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Winter
2020
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Volume 9| Issue 1
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In this issue
-News Highlight-
-Feature Stories-
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NOAA in the 2019 Caribbean Partners Meeting
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Working groups discuss green infrastructure projects and share designs in St. Croix.
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In late August 2019, the NOAA in the Caribbean Steering Committee held two-day workshops in San Juan, Puerto Rico and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands with local partners and invited guests. The first day of the workshops focused on "Applying Concepts of Engineering with Nature/Green Infrastructure" with presentations by Jeff King, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering with Nature
TM
Initiative; Anne Kitchell, Horsley-Witten Group; Elizabeth Wheaton, City of Miami Beach, and panel discussions with Camilo Trench, University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica; Tamara Orozco Rebozo, Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico (in San Juan); Rosana Grafals-Soto, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras (in San Juan); Brian Daley, Horsely-Witten Group/Geographic Consulting (in St. Croix); and Greg Guanel, University of the Virgin Islands (in St. Croix) . The second day of the workshops focused on "Reinsurance and Adaptation Planning" with presentations by Tony Matta, Willis Towers Watson; Tamaki Bieri, The Nature Conservancy; and Elizabeth Wheaton. In St. Croix, there was also a presentation by a representative from FEMA about adaptation/resilience planning in the Virgin Islands.
The presentations covered topics critical to coastal communities in the U.S. Caribbean related to the use of nature-based solutions to combat coastal erosion and flooding, including due to hurricanes, and adaptation planning in response to global climate change. Presentations and panel discussions included examples from the Caribbean and Florida. The second day included discussions of novel strategies such as the use of insurance for infrastructure with examples from the City of Miami Beach and a project in Mexico to insure a coral reef in Quintana Roo. Each day participants were tasked with devising solutions for priority sites identified in advance of the workshops by the departments of natural resources that are threatened by issues like hurricanes, coastal erosion, and flooding. The first day of the workshops, breakout groups developed a suite of green infrastructure and nature-based recommendations, and considered challenges and solutions to address them. The second day, breakout groups were tasked with brainstorming adaptation strategies and again considering challenges and solutions to implementing these strategies in coastal communities. Attendees included local and federal agency staff and political representatives, private industry, academia, and conservation groups. A workshop report is in preparation.
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Feature Stories
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US Caribbean Partners Meeting with the NOAA Office for Coastal Management and NOAA Southeast and Caribbean Regional Team
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St. Croix, VI, was the venue for a partners meeting in late June with NOAA's Office for Coastal Management (OCM, SE & Caribbean Team) and NOAA's Southeast and Caribbean Regional Collaboration Team (SECART). This was the first time either group had met in the USVI and provided a long overdue opportunity to meet with and learn from NOAA's partners in the US Caribbean. The OCM and SECART group included staff from across NOAA's primary organizational units (NMFS, NOS, NWS, OAR) and partners from National Estuarine Research Reserves, Coastal Management Programs, coral reef managers, Sea Grant, and the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA).
Guests included local NOAA staff (NOAA VI Coral Liaison; NOAA VI Fisheries Liaison), VI DPNR (Fish and Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management Divisions), PR DNER (CZM Program and Jobos Bay NERR), FEMA; US Park Service; the Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System (CariCOOS); staff engaged in NOAA/NCCOS research and mapping activities; The Nature Conservancy; and USFWS/Sandy Point National WIldlife Refuge.
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Attendees for the NOAA Office for Coastal Management and NOAA Southeast and Caribbean Regional Team partners meeting
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Attendees participated in science, policy, and resilience briefings and discussions, including first-hand updates on past and current activities and future needs. A full day discussion on resilience was a highlight of the meeting. Participants noted lessons learned following recent storms and engaged in discussions on moving toward a more resilient future. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representatives shared information on their programs and funding, along with information regarding opportunities and challenges for using these funds to enhance natural infrastructure. NOAA staff discussed the roles and responsibilities of their offices - before, during, and after disasters, highlighting products and services available to the community.
Field trips provided opportunities to learn more about local programs and issues. A glass-bottom boat ride, organized by the Virgin Islands' Coastal Zone Management Division, featured vivid closeups of area issues, such as erosion, development pressures, storm-related damage, and damage to coral reefs from storms and human activities. Trips to Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge and the East End Marine Park highlighted partnerships in St. Croix to enhance sustainable use of the island's natural resources.
NOAAthanks the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources for all their assistance with meeting logistics and helping us better understand their programs and issues.
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U.S. Coral Reef Task Force Meeting
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On September 12, the Department of Commerce, represented by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, and the Department of the Interior co-chaired the 42nd U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) meeting in Koror, Palau at the Ngarachamayong Cultural Center. The meeting highlighted US Geological Survey's science toward understanding coral reefs and stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD); the value of the Protected Areas Network, Micronesia Challenge, and Palau National Marine Sanctuary for coral reef conservation; and fisheries issues and management, land use change and watersheds, and educational programs and capacity building. USCRTF members were updated on the recent outbreak of SCTLD in the wider Caribbean region and expressed concern about its potential transmission both throughout the Caribbean, as well as to the Pacific region via ballast water. The USCRTF will be working with NOAA, US EPA and the US Coast Guard to consider developing a resolution to address transmission of SCTLD via ballast water.
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Attendees of the 42nd U.S. Coral Reef Task Force meeting in Koror, Palau.
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NOAA Proposes Changes to Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
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DRAFT Environmental Impact Statement for Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: A Restoration Blueprint (Credit: NOAA)
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NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries released a draft proposal recommending a range of potential changes to existing boundaries, regulations, and marine zones in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary to better address long-term declines to the region's marine resources as well as ongoing and emerging threats. The proposal, known as the Restoration Blueprint, provides NOAA's perspective on how the sanctuary can assist in protecting and restoring important marine resources. Public comments will be accepted through January 31, 2020. The Florida Keys
National Marine Sanctuary protects the only barrier coral reef in the continental United States, which stretches south from Miami to the Dry Tortugas. Within its waters lie nationally-significant resources including seagrass beds, coral habitats, mangrove-fringed islands, and thousands of marine species. The Florida Keys ecosystem is ecologically connected to the Caribbean Sea, linked by the Loop Current that affects biological communities in the Gulf of Mexico, serves as a pathway for the distribution of fish larvae and juveniles, and transports pollutants. International coordination is an important component of management of the Florida Keys.
The 2011 Condition Report concluded that Florida Keys habitats and other resources are, at best, in fair condition. Since that report, those resources have suffered a Category 4 hurricane, coral bleaching events, a several coral disease outbreak, and seagrass die-off.
The 3,800-square-mile sanctuary, designated in 1990, annually attracts five million visitors who, collectively, contribute to the $4.7 billion economy. The Restoration Blueprint proposals take into account nearly 30 years of science, management achievements, technical experience, and local community involvement, while recognizing that new or expanded protection strategies may be necessary to restore habitats. This is the first comprehensive review and update to the sanctuary's management plan since 1997.
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NOAA Marine Debris Program Holds Workshop to Develop the Florida Marine Debris Reduction Plan
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Florida Marine Debris Reduction Workshop participants pose for a group photo. Image credit: NOAA
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The workshop focused on reviewing the existing Florida Marine Debris Reduction Guidance Plan and developing a new Florida Marine Debris Reduction Plan based on successes, challenges, and lessons learned from marine debris issues in Florida. The updated plan will address both debris generated by severe weather and chronic debris problems.
Participants developed strategies and actions to address marine debris in five dedicated working groups: Abandoned and Derelict Vessels, Community Action, Derelict Fishing Gear, Emergency Response, and Research and Data. Workshop attendees were diverse, representing local, state, and federal governments, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and industries.
Additionally, the workshop featured presentations from key marine debris stakeholders from around the country and state, including NOAA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and the City of Miami Beach.
Once completed, the reduction plan will serve to facilitate, implement, and track marine debris activities statewide. Please contact
[email protected]
for more information
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Announcements
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Recent Events
US-Caribbean Resilience Partnership
On October 23-24, 2019, in Bridgetown, Barbados, representatives from the United States, 18 Caribbean countries, the Caribbean Disaster Management Agency (CDEMA), the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology & Hydrology (CIMH), and other NGOs participated in the 2
nd
US-Caribbean Resilience Partnership. Working together to develop concrete objectives to increase disaster resilience in the region, the participants focused on aligning efforts to existing regional resilience efforts on infrastructure, economic and community resilience, as well as improving regional integration and using science to better assess disaster-based risk. The United States also discussed capability gaps and resilience-building impediments with Caribbean and other international partners. NOAA was represented by Dann Karlson, Roger Pulwarty, and Adrienne Antoine.
International Sargassum Conference
On October 23-26, 2019, Joaquin Trinanes and Gustavo Goni of OAR's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab participated in the International Conference on
Sargassum
in Guadeloupe, Mexico. This conference brought together government, regional, and international organizations, private sector, members of civil society, researchers and academics from the Caribbean region. The objectives of this conference were to develop a regional strategy and create a cooperative framework for the detection and management of the influxes of
Sargassum
in the Caribbean, which have had important economic and environmental impacts since 2011.
POC: OAR Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Erica Rule at [email protected]
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Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory (DBML)
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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.
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