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The Ocean Conservancy News
- Fri, 15 Feb 2019 13:00:48 +0000: The Chesapeake Bay’s Role in the Underground Railroad - Ocean Conservancy
Theses waterways were both an entry-point to slavery in North America and a gateway to freedom and opportunity
The post The Chesapeake Bay’s Role in the Underground Railroad appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
- Thu, 14 Feb 2019 13:00:35 +0000: Remembering A Conservation Giant—Rep. John Dingell - Ocean Conservancy
From fishing with his family to working as a park ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park, Congressman John Dingell embraced all that America’s great outdoors have to offer
The post Remembering A Conservation Giant—Rep. John Dingell appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
- Wed, 13 Feb 2019 13:00:17 +0000: These Prehistoric Ocean Animals are Still Around Today - Ocean Conservancy
Evolution has favored these ocean critters to help them stand the test of time
The post These Prehistoric Ocean Animals are Still Around Today appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
- Tue, 12 Feb 2019 13:00:58 +0000: 5 Whales to Love this WHALEntine’s Day - Ocean Conservancy
Valentine’s Day and World Whale Day in the very same week...coincidence? We think not.
The post 5 Whales to Love this WHALEntine’s Day appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
- Mon, 11 Feb 2019 14:17:35 +0000: 6 Facts About Underwater Relationships - Ocean Conservancy
Discover how your favorite fish celebrate Valentine’s Day
The post 6 Facts About Underwater Relationships appeared first on Ocean Conservancy.
The Open Channels News
- Mon, 11 Feb 2019 21:48:45 +0000: OC Overview for the Week of February 11 2019 - OpenChannels News
Totally cool turtles may help save species
https://phys.org/news/2019-02-totally-cool-turtles-species.html
Giving Coral Reefs a Second Chance with Probiotics
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/giving-coral-reefs-a-second-chance-wi...
- Sat, 09 Feb 2019 20:10:34 +0000: Should we be conserving and managing marine ecosystems in 3D? The latest thinking on vertical zoning - OpenChannels News
Editor’s note: Several new papers have examined the feasibility and advisability of applying different management and conservation measures at different depths of the water column (aka ‘vertical zoning’). In this issue, with help from a couple of experts, The Skimmer takes a quick look at the history of vertical zoning and current thinking on where it can and should go next.
Why would we want to do vertical zoning? Isn’t 2D[1] conservation and management complicated enough?
- As The Skimmer readers are well aware, the marine environment (temperature, pressure, salinity, light, nutrients, oxygen, currents, physical structures, etc.) and the species that inhabit it vary dramatically with depth. One just has to read the latest articles about fascinating new creatures discovered in the deep ocean to get a sense of this.
- This variability means that entirely different communities of organisms with different human uses, vulnerabilities, and conservation needs exist at different depths at the same latitude/longitude. This variability creates complexity for conservation and management but also opportunity. Most conservation and management actions essentially treat the ocean as 2D. Allowing different suites of human activities at different depths, however, could potentially reduce restrictions on human activities in the marine environment (potentially increasing public support for conservation and management activities) while affording the same level of ecosystem protection as vertically homogenous management. We catch up with the latest thinking on the soundness of this approach and our ability to implement it below.
- As The Skimmer readers are well aware, the marine environment (temperature, pressure, salinity, light, nutrients, oxygen, currents, physical structures, etc.) and the species that inhabit it vary dramatically with depth. One just has to read the latest articles about fascinating new creatures discovered in the deep ocean to get a sense of this.
- Sat, 09 Feb 2019 20:01:12 +0000: Latest News and Resources for Ocean Planners and Managers - OpenChannels News
- European Commission proposes two contingency plans for fisheries for “no-deal” Brexit
- EU bans discard of unwanted fish
- Climate change making ocean waves stronger
- Industrial fisheries starving seabirds globally
- Ocean heat content is new metric for assessing global warming; shows 2018 warmest year to date
- Tonga drafting marine spatial plan
- American Samoa releases ocean plan
- Estonia releases initial marine spatial plan outline
- US Northeast Regional Ocean Council moving regional ocean planning forward after dissolution of federal regional planning bodies
- Bidding and prices for US offshore wind leases surge
- Read about impacts of the recent US government shutdown on ocean management here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here
- Contribute your knowledge and experiences to research on the impacts of the recent US government shutdown here
- Report describes status, advantages, and limitations of ten emerging ocean energy technologies
- Case studies describe economic benefits of European MPAs and spatial protection
- New framework for post-graduate MSP education proposed
- Results of practitioner survey on MSP decision support tools published
- UNEP and partners seeking feedback on Ecosystem-based Adaptation Tool Navigator
- News article provides an update on the Seabed 2030 project to map the entire ocean floor by 2030
- And, finally, a good news story about the oceans: Rebuilt groundfish stocks along the US West Coast allows for increased fishing quotas
- Sat, 09 Feb 2019 19:52:37 +0000: The EBM Toolbox: How can we find hotspots for marine ecosystem services? - OpenChannels News
Editor's note: The goal of The EBM Toolbox is to promote awareness of tools for facilitating EBM and MSP processes. It is brought to you by the EBM Tools Network, a voluntary alliance of tool users, developers, and training providers.
Several months ago, an EBM Tools Network member asked a question about how a project in Abu Dhabi could map marine ecosystem service hotspots. Mapping marine ecosystem service hotspots involves mapping relevant marine ecosystem services, then assimilating results for individual ecosystem services in an ecologically and politically justifiable manner. Neither of these tasks is trivial for various reasons: 1) the spatial data needed to map ecosystem services is severely limited, 2) ecosystem services are very heterogeneous, making them difficult to compare (e.g., some can be easily quantified in monetary terms while others cannot), and 3) developing societal consensus on how to weight diverse ecosystem services is extremely difficult.
- Sat, 09 Feb 2019 19:48:00 +0000: Understanding and promoting women’s roles in EU fisheries and aquaculture - OpenChannels News
Editor’s note: A new resource that just came out adds some additional European context to our article from last month - “Missing half the story: How considering gender can improve ocean conservation and management”. Many thanks to Sophia De Smet of the FARNET Support Unit for sending us this information.
EU Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs) are local partnerships that bring together the private sector, local authorities, and civil society organizations to fund projects to address specific local needs and opportunities. A recent report explored FLAG support to women in the EU fisheries and aquaculture industry. They found that:
- Even though women represent ~27% of the workforce in the EU seafood industry (~100,000 women in 2014), their role in the industry is both understudied and undervalued.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution News
- Thu, 31 Jan 2019 05:00:00 +0000: Waters West of Europe Drive Ocean Overturning, Key for Regulating Climate - WHOI News Releases
The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (MOC)—a deep-ocean process that plays a critical role in regulating Earth’s climate—is primarily driven by cooling waters west of Europe, finds a new international study published Feb. 1 in Science.
- Mon, 21 Jan 2019 05:00:00 +0000: For Zombie Microbes, Deep-Sea Buffet is Just Out of Reach - WHOI News Releases
Far below the ocean floor, sediments are teeming with bizarre zombie-like microbes. Although they’re technically alive, they grow in slow motion, and can take decades for a single cell to divide—something their cousins at the surface do in a matter of minutes. A new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is beginning to pick apart how they survive by examining their source of “food”—nearby molecules of organic carbon. The study helps further our understanding of the limitations of life on Earth and could help inform how life might exist on other planets.
- Thu, 17 Jan 2019 05:00:00 +0000: Emperor Penguins' First Journey to Sea - WHOI News Releases
New research by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and colleagues reveals the previously unknown behaviors of juvenile Emperor penguins in their critical early months when they leave their birth colony and first learn how to swim, dive, and find food. - Fri, 04 Jan 2019 05:00:00 +0000: The long memory of the Pacific Ocean - WHOI News Releases
The ocean has a long memory. When the water in today’s deep Pacific Ocean last saw sunlight, Charlemagne was the Holy Roman Emperor, the Song Dynasty ruled China and Oxford University had just held its very first class. During that time, between the 9th and 12th centuries, the earth’s climate was generally warmer before the cold of the Little Ice Age settled in around the 16th century. Now ocean surface temperatures are back on the rise but the question is, do the deepest parts of the ocean know that?
- Wed, 19 Dec 2018 05:00:00 +0000: Why Is Sea Level Rising Faster in Some Places Along the U.S. East Coast Than Others? - WHOI News Releases
Sea levels are rising globally from ocean warming and melting of land ice, but the seas aren’t rising at the same rate everywhere. Sea levels have risen significantly faster in some U.S. East Coast regions compared to others. A new study led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) reveals why.