Latest Skimmer Articles

Editor's note: The goal of The EBM Toolbox is to promote awareness of tools and methods for facilitating EBM and MSP processes. It is brought to you by the EBM Tools Network (www.ebmtools.org), a voluntary alliance of tool users, developers, and training providers.

In 2016, the EBM Tools Network compiled a list of hands-on activities for teaching about ecosystem services and ecosystem-based management (now updated with several more activities!). A university professor recently asked if we have any similar resources for teaching marine protected area (MPA) design and management. EBM Tools Network members pooled their collective knowledge again and came up with this fantastic list of resources for teaching about MPAs at all educational levels.

The last two issues of MEAM featured two Skimmers chock full of cutting edge research and insights from some of our climate change researcher heroes. If you didn’t have a chance to check them out yet, we highly recommend doing so now!

• How weather and climate extremes are impacting the ocean
• Managing and conserving ocean ecosystems in a rapidly changing climate

Editor’s note: The Skimmer is a MEAM feature where we briefly review the latest news and research on a topic. This Skimmer features new research and insights presented at the 4^th International Symposium on Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans (ECCWO), held in June 2018 in Washington, DC. In last month’s MEAM, we covered new research on how weather and climate extremes are impacting marine ecosystems, as well as some climate change tools and resources, presented at the symposium. This month we examine what practitioners can do about it.

Marine species just are not where they used to be: Managing and conserving species on the move

• The problem: Much of current conservation action is based on maintaining species in the same places they have been located historically and at roughly the same levels of abundance. Marine resource management, likewise, is based on historical assumptions about where species are and in what numbers. But we are currently seeing big geographical shifts in marine populations in response to climate change, sometimes across political and management boundaries. How in the world can we deal with this?

Ocean planning and blue growth-related news and resources:

• US President Trump issues new US ocean policy deemphasizing conservation and spatial planning
• European Atlas of the Seas updates enable citizens to create their own sea maps
• European Commission releases first annual report on EU blue economy
• Handbook for developing indicators for MSP - with focus on blue growth - available
• Handbook for developing MSP visions and strategies also available
• New international forum on MSP to meet biannually
• Washington State (US) adopts spatial plan for evaluating new projects along Pacific coast
• White papers describe how ocean business clusters can promote sustainable ocean development and how to better engage the private sector in ocean governance
• Study analyses space demands for nine key EU maritime sectors and interactions between sectors
• AquaSpace publishes review of tools and methods for spatially allocating aquaculture

Editor’s Note: In June 2018, US President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13840 Ocean Policy To Advance the Economic, Security, and Environmental Interests of the United States. This executive order formally revokes Executive Order 13547 Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes, issued in July 2010 by former US President Barack Obama. MEAM interviewed Sarah Winter Whelan, director of the American Littoral Society's Ocean Policy Program and Healthy Oceans Coalition, about what these changes mean for ocean planning in the US, including existing regional ocean plans.

OCTO recently launched two new podcasts called OCTOPOD and Salish Shes.

Both are perfect for your morning commute!

We would love to hear your thoughts on these so please rate and comment on the episode pages.

Enjoy!

Editor’s note: The Skimmer is a MEAM feature where we briefly review the latest news and research on a topic. Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the 4^th International Symposium on Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans (ECCWO)^[1], held in Washington, DC. This symposium gathered scientists and managers from more than 50 nations to discuss the latest science on climate change impacts on ocean ecosystems, identify climate risks and knowledge gaps, and determine best ways to respond to sustain ocean resources and communities. Here is a quick summary of some recent and brand new research findings presented at the symposium on how weather and climate extremes are impacting marine ecosystems, as well as insights shared by speakers. (Learn about climate change tools and resources presented at the symposium in this month’s EBM Toolbox). Part 2 of the Skimmer, coming out next month, will feature more research and insights from ECCWO on how we can manage and conserve ocean ecosystems in a rapidly changing climate.

We know that extreme weather events (such as marine heatwaves) and other climate change-associated effects (including ocean warming, ocean deoxygenation, and ocean acidification) are dramatically altering marine ecosystems. But we are still figuring out the how, how much, and why of these changes. Some perspectives on what we know and what we still need to know:

• UN negotiations on Paris climate agreement fall short; emergency negotiation session added
• UN sustainable development goal for oceans getting least attention and resources
• UN IMO adopts strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships
• India to ban all single use plastic by 2022
• G7 countries negotiate international charter to eliminate plastic waste
• Marine heatwaves becoming longer and more frequent
• Study finds climate change may make MPAs largely uninhabitable by current species by 2100
• Study predicts range shifts for hundreds of North American marine species under climate change
• Study examines mandates and challenges for EBM in the EU, Canada, and US
• Massive online open course on assessing and managing Large Marine Ecosystems now open for enrollment
• Conservation X Labs competition seeks technology solutions to ocean conservation challenges
• New reports released on ocean hazards and risk and how the global insurance industry needs to act
• Massachusetts and Rhode Island choose developers for offshore wind projects to provide 1,200MW energy; commercial fishers in US Northeast concerned about conflicts
• US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management seeking public input on potential locations for offshore wind leases off US Atlantic Coast
• Number of overfished stocks in the US reaches all time low
• NOAA report says high tide flooding may occur half the year along US East Coast/Gulf of Mexico by end of century
• US House of Representatives rejects most proposed budget cuts for NOAA but defunds some federal MSP and EBM activities
• Want to know how the Trump administration is changing US environmental policy? A short version. A detailed version.

Editor's note: The goal of The EBM Toolbox is to promote awareness of tools and methods for facilitating EBM and MSP processes. It is brought to you by the EBM Tools Network (www.ebmtools.org), a network to share knowledge, tools, and experiences to promote ecosystem-based management of coastal and marine environments. This column presents some of the new tools, resources, and initiatives for dealing with the effects of climate change on ocean ecosystems that were presented at the recent International Symposium on Effects of Climate Change on the World’s Oceans, held in Washington, DC.

OpenChannels.org has just updated and expanded its list of ocean conservation, management, and science-related conferences. (Over 50 conferences from around the world listed right now!) Check out the list at https://www.openchannels.org/conferences.

Submit additional suggestions for the list at https://www.openchannels.org/submit-conference.