Report: West Coast needs more research on fisheries, marine science, climate change
Sea Grant Contacts:
Paul Olin
Extension Director
California Sea Grant
UC Davis
E.: pgolin@ucdavis.edu
T.: (707) 565-2621
Phyllis Grifman
Associate Director
USC Sea Grant
E.: grifman@usc.edu
T.: (213) 740-1963
Julie M. Risien
Regional Project Coordinator
Oregon Sea Grant
E.: julie.risien@oregonstate.edu
T.: (541) 737-4440
Michelle Wainstein
Regional Coordinator
Washington Sea Grant
E.: mwain@u.washington.edu
T.: (206) 616-9568
Download the report
West Coast Marine Research and Information Needs
Tools:
Revised:
July 1, 2009
July 1, 2009
Contact: Christina S. Johnson, csjohnson@ucsd.edu, 858-822-5334
LOS ANGELES – The West Coast critically needs more research on fisheries, ocean health, coastal hazards and climate change, among other topics, to support and protect the region's annual $32-billion ocean-related economy, according to a new report prepared by the region's four Sea Grant programs.
The report, West Coast Regional Marine Research and Information Needs, available online at http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/research/RegionalPlanning, outlines eight key regional research areas, as well as three "cross-cutting" themes, in support of the action plan of the 2006 West Coast Governors' Agreement on Ocean Health.
"What we have achieved brings us closer to a regional approach to ocean research and governance," says California Sea Grant Director Russell Moll. "We now have the West Coast Sea Grant programs and the three West Coast states on the same page. We hope the project will spur collaborations and regional-scale initiatives."
"California is eager to have this report," says Amber Mace, science advisor to the California Ocean Protection Council. "It builds on the state's ongoing efforts to identify research and information needs so that it may continue to invest in high-impact research and advance resource management goals."
The 56-page document, produced by California Sea Grant, USC Sea Grant, Oregon Sea Grant and Washington Sea Grant, is the culmination of nearly three years of input from state, federal and tribal agencies, as well as extensive public comment gathered from Web surveys and at 16 workshops held in California, Oregon and Washington in 2007-08.
"What is remarkable about the report is that it draws on such a rich database of what ocean stakeholders feel is important to understand about the ocean," says USC Sea Grant Associate Director Phyllis Grifman. "The study was regional in scope but the way the data was collected allows us to also look at the local level."
The Sea Grant team, which was led by Oregon Sea Grant, incorporated about 5,300 comments from nearly 1,000 coastal residents, business owners, community organizations, decision-makers, conservationists, fishing interests, researchers and resource managers into the study. More than 60 existing research plans were also analyzed.
Oregon Sea Grant Director Stephen Brandt calls the resulting report "an excellent guiding document" on the region's most important ocean and coastal topics.
As identified in the report, priority should be given to research that addresses the following goals:
- Maintaining social and economic vitality of coastal communities and marine operations;
- Improving ocean and coastal governance and management of multiple/competing uses;
- Assessing impacts of fisheries and aquaculture, and evaluating alternative management approaches and the health risks and benefits of seafood;
- Improving understanding of ecosystem function and how it may change spatially and over time so as to improve the long-term ability to manage resources sustainably.
- Identifying, predicting and mitigating causes of ocean "stressors," such as non-native aquatic species invasions, harmful algal blooms and hypoxia;
- Understanding physical drivers of coastal hazards, such as storm surge, shoreline instability and sea level rise;
- Identifying sources, fate and transport of pollutants and their consequences for human health and prevention;
- Assessing coastal communities' social and economic vulnerability to coastal hazards and climate change; identifying the degree to which communities comprehend this risk and evaluating what might motivate them to take steps to improve their resilience and readiness for future events.
The study also concludes that all research should be framed within the context of climate change and as part of a broader effort to further ocean education and literacy. Improving access to scientific data and information was identified as a third cross-cutting theme.
NOAA is providing support for the ongoing West Coast study and nine other similar regional ones, in response to recent reports from groups such as the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative calling for regional ocean governance reform and regional approaches to coordinating, planning and prioritizing ocean and coastal science.
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