survey Operations
Registration deadline is August 15th.
Before the GCFI meeting, a two-day training workshop to provide introductory training with acoustic hardware and software systems is scheduled during November 4-5, 2017. The first day will be dedicated to technical training with fishery acoustic systems through basic acoustic theory and hands-on waterside demonstrations, including parameter configurations, calibration, and data acquisition and survey design considerations for quantitative estimates of fish densities and remote observations of other marine organisms. The second day will be conducted in a classroom to receive training with software for the analysis of acoustic data for the evaluation of species composition and quantitative estimates of abundance for stock assessments. This training workshop will be sponsored in partnership by GCFI, NOAA, SEAC, Kongsberg Simrad Fisheries and Echoview, Pty Ltd. Registration will be limited to the first 12 participants, and the deadline for registration will be August 30th. Scholarships up to $2,000 US will be awarded to selected participants who submit a request for consideration with justification of need for the scholarship and how this training will advance ongoing research and survey operations. Please send your request for registration, and statement for scholarship consideration if needed, to the following contacts before August 15, 2017:
Contacts: [email protected] or [email protected]
|
Announcements
|
|
NOAA Fisheries Announcements
Fisheries Innovation Fund 2017 Request for Proposals
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) will award
grants
to foster innovation and support effective participation of fishermen and fishing communities in the implementation of sustainable fisheries in the U.S. We anticipate awarding approximately $650,000 through this solicitation.
|
NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter
Please e-mail us at [email protected] to subscribe or unsubscribe to the newsletter or to submit any questions, comments, story ideas, artwork or photographs.
NOAA in the Caribbean Newsletter is produced by the NOAA in the Caribbean Steering Committee, including support from NOAA's Office of International Affairs,
Southeast And Caribbean Regional Collaboration Team, Office for Coastal Management, National Marine Fisheries Service SE Regional Office, Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science.
|
|
|
|
|
