The Wave Fall 2005

Recent Events

2005 Hurricane Outlook
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hurricane forecasters predicted the above-normal hurricane season for the Atlantic. In contrast, a below-normal hurricane season is expected in the Eastern and Central Pacific. Hurricane Katrina GIS resources are available at geodata.gov, and information related to Hurricane Rita can also be found at the site. During this time, our sympathy goes out to all those who were impacted by these storms.

Notices and Updates

NOAA
Community-based Marine Debris Prevention and Removal Project Grants (full announcement) have a revised due date of December 12, 2005. Some monitoring will be funded, but the focus is getting projects done on the ground.

California Ocean Protection Council
California Resources Agency posted a notice [PDF - 705KB] that the Ocean Protection Council (OPC) will identify a research strategy and vote to send outreach priorities to the Bush administration. To receive notices by e-mail, send a text message with "subscribe oceanpublic" in the body of the message. If you have questions, e-mail the list owner.

Coastal Information in Atlantic Canada
The Atlantic Coastal Zone Information Steering Committee (ACZISC) was established in January 1992 to promote regional cooperation in Atlantic Canada with regard to coastal mapping, geomatics, and integrated coastal management. Updates and a link for a free monthly e-newsletter are available on the ACZISC Web site. For information about upcoming meetings (see below), contact the ACZISC Secretariat.

January 18–19, 2006: ACZISC Meeting #47, Fredericton, New Brunswick May 17–18, 2006: ACZISC Meeting #48, Halifax, Nova Scotia September 20–21, 2006: ACZISC Meeting #49, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Documents, Newsletters, and Web Resources

A new report by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea entitled Ecosystem Effects of Fishing: Impacts, Metrics, and Management Strategies [PDF - 4.17MB] reviews the impact of fishing on marine ecosystems.

The August 2005 issue of MPA News includes an article " MPA Perspective: Key Findings on the Sustainability of Integrated Coastal Management Processes."

A recently published book, Challenging Coasts: Transdisciplinary Excursions into Integrated Coastal Zone Development, argues that transdisciplinary effort is a necessary corollary of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) but that work to date has insufficiently crossed disciplinary boundaries. A range of authors challenges disciplinary limitations in their contributions to ICZM in theory and practice.

Upcoming Conferences and Events

2006 Association of American Geographers Call for Papers The Association of American Geographers (AAG) annual meeting will be held March 7–11, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois

One of the sessions, cosponsored by the Coastal and Marine, Remote Sensing, GI Systems and Science, and Cryosphere specialty groups, will be Critical Coasts, Sustainable Oceans: A Session to Honor Dr. Raymond C. Smith.

Paper submissions are invited by researchers, faculty members, and graduate students in the fields of

Ocean/Coastal remote sensing, particularly ocean color remote sensing; bio-optical profiling; sensor development for satellites, ships, or deployed instruments; and tools to deliver remotely sensed imagery and derived products
Ocean/Coastal GIS, including ocean informatics or distributed GIS, and marine data modeling and visualization
Ocean conservation, including marine mammal tracking, marine resource management, marine protected area designation, and public education
Polar studies, including seasonal atmosphere-ice-ocean interactions, and Antarctic or Arctic biogeography or climatology
Other related topics in earth system science or long-term ecological research as it applies to the oceans

SESSION ORGANIZER
Dawn Wright, Oregon State University

DEADLINE
The deadline for submission of abstracts for the AAG annual meeting has been extended to November 3, 2005. The AAG online abstract submission system is available at http://www.aag.org.

Earthwatch, Whale Watching with GIS
Play with Gray Whales and Explore the Pacific Coast with GIS
March 6–12, 2006

Join a team of GIS specialists and marine biologists in the gray whale breeding and birthing sanctuary of San Ignacio, Baja California. During a weeklong adventure with the Coastal Ecosystems Research Foundation, you will use ArcGIS 9 to study the dynamics of Pacific coastal ecosystems. Research activities will allow participants to study behavioral observations of gray whales, create images for the photo identification catalog, and collect GPS-based data to create maps. This lagoon is one of the truly wild places on earth, so join us for this rare opportunity to combine marine research with GIS. Contact Michelle Kinzel for more details.

American Geophysical Union Meeting
In December 2005 there will be an annual American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting.

December 5–9, 2005, Monday–Friday
Moscone Center West, 800 Howard Street
San Francisco, California, USA
http://www.agu.org/meetings/fm05/

Ocean Sciences Meeting
The 13th Ocean Sciences Meeting, a joint meeting of the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Estuarine Research Federation, the Oceanography Society, and AGU will be held February 20–24, 2006, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The program committee is developing a scientific program that will cover all topics in the area of ocean sciences.
http://www.agu.org/meetings/os06/

Publications

Competing Demands on Ocean and Coastal Resources
The new book, Breaking Ice: Integrated Ocean Management in the Canadian North, reflects a three-year project undertaken by a team of researchers from the Ocean Management Research Network (OMRN). The book examines the nature of competing demands on ocean and coastal resources and assesses their impact.

The Ecosystem Approach
The Ecosystem Approach is the primary framework for action under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Published by the CBD Secretariat, the handbook [PDF - 304KB] documents the 12 principles of the ecosystem approach and their rationales, suggested annotations to the rationales, and implementation guidelines.

Marine Ecosystems and Climate Variation
This recently published book explores a wide range of ecological patterns in the North Atlantic driven by climate and involving phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos, seabirds, and fish. A description of the book [PDF - 77.3KB] says it focuses on cod, a key predator species that has a central role in ecosystem dynamics. Although the environment is shown to exert significant controls on ecosystem dynamics, the reduced abundance (because of fisheries) of large predators, such as cod, can have major direct effects on the structure and function of ecosystems.

United Nations Atlas of Our Changing Environment The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has recently published the atlas, One Planet, Many People—Atlas of Our Changing Environment. It shows human impacts on the environment with both current and historical satellite imagery.

Place Matters: Geospatial Tools for Marine Science, Conservation, and Management in the Pacific Northwest
Although the ocean provides living space for about 97 percent of life on Earth, less than five percent of the ocean below the surface has actually been seen, let alone explored. Now, using GIS, marine scientists are gaining new insights into a once-mysterious world. A technologically sophisticated information management and analysis system, GIS holds tremendous potential for mapping, interpreting, and managing ocean environments from the seafloor to the shoreline.

Proceedings

3rd Eastern Scotian Shelf Integrated Management (ESSIM) Forum Workshop
February 2005, Halifax, Nova Scotia; Proceedings [PDF - 363KB]

Charting a Course of Action for the Future of Oceans
February 2005, Vancouver, British Columbia; Proceedings

Adapting to Climate Change in Canada 2005: Understanding Risks and Building Capacity May 2005 in Montréal, Québec; Proceedings

2004 U.S. National Beaches Conference
October 2004 in San Diego, California; Proceedings

The Gulf of Maine Summit
October 2004 in St. Andrews, New Brunswick; Summit report

6th Bay of Fundy Workshop
September 29–October 2, 2004 in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia; Request proceedings on CD-ROM

Reports and Studies

Protecting Wild Atlantic Salmon from Impacts of Salmon Aquaculture: A Country-by-Country Progress Report (2nd Edition); published jointly by World Wildlife Fund and Atlantic Salmon Federation. Download report [PDF - 258KB].

2002 North American Pollutant Releases and Transfers
This report by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) states that, although lead pollution has been in decline since the phaseout of leaded gasoline in the 1980s, the metal and its compounds remain the leading developmental toxicant released by industrial facilities. Download report.

Conserving European Biodiversity in the Context of Climate Change
This report includes recommendations to conserve Europe's biodiversity into the future. Download report.

News Releases

Preliminary Study on the Potential of Tidal Power
The province of New Brunswick will participate in a preliminary study on the potential of tidal power. The site-specific study includes an assessment of the feasibility of tidal power off the province's coastline and identification of potential projects and demonstration sites. The study will assess the potential for this new generation of tidal flow, using simple turbines installed on the seabed. It will be carried out by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

Canadian and European Views on Global Overfishing
New public opinion research commissioned by Fisheries and Oceans Canada reports that the general public in both Europe and Canada share a desire to see more severe penalties for those who break international fishing rules and a belief that science can help save global fish stocks. Canadians identified the main issue as overfishing, while Europeans said the problem is the depletion of fish stocks attributed to a variety of causes including overfishing.

$28 Million for Canada’s Oceans Action Plan
The government of Canada has announced the release of phase I of Canada's Oceans Action Plan (OAP) with $28 million in funding. The OAP serves as the overarching umbrella for coordinating and implementing oceans activities and provides a framework to sustainably develop and manage Canada's oceans. Read more about Canada's Oceans Action Plan.

Coral Conservation in Eastern Canada
Cold-water corals (also known as deep-sea corals) are an important part of the benthic ecosystem of the Maritimes. A Coral Conservation Plan for the Maritimes Region was released in draft form at the 3rd ESSIM Forum Workshop. It documents what has been done to date on coral conservation in the region and provides direction for future action. To obtain a copy of the draft, contact Heather Breeze.

Web Resources

Canada’s Marine Protected Area Strategy
The Federal Marine Protected Area Strategy outlines how Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the Parks Canada Agency, and Environment Canada will work together to establish a comprehensive network of marine protected areas that will conserve and protect Canada's natural and cultural marine resources.

Canadian Species at Risk
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) met on May 1–6, 2005, in Newfoundland to discuss and evaluate the status of Canadian species. Read the updated Assessment Results and the Canadian Species at Risk publication.

Canadian Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse
The Canadian Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (CPPIC) provides the information needed to put pollution prevention into practice. The Web site has a resource database, information on pollution prevention in Canada, and a tutorial to assist new users with site navigation. The database may be searched by using either the keyword search or the sector search options.

Citizens’ Guide to Pollution Prevention
This new and updated edition of the Citizens' Guide to Pollution Prevention documents ways to reduce and eliminate pollution, not just transfer pollutants to a different location or a different medium.

Practical Strategies for Nonprofits
Building Sustainable Non-Profits is a manual [PDF - 442KB] , produced jointly by the Centre for Research and Education in Human Services and the Social Planning Council of Cambridge and North Dumfries, to provide nonprofit organizations of all types with practical strategies for building their capacity to survive sustainability challenges.

Link between Coastal Farming and Algal Blooms
A new study by Stanford University scientists presents direct evidence linking large-scale coastal farming to massive algal blooms in the sea, capable of disrupting ocean ecosystems and even producing "dead zones." In an article published in the March 10 issue of the journal Nature, the authors conclude that some highly productive regions of the ocean are much more vulnerable to agricultural runoff than was previously assumed.

Detailed Map of the Earth’s Land Surface
The European Space Agency GLOBCOVER project aims at producing a global land-cover map at a resolution three times sharper than any previous satellite map. The map will depict the face of the planet in 2005, broken down into more than 20 separate land-cover classes (details). The completed GLOBCOVER map will have numerous uses including plotting worldwide land-use trends, studying natural and managed ecosystems, and modeling climate change extent and impacts.

Marine Planning in Australia
A natural resource management plan has been launched as part of the Australian government's first indigenous "sea country plan." The Kooyang Sea Country Plan (download) identifies management priorities in southwestern Victoria, including more than 700 hectares in indigenous protected areas, and is the first sea country plan to be developed under the Australian government's regional marine planning program.

Articles and Proposals

The spring 2005 issue of the Gulf of Maine Times Times features an article on environmental changes from a geologic perspective.

A recent issue of the Economist featured an article on environmental economics.

A proposal [PDF - 1.89MB] for a collaborative research and development program for enabling renewable ocean energy delivery in British Columbia and Canada is available through the Ocean Renewable Energy Group (OREG).