The Skimmer on Marine Ecosystems and Management
Tundi’s Take: Ecosystem Assessments – Telling it like it is
Nothing could be more droll than an ecosystem assessment. By its very nature, assessment is meant to be comprehensive, systematic, rational – not the stuff of colorful sound bites or emotive calls to action. But what is really more important to effective communication about marine ecosystems and the urgent need to conserve them than thorough knowledge about how these ecosystems function, how we use and value them, and what pressures they face? After all, we cannot love what we do not know, and without being informed and invested in marine ecosystems, we cannot hope to generate the resources and will to conserve them.
Ecosystem-Based Arguments to Expand Boundaries of Two MPAs
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is considering a proposal to expand the boundaries of two federal MPAs along the coast of northern California – Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary and the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. Designated in the 1980s, the sanctuaries currently cover roughly 1800…
Notes & News: MSP guide – MSP in EU – Mediterranean – Reversing declines in ocean health
New MSP guide shows how site would look at different stages of planning
The MarViva Foundation, an NGO that supports sustainable management of coastal and marine resources in the Eastern Tropical Pacific region, has produced a new guidebook on marine spatial planning. Based on findings from a regional capacity-building and training event on MSP in May 2012, the guide focuses on challenges faced by practitioners in North America, the Caribbean, and the eastern Pacific.
The Links between Urban and Marine Ecosystems: Balancing the Sustainability of Coastal Cities and Their Adjacent Seas
For the first time in human history, more than half of the world's population now lives in cities, and each year tens of millions more people become city dwellers through births and migration. We have become an urban species. What does this have to do with marine ecosystems? Most of…
Tundi’s Take: Gray Alongside Blue May Get Us the New Green
By Tundi Agardy, MEAM Contributing Editor, tundiagardy@earthlink.net The gray, concretized urban landscape couldn't be farther from protection of nature and oceans in most people's minds. Yet coastal cities may hold the key to a sustainable future, and will be crucial to ensuring that EBM unfolds effectively and efficiently around the…
Updates on US coastal and marine spatial planning
The US initiative to enact a region-by-region process of coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) took a step forward in November 2012 with the meeting of the Northeast regional planning board. It was the first such meeting of a CMSP regional planning board. The blogs below document that meeting, and…
Maximizing the Value of Offshore Space by Co-Locating Aquaculture and Wind Farms: An Interview with Bela Buck
Bela Buck is head of the working group on marine aquaculture, maritime technologies, and ICZM at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany. For more than a decade, he has made the case that offshore aquaculture and wind farms are compatible uses of the marine environment….
Notes & News: MSP tools survey – North Sea – Mangroves – Fishery closures
Have you used any tools for marine spatial planning? The EBM Tools Network and OpenChannels.org are conducting a brief online survey on marine spatial planning tools. If you are (or were) involved in an MSP process, we would be grateful for your participation. You do not need to have used…
The EBM Toolbox: Citizen Science for EBM, Part 1
By Sarah Carr The data requirements for EBM are vast and can seem overwhelming. One of the most alluring possibilities to address this challenge is to crowdsource at least some of the data collection through citizen science. Citizen science is the use of nonprofessionals in any part of a scientific…
Notes & News: Ireland releases integrated marine plan – Report on theory and practice of MSP – FAO guidelines for responsible recreational fisheries
Ireland releases integrated marine plan The Government of Ireland has released an integrated marine plan to support sustainable development of its ocean resources and ensure that government departments work together more efficiently and effectively on marine issues. The plan, titled "Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth", sets out three goals – a…