OST - Science Services for the Ocean Protection Council

Photo courtesy of
G. Wolford

Meetings

OPC-SAT Meeting
July 20, 2010
Oakland, CA

South Coast MPA Monitoring Planning Workshops Scheduled

Announcements

Program Associate Position Available

Monitoring Enterprise Listserv Now Available

OST announces release of Oil and Gas Platform Decommissioning Study

OPC Science Advisory Team Ocean Observing Consensus Statement

OST 2008-2009
Annual Report

Oil and Gas Public Briefing Minutes Available

Current Projects

OPC Funded Sea Grant Research

Each year the OST works with the OPC Science Advisory Team to develop a set of research priorities for the OPC applied research funding. The OST also participates in the technical review session and the RASGAP (Resources Agency Sea Grant Advisory Panel) proposal review process for yearly OPC Sea Grant funding to the two California Sea Grant programs. In collaboration with OPC staff, the OST helps identify and recommend final proposals for OPC consideration with the California Sea Grant and USC Sea Grant program. The winning proposals in 2008 focused on ocean acidification as well as urban water quality and will be carried out by a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional team of experts, including resource managers. The OST will coordinate with the teams as the project progresses. Reviews for 2009 will commence in April.

Improving the link between OPC grant recipients and the management community

OST led the development of a new approach for the OPC to fund applied research. The OST worked with OPC staff and the California Sea Grant Program to develop the “Focused Research and Outreach Initiative” which encourages multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional team of experts to work directly with resources managers from the beginning to ensure their research is relevant to state needs. Please see the 2009 Call for Proposals for more details about this initiative. Additionally, the 2008-2009 OST Sea Grant Fellow, Dr. Sarah Henkel, helped the OST work on connecting previously OPC-funded Sea Grant recipients with resource managers and policy makers. Possible avenues include briefings with relevant managers, brown bags for OPC and Conservancy staff, and grant recipients presenting findings to the OPC.

More information about OPC-funded Sea Grant projects is available through the OPC website:

Aquatic Invasive Species (On hold due to budget crisis)

According to the National Invasive Species Management Plan, an invasive species is “a species that is non-native to the ecosystem under consideration, and whose introduction causes, or is likely to cause, economic or environmental harm, or harm to human health” (National Invasive Species Council 2001). The California Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan (AIS Plan) recognizes that invasive species can spread rapidly from their point of introduction. One of the five top priorities of the AIS Plan is to conduct a statewide risk assessment of AIS introduction pathways that are believed to be very important but have not been investigated in a systematic manner. While introductions of AIS from ballast water discharge by commercial ships and from hull fouling of commercial ships have been studied and reported on in California and are believed to be the largest contributors of AIS, additional vectors exist that experts believe contribute significantly to AIS introductions. Of the many additional vectors, the AIS Plan and state agency staff have identified the following six vectors as the highest priorities for assessing the risk of introduction, establishment and impacts of AIS in coastal and estuarine California waters: commercial fishing, recreational boating, live bait, live imported seafood, aquariums and aquascaping (including marine bio-supply companies and internet trade) and aquaculture.
Project Goals and Objectives:

One of the priority actions of the statewide AIS plan is to assess the risk from various potential AIS vectors and to identify management actions for which there is currently very little state action. This project will generate risk assessment reports on 6 vectors.

The OPC is focusing on invasive species prevention rather than response; these reports may identify opportunities for prevention.

The OPC would like to make recommendations for new legislation and sees this as an opportunity for identifying funding sources and programs to help prevent invasions.

Reports will be crucial to motivate legislative staff and provide support for agency members and their participation. The target audience will be state managers and legislative staff.

Following the workshop in November, the OST continued working with the vector risk assessment teams to develop their work plans for the project. This project is currently on hold due to the budget situation.

Wave Energy Report Review

The OST coordinated the peer review of the report: Developing Wave Energy in Coastal California: Potential Socio-Economic and Environmental Effects

The report was authored by a team of scientists from H.T. Harvey and Associates, UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, UC Santa Cruz, the Farallon Institute for Advanced Ecosystem Research, Planwest Partners and Humboldt State University, and jointly funded by the California Ocean Protection Council and the California Energy Commission.

The report covers the social, economic, and environmental issues associated with wave energy technologies in California, and identifies specific research needed to further evaluate its potential effects. It also identifies the largest information gaps in these social and ecological disciplines: environmental economics, nearshore physical processes, nearshore intertidal and benthic habitats, and the ecology of marine and anadromous fishes, marine birds and marine mammals.
Wave Energy Report

Linking the Academic Community and Water Quality Regulators

The OST is currently working to link the academic community and water quality regulators. The Water Boards are grappling with many high priority water quality regulatory issues, and there is a need to develop stronger communication and working relationships with academic scientists in addressing these issues. The OST contracted with T.C. Hoffmann & Associates to develop a report focused on the relationship among the Water Boards, water quality regulators, and academic scientists. This explored their current modes of operation and offered ways in which, together, they can produce and use science to more effectively inform regulatory policy and assist the Water Boards in fulfilling their mission of protecting water quality.
Linking the Academic Community and Water Quality Regulators Report

NOAA Coastal Services Center (CSC) West Coast Needs Assessment Literature Review

To further the technical support provided by NOAA CSC to the West Coast coastal resources management community, the OST conducted a literature review focusing on the priority needs of the coastal resource management community in relation to: 1) Resiliency and adaptation to coastal changes resulting from climate change and other coastal hazards; 2) Regional coastal and ocean planning; 3) Implementing coastal management, habitat conservation, and restoration at the ecosystem level; and 4) Data and information access and usability.

The literature review brought the CSC up to date with the range of current efforts, activities, and pre-identified needs. The review placed current information in the context of West Coast CSC efforts and informed the next steps for West Coast CSC activities. Understanding the needs of coastal managers in these four areas helped identify gaps in data and information, as well as usability and applicability of training, products, and service needs for the coastal resource management community.
Needs Assessment Literature Review