NECAN and Ocean Acidification News in the Northeast- July 2015
Stakeholder Engagement Update
NECAN has been collecting stakeholder input via workshops. The meeting summary from the April 27 meeting on the South Shore of Massachusetts is now available here. The meeting summaries from June 5 in Rhode Island and June 23 in Gloucester are being drafted. Thank you to all who have participated. We will have workshops in Connecticut and Canada in the fall and will share more details once available.
Plans are also developing for an OA stakeholder meeting in Stockton, NJ. This meeting will follow the NECAN example of a summary of the science around coastal acidification, a presentation from shellfish harvesters about their concerns, and breakout discussions about what research gaps and information needs remain. NJ Sea Grant and the NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center Sandy Hook laboratory are the local hosts. This workshop will be an important component of outreach filling in a regional gap between the NECAN region to the north and the SOCAN region to the south.
NECAN has also completed their synthesis of the science webinars and workshops conducted last year. The result of this is NECAN's publication "Ocean and Coastal Acidification off New England and Nova Scotia" which is now available in the new special issue of Oceanography magazine.
NECAN’s next steps will be working on a technical document and implementation plan. If you are interested in helping with the implementation plan via working groups, click here.
NECAN Webinar for SOCAN
On June 30, 2015, Ru Morrison presented “The NECAN Story” as part of a webinar series for the Southeast Ocean and Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN), which can be viewed here. The presentation covered what NECAN has done, and what we will do in the future in our efforts to link ocean and coastal acidification science to managers, policymakers, and coastal communities in the Northeast. The next webinar in SOCAN’s webinar series will be held on July 14, 2015.
NMEA and OA session
The National Marine Educators Association (NMEA) held their 2015 National Conference in Newport, RI from June 29-July 2, hosted by the Southeastern New England Marine Educators (SENEME). The goal of this conference is to bring formal and informal marine educators from around the globe together and help promote the mission of “making known the world of water, both fresh and salt.” At this conference, Cassie Stymiest gave a presentation about NECAN, our role in ocean acidification, and included a great demonstration on how to use Legos to teach the building blocks of ocean acidification chemistry. To see the #NMEA15 Storify, click here.
ECOA cruise
Currently, NECAN Steering Committee member Joe Salisbury is on the East Coast Ocean Acidification (ECOA) Cruise, as the chief scientist. The cruise set off from Newport, RI on June 19th. A crew of scientists from Princeton, Old Dominion University, University of New Hampshire, Delaware, and Miami are on board the Gordon Gunter, a NOAA research vessel. The goal of the cruise is to help the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program better understand changing ocean chemistry, and how it will ultimately impact marine organisms along the U.S. coasts, where those species might be at great risk. This cruise will cover ground (or sea) from the Nova Scotia Shelf down to Miami. It is expected to reach Miami on July 24. Click here for More Information, and follow on Facebook!
Ocean Acidification: A Global Issue Affecting a Maine Oyster Farm
Bill Mook and Joe Salisbury collaborated to bring together the science of ocean acidification, and the impacts it is having at Mook Sea Farm. Faced with a myriad of problems, Mook Sea Farm developed a suite of mitigation and management strategies to combat the impacts coastal acidification are having on the hatchery. Click here to read the article.
This issue of the NECAN Update was written by Jen Halstead, NECAN’s intern for the summer. We’ll write more about this partnership in the August issue.
If you have any updates you’d like shared with NECAN, please email cassie@neracoos.org
