May 22, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
The Protected Species Branch (PSB) of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), Woods Hole, MA apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused, but the solicitation EE133F-14-RQ-0470 for Deployment of Acoustic Recording Units is hereby CANCELLED due to a change in Agency requirements and capabilities.
The Amendment notice has been posted at here
May 14, 2014 — NOAA will conduct a test project May 20, 2014 of the PUMA Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) for use in ocean monitoring and environmental research. The test in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) will allow NOAA researchers, managers and partners to observe the UAS in operation so they can better understand its capabilities and explore its potential to enhance management of the sanctuary.
The primary objective of the test is to compare observations of fixed fishing gear (buoys) in SBNMS by PUMA and from the sanctuary research vessel. If successful, this type of technology could be used for marine wildlife surveys, visitor and vessel use operations.
On Tuesday, May 20, members of the media are invited dockside to observe equipment being prepared and loaded for the demonstration. NOAA representatives will describe how the UAS operates, outline the demonstration project and be available for interviews.
What: Dockside preparation for the NOAA test of a PUMA Unmanned Aircraft System
When: Tuesday, May 20, 10:00 a.m.
Where: NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary 175 Edward Foster Rd., Scituate, MA 02066
Who: Craig MacDonald, superintendent, SBNMS
Ben Cowie-Haskell, deputy superintendent, SBNMS
Matt Pickett, NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries LTJG Kevin G. Doremus, NOAA Aircraft Operations Center
Visuals: PUMA Unmanned Aircraft System, to be deployed at sea in a NOAA test, NOAA R/V Auk, researchers, operators
IMAGES: Digital video/photos of UAS in flight, being launched, video from UAS.
May 20, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Shallow water marine and estuarine habitats have been identified as Essential Fish Habitat for many species important to commercial and recreational fishermen in the greater Atlantic region of the U.S. These habitats are highly productive because of their shallow depth, seasonally warm water temperatures, and proximity to the land and the nutrients that are derived from river runoff. They serve as nursery grounds for juvenile fish which, in turn, provide food for larger fish. Many fish and invertebrate species also mature and reproduce in shallow coastal waters. However since they are close to the coast, shallow-water habitats are also vulnerable to habitat degradation and loss resulting from a variety of human activities.
In an effort to evaluate the importance of various types of shallow-water habitats in the Gulf of Maine, the Habitat Conservation Division of NOAA’s Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office has recently completed a report. The report summarizes what is known about the functional value (for survival, growth to maturity, and reproduction) of eight different types of habitat for sixteen fish and invertebrate species.
The species that were selected included some federally-managed species, some species that are managed by the states, and some non-managed species that are important members of the inshore marine ecosystem. Habitat use was assessed for the various life stages of each species in the following benthic (bottom) habitats: mud, sand, gravel/cobble, boulder, eelgrass, macroalgae, salt marsh channels, and shell beds.
Habitat use scores (1 = present, 2 = common) were assigned to each benthic life stage known to occur in depths less than 10 meters and then summarized for all species in each habitat type. The evaluation was based on a review of approximately 125 publications in scientific journals. In cases where information was lacking, scores were based on best professional judgment. Detailed summaries for each species are presented in an appendix to the report.
Read the full story from NOAA Fisheries
May 19, 2014 — The following was released by NOAA:
Sea surface temperatures for the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) during 2013 were lower than the record high levels that occurred in 2012, but remained warm, especially in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, according to NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC). Sea surface temperatures (SST) for the Northeast Shelf in 2013 averaged just above 13 degrees Celsius (56F), making 2013 the second warmest year in the time series, which dates back to 1854. The results are reported in the Center's latest Ecosystem Advisory.
"Surface and bottom temperatures have moderated since 2012, when temperatures reached record highs, but the moderation has varied by location, with more cooling in the southern part of the ecosystem,” said Kevin Friedland, an oceanographer in the NEFSC's Ecosystem Assessment Program. “Bottom temperatures remain above average in the Gulf of Maine but below average in the Middle Atlantic Bight. Despite the moderation, warm water thermal habitats remained at high levels in 2013.”
The Northeast Shelf ecosystem as a whole does not typically have a fall plankton bloom, but blooms of various sizes and frequency do occur in areas throughout the ecosystem. Blooms can be detected in the Gulf of Maine in 7 out of 10 years, about even odds on Georges Bank, and are generally rare in the Middle Atlantic Bight. The 2013 fall bloom in the Gulf of Maine came early and was the second largest in the time series, while no fall bloom was detected on Georges Bank, and a localized summer bloom occurred in July off the New Jersey coast. Bloom magnitudes are highest close to the coastline, where concentrations of chlorophyll are highest.
The fall bloom starts earlier in the year in the northern part of the Gulf of Maine and begins progressively later in the southern part of the ecosystem.
The date of the fall thermal transition – the average temperature between summer and winter – has shifted by nearly one month in the northern part of the ecosystem, from around November 20 during the 1980s to December 20 now, but is only a week later in the southern end of the ecosystem. A shift has also taken place for the date of the spring thermal transition – which has occurred two weeks earlier since 2006 after remaining relatively constant for nearly 25 years.
“When the changes in spring and fall thermal transitions are considered simultaneously, the warm part of the year has increased by approximately one month for the Northeast Shelf ecosystem,” Friedland said. “Organisms living in the ecosystem must deal with the challenges of a longer summer and competition from warm tolerant species entering their habitats.”
The Northeast Shelf ecosystem continues to experience wide swings in physical conditions. The biological responses to these pronounced physical fluctuations have significantly influenced the dynamics of the Northeast Shelf LME, according to the advisory.
To view the 2013 summary of conditions for the Northeast Shelf Ecosystem and related background data, go to Ecosystem Advisory.
May 19, 2014 — Cod fishing in New England has steadily declined over the past three decades. It’s estimated that hundreds of people have lost their jobs as a result and that continued failure to rebuild the fishery could cost the region’s economy a total of $200 million, according to the New England Fishery Management Council.
But the big concern is really one of culture, according to Northeastern’s Jon Grabowski. “You’re talking about an iconic fishery. Cod has been fished in these waters going back hundreds and hundreds of years,” said Grabowski, an associate professor of marine and environmental science at the university’s Marine Science Center in Nahant, Massachusetts. “You can go back a thousand years to the Basques coming over to fish these historically really productive grounds,” he said.
Grabowski, has been working with other fisheries scientists as well as economists, social scientists, and policy makers to determine the best strategies for dealing with the all of the Northeast region’s fisheries that impact habitat, which includes cod, haddock, cusk, scallops, clams and other fish that live near the sea floor and are of significant socioeconomic value to the region.
In the first of a series of research articles produced by the PDT, Grabowski and his colleagues examine the vulnerability of groundfish habitats to various types of fishing gear. “We reviewed how all the different geological and biological components of habitat are affected by these different types of gear,” Grabowski said. The committee examined how easily these habitats can be damaged and how long it takes for them to recover.
They found that mobile fishing gear such as trawls and dredges that drag along the bottom cause more damage to areas inhabited by groundfish than stationary gear like traps and gillnets. They also found that larger geological features, such as cobble and boulders, are more susceptible to damage and take longer to recover than sand and mud—after all, some of these geological features have taken millennia to form.
Read the full story from Northeastern University
Mat 14, 2014 — The ocean is an increasingly industrialized space. Shipping, fishing, and recreational vessels, oil and gas exploration and other human activities all increase noise levels in the ocean and make it more difficult for marine mammals to hear and potentially diminish their range of hearing.
“Hearing is the main way marine mammals find their way around the ocean,” said Aran Mooney, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). It’s important to know whether and to what extent human activity is negatively impacting them.
But how can we get marine mammals living in the wild to tell us what they’re able to hear?
“Same way we do it with human infants,” said Mooney. “You play a sound, then you measure the brain's response to the sound.”
Though Mooney makes it sound easy enough, he and his colleagues are the first to publish a study of hearing in wild marine mammals, with multiple marine mammals. The paper, “Baseline Hearing Abilities and Variability in Wild Beluga Whales (Delphinapterus leucas)” was published today in The Journal of Experimental Biology, on May 14.
In addition to Mooney, the research team included the paper’s lead author Manuel Castellote, from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, which is part of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the North Gulf Oceanic Society, and their colleagues from Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska SeaLife Center, and the Georgia Aquarium.
The researchers worked over a two week period in southwest Alaska during the summer of 2012, capturing and testing seven Bristol Bay beluga whales, one of six subpopulations of beluga whales in the U.S. Enabling this study are recent advances in portable field testing equipment, rugged enough for field work. To conduct their hearing tests, the team temporarily maintained the individual animals as part of physical health exams. They used suction cups to attach a small speaker to its jaw—which in whales and dolphins conducts sound to both ears—and placed sensors on the animal’s head and back.
Read the full story at SitNews
May 13, 2014 — The the following was released by the Northeast Regional Planning Body:
A reminder that the Northeast Regional Planning Body (RPB) is holding a Natural Resources Public Workshop on June 25, 2014, and its fourth Regional Planning Body meeting on June 25, 2014, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Both events will be held at The Charles Hotel, located at 1 Bennett Street in Cambridge.
On June 25th, please join the Northeast RPB, scientists, managers, and other interested parties for a workshop on natural resource assessments for ocean planning that will inform ocean planning work in the months to come. We need your input as the RPB proceeds with specific actions to characterize the region’s ecosystem, its species, and habitats under the ocean planning goal of "Healthy Ocean and Coastal Ecosystems."
At the workshop, participants will:
Inform options for characterizing marine mammal, sea turtle, bird, and fish distribution and abundance for use in ocean planning.
Discuss a review of existing regional efforts to identify areas of ecological importance or measure the health of the marine system and consider the applicability of such assessments for ocean planning.
Registration will begin at 9:30 am; the workshop will begin at 10:00 am and will adjourn at 5:30 pm. A reception will follow from 6:00 pm-7:30 pm.
On June 26th, please join the Northeast Regional Planning Body for its fourth meeting. During this meeting, the RPB and staff will provide an update on ongoing planning activities, including efforts to identify options for interagency coordination and the use of regional data under the ocean planning goal "Effective Decision Making." The RPB will also consider options for technical and stakeholder input into ocean planning decisions. Public participants will be given opportunities to comment on RPB proceedings and decisions.
Registration will begin at 8:00 am; the meeting will begin at 8:30 am and will adjourn at 5:00 pm.
Agendas and meeting materials will be posted to the event pages linked above and at neoceanplanning.org in advance of the Natural Resources Workshop and the RPB meeting. Please register here to indicate your attendance at both the June 25 Natural Resources Workshop and the June 26 NE RPB meeting.
May 13, 2014 — Rock snot, a slimy-looking algae that vexes salmon and salmon fishermen, is not an alien invader but a homegrown threat gaining strength in changing water conditions, according to a new study by scientists from Dartmouth and Environment Canada.
Officially known as Didymosphenia geminata, which scientists shorten to didymo, it has existed in portions of Alaska for some eight centuries, said the study published online last week in the journal BioScience.
Only recently, though, has the nuisance algae been noticed, even in sites considered pristine, thanks to aggressive growth that spreads rock snot stalks in lakes, rivers and streams.
"It's in Patagonia. It's in Tierra del Fuego. It's in Alaska," said study co-author Brad Taylor of Dartmouth College. It is also in British Columbia, New York and various northeastern U.S. states. Sweden, Poland and Colorado see it, too.
Alaska officials have waged a crusade against rock snot. Alaska is among several states that ban felt soles in fishermen's waders; the state Department of Fish and Game cites felt's ability to absorb and transport a plethora of unwanted organisms to new places. The Alaska House this year passed a bill that allows state officials to mount a rapid response to eradicate invasive aquatic species and establishes a fund to pay for it; the bill died, however, without Senate action.
Explosion linked to phosphorus
But when it comes to combating rock snot in Alaska, anti-invader strategies may do little, according to Taylor's study. Core samples at Naknek Lake show that rock snot has been there since the year 1200, the study notes. As long as the didymo did not bloom, Taylor said, it went mostly unnoticed.
Read the full story from the Anchorage Daily News
May 13, 2014 — It’s the risk that comes with exploring the unknown: Saturday afternoon, 6 miles under the sea, a remote-controlled robot probing one of the coldest, deepest ocean trenches on Earth blew apart.
The one-of-a-kind Nereus, built by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, had just embarked on a three-year project to explore deep-sea ecosystems and the weird, unknown critters that inhabit the ocean’s most remote trenches. Researchers said the loss of the $8 million sub is a huge disappointment for the expedition’s scientists and a major setback for ocean science, with a next-generation rover capable of probing such depths still in the design stages.
“Without Nereus, we currently have nothing that will enable us to reach that part of the ocean,” said Larry Madin, director of research at Woods Hole.
Scientists still don’t know exactly what happened to Nereus at the Kermadec Trench, the fifth-deepest ocean trench, which is off the coast of New Zealand. But they have a good guess: 6.2 miles below the surface, pressures 1,000 times greater than the ones at sea level probably led to the implosion of one of Nereus’s pressure housings, chambers that protect sensitive electronics and other gear from the extreme pressures. The force would have set off a chain reaction, causing the submarine to fail. Bits of debris from the robot have been recovered at the surface.
“It’s an ever-present risk,” Madin said. “The way things go down there, everything’s operating normally and suddenly everything goes dark, and when it’s 6 miles down in the ocean, you don’t have a good way of knowing what’s happened — you can only make inferences based on what you know of the system and the forces that could be acting on it.”
Read the full story from The Boston Globe
May 9, 2014 — A group of scientists is to work to create a practical ‘blueprint’ that managers can use to make ecosystem-based fisheries management operational.
These scientists form part of the Fishery Ecosystem Task Force, introduced by the Lenfest Ocean Program and the University of Washington.
“Scientists have long recognized and supported the idea that fisheries management should consider the relationships of the larger marine environment, but there hasn’t been a clear path to implementation,” pointed out Tim Essington, a marine ecologist at the University of Washington and chair of the new task force.
And he added: “It’s not as simple as managing one fish at time. If we want to continue catching, cooking, and eating fish, we need to maintain the health of the entire system.”
Led by Essington, professor in the School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington, the task force will bring together natural and social scientists from diverse locations on every coast.