Oct
13
Wed
Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO): Regional Ocean Planning in the Mid-Atlantic Region @ webinar
Oct 13 @ 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO): Regional Ocean Planning in the Mid-Atlantic Region @ webinar

Join us for another NMFS Ecosystem Based Management/Ecosystem Based Fishery Management Seminar Series (EBM/EBFM)!

 

Presenters: Avalon Bristow, Program Director, MARCO; Mike Snyder, New York State Department of State, Steering Comm. Chair of Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean; Karl Vilacoba, Urban Coast Institute’s Communications Director & Communications Lead/Project Manager for the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal

 

Abstract: The Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO) is the Regional Ocean Partnership for the Mid-Atlantic. MARCO has been coordinating across geographies and agencies around shared ocean priorities since 2009 when it was established by the governors of the five coastal Mid-Atlantic states – VA, MD, DE, NJ, and NY. In 2018, MARCO established the Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean (MACO) to foster collaboration among states, federal agencies, the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC), and federally recognized tribes, and to engage stakeholders. We will provide an update about ocean planning activities in the Mid-Atlantic, with a special focus on the region’s five topic-specific working groups and the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal.

 

About the Speakers

Avalon Bristow is Program Director at MARCO, where she works closely with the Board to develop and implement actions that advance MARCO’s priorities. She is staff support to MARCO’s collaborative work groups, is Co-Coordinator of the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Acidification Network in partnership with MARACOOS, and is Coordinator for the Regional Wildlife Science Entity in partnership with the Northeast Regional Ocean Council. Prior to joining MARCO, Avalon worked as a Program Manager for National Wildlife Federation’s Mid-Atlantic office, where she coordinated their coastal resilience and conservation education programs.

Mike Snyder is the Ocean and Great Lakes Program Manager at the New York State Department of State. He is currently a MARCO Management Board member and the Steering Committee Chair for the Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean (MACO). Since joining the Department in 2008, Mike has been actively involved in advancing New York’s Ocean and Great Lakes policy agenda, including contributing to regulatory reviews of energy projects in the Offshore Atlantic, helping to create the Five-State Mid Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean (MARCO), and coordinating State agency participation in the BOEM-New York Offshore Renewable Energy Task Force.

Karl Vilacoba is the Urban Coast Institute’s Communications Director and the communications lead/project manager for the Mid-Atlantic Ocean Data Portal. Prior to joining the UCI, Karl worked for the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, where he oversaw a variety of public outreach efforts and served as managing editor of InTransition, a national transportation magazine published in partnership with the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Karl previously spent a decade as a news reporter and editor for newspapers in the Jersey Shore area and at USA Today’s Manhattan Bureau. A lifelong Shore resident, Karl also served for several years as a member of the Lake Como Unified Planning & Zoning Board and the borough’s Environmental Commission.

 

POC: Peg Brady (peg.brady@noaa.gov); Library Seminars (library.seminars@noaa.gov)

 

Registration:   https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4462794963967362828

 

 

Dec
13
Mon
MAFMC Hybrid Council Meeting @ Westin Annapolis, MD and virtual
Dec 13 @ 1:00 pm – Dec 16 @ 1:00 pm
MAFMC Hybrid Council Meeting @ Westin Annapolis, MD and virtual

In person at the Westin Annapolis (100 Westgate Circle Annapolis, MD 21401) and online via Webex webinar.

This meeting will be conducted as a hybrid meeting. Council members, other meeting participants, and members of the public will have the option to participate in person at the Westin Annapolis or virtually via Webex webinar. Both virtual attendees and  those attending the meeting in person will  use the “raise hand” function in Webex to comment, ask questions, make motions, and vote. We are recommending that all in-person attendees either be vaccinated or receive a negative COVID test prior to meeting attendance. We are also encouraging attendees to wear a mask when moving around the hotel and meeting space.

Webinar Information

The virtual portion of the meeting will be conducted via Webex webinar. No pre-registration is required. The webinar link will be the same for all four meeting days.

  • Click here to join the webinar (if prompted, enter meeting number: 2330 933 4966; Meeting password: ncKMj56xX6p)

  • Join by phone: For those who will not be joining the webinar but would like to listen in to the audio portion only, dial 1-415-655-0001 and enter access code: 2330 933 4966#). When asked for your attendee ID, enter #. Participants connected by phone only will need to enter *6 on their keypad to unmute/mute themselves and *3 to raise/lower their hands.

  • Need Help? If you need technical assistance, please check the Webex Participant Guide. For further assistance, contact Mary Sabo at msabo@mafmc.org or 302-518-1143 (call or text).

We will also be live streaming the meeting to our YouTube channel.

Apr
5
Tue
AQUACULTURE WEBINAR SERIES | April 5 and April 8, 2022 Aquaculture in New England Federal Waters: Regulation, Public Engagement and Interjurisdictional Coordination @ webinar
Apr 5 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
AQUACULTURE WEBINAR SERIES | April 5 and April 8, 2022 Aquaculture in New England Federal Waters: Regulation, Public Engagement and Interjurisdictional Coordination @ webinar
The Northeast Regional Ocean Council’s Ocean Planning Committee (OPC) will be hosting a webinar series about the regulatory process, public engagement, and interjurisdictional coordination for aquaculture in New England federal waters. This series builds on NROC’s 2020 webinar which highlighted federal efforts to designate Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in the United States, as well as NROC’s recent development of a draft set of “Best Practices for Ocean Permitting and Management Processes.”
The webinar series will be held from 9:00-11:00 a.m. EST on April 5 and April 8. The webinar on April 5 will focus on the federal agency review and authorization process. This will be followed by a webinar on April 8 focusing on tribal, state, and public perspectives on improving the regulatory process for aquaculture in New England Federal Waters.
Additional information is available via NROC’s ocean planning website. Registration and program details will be available via the same website in March 2022.
Apr
8
Fri
AQUACULTURE WEBINAR SERIES | April 5 and April 8, 2022 Aquaculture in New England Federal Waters: Regulation, Public Engagement and Interjurisdictional Coordination @ webinar
Apr 8 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
AQUACULTURE WEBINAR SERIES | April 5 and April 8, 2022 Aquaculture in New England Federal Waters: Regulation, Public Engagement and Interjurisdictional Coordination @ webinar
The Northeast Regional Ocean Council’s Ocean Planning Committee (OPC) will be hosting a webinar series about the regulatory process, public engagement, and interjurisdictional coordination for aquaculture in New England federal waters. This series builds on NROC’s 2020 webinar which highlighted federal efforts to designate Aquaculture Opportunity Areas in the United States, as well as NROC’s recent development of a draft set of “Best Practices for Ocean Permitting and Management Processes.”
The webinar series will be held from 9:00-11:00 a.m. EST on April 5 and April 8. The webinar on April 5 will focus on the federal agency review and authorization process. This will be followed by a webinar on April 8 focusing on tribal, state, and public perspectives on improving the regulatory process for aquaculture in New England Federal Waters.
Additional information is available via NROC’s ocean planning website. Registration and program details will be available via the same website in March 2022.
Oct
4
Tue
MAFMC October Council Meeting @ Hyatt Place Dewey Beach and virtual
Oct 4 @ 10:00 am – Oct 6 @ 1:00 pm

October 2022 Council Meeting – Dewey Beach, DE


  • Hyatt Place Dewey Beach1301 Coastal HighwayDewey Beach, DE, 19971United States (map)

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will meet Tuesday, October 4, 2022 – Thursday, October 6, 2022 at the Hyatt Place Dewey Beach (1301 Coastal Highway, Dewey Beach, DE 19971, 302-864-9100). This will be conducted as a hybrid meeting, with in-person and virtual participation options.

Webinar Information

The webinar will be conducted on the Webex meeting platform. No pre-registration is required.

  • The webinar link will be posted here at least two weeks prior to the meeting.

LIVE STREAM: For listen-only access, check out the Council meeting live stream on YouTube.

Public Comments

Comments may be submitted using the online comment form linked below or by email to cmoore@mafmc.org. Comments received by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 will be included in the relevant briefing tab. Comments submitted after this deadline and before 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, September 29, 2022 will be posted as supplemental materials. After the supplemental comment deadline, comments may only be submitted via the online form below (no email).

Agenda and Briefing Materials

Briefing materials will be posted below as they become available.

Oct
28
Fri
ROSA Advisory Council Meeting – open to the public @ webinar
Oct 28 @ 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Save the Date: Next Advisory Council Meeting to be held October 28

The next advisory council meeting, which is open to the public, will be held on October 28 from 12-2:30 pm EST. The agenda for the meeting will be posted in early October on the advisory council page of our website; a meeting summary from the June advisory council meeting can now be found on this same page. As you know, collaboration is at the heart of ROSA’s mission, and these advisory council meetings provide us with a great opportunity to discuss and work together on critical initiatives. I hope you are able to participate in this fall’s meeting.

 

Dec
7
Wed
Stormwater & Plastic Pollution Webinar @ webinar
Dec 7 @ 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Join Clean Virginia Waterways on December 7th from 1:00- 2:30 pm for a webinar to discuss the impacts of debris and plastic pollution on stormwater management systems.
This free webinar will address urban trash pollution and will highlight strategies employed to intercept a piece of trash before it becomes part of the stormwater runoff and is conveyed to and through the storm sewer system. Hear from trusted experts from The International Trash Trap Network and Clean Virginia Waterways. You’ll have a chance to ask questions, share best practices from your locality, connect with colleagues across the region, and provide your insights on this important topic! We look forward to this opportunity to connect with you.
A Zoom link will be emailed to you.
This and other FREE webinars are made possible through support from our donors, sponsors and a grant from the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (CZM).

 

Dec
12
Mon
MAFMC December Hybrid Council Meeting @ Westin Annapolis, MD and virtual
Dec 12 @ 1:30 pm – Dec 15 @ 1:30 pm

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will meet December 12-15, 2022 in Annapolis, Maryland. Portions of the meeting will be conducted jointly with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission’s Summer Flounder, Scup, and Black Sea Bass Management Board and Interstate Fishery Management Program Policy Board.

This will be conducted as a hybrid meeting. Council members, other meeting participants, and members of the public will have the option to participate in person at The Westin Annapolis or virtually via Webex webinar. Please see the December 2022 Council Meeting Page for webinar details, public comment deadlines, briefing materials (as they become available), and other updates.

A detailed agenda is available here. Below is an overview of the main topics to be covered each day.

Monday, December 12

  • Executive Committee (Closed Session)
  • Habitat Activities Update
  • Offshore Wind Updates
  • Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Species Separation Requirements Amendment – Final Action

Tuesday, December 13

(Joint with ASMFC boards)

  • Harvest Control Rule Framework / Addendum Percent Change Approach and Recreational Fishery Models
  • 2023 Scup Recreational Measures
  • 2023 Black Sea Bass Recreational Measures
  • 2023 Summer Flounder Recreational Measures
  • Previously Initiated Recreational Reform Actions

Wednesday, December 14

  • Climate Change Scenario Planning
  • Monkfish Framework 13: 2023-2025 Specifications and Management Measures
  • Protected Resources Updates
  • 2023 Implementation Plan

Thursday, December 15

  • Proposed Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary
  • Business Session

Questions? Contact Mary Sabo, msabo@mafmc.org, (302) 526-5261.

Mar
2
Thu
OA Research and Education Highlights Around the Region @ webinar
Mar 2 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
OA Research and Education Highlights Around the Region @ webinar
Our 2023 webinar series kicks off March 2 at 12 PM ET with: OA Research and Education Highlights Around the Region. Invited speakers Fei Da, Annie Schatz, and Abbey Sisti from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science will share their research on:
  • Examining impacts of extreme discharge events and climate change on the carbonate system of the York River Estuary using a coupled physical-biogeochemical model
  • Comparing climate resilience of selectively-bred larval aquaculture broodstock to that of the wild Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica 
  • Building collaborative partnerships between scientists and educators to develop new education materials focused on the effects of ocean acidification on American lobsters

Abstracts and Speaker Information:

Impacts of Extreme River Discharge and Climate-induced Changes in the Estuarine Carbonate System
This study uses a coupled physical-biogeochemical model to examine the impacts of extreme discharge events and climate change on the carbonate system of the York River Estuary, a tidal tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. The recent year-to-year variability in calcium carbonate saturation state (Ω) driven by changing river inputs is comparable to reductions due to 50 years of climate change. During recent record high river runoff events (e.g., May 2018), drastic reductions in Ω are associated with increased net community respiration and net advection of high dissolved inorganic carbon river water, with increased CO2 outgassing playing a minor counteracting role. These large disruptions have a lasting effect that can be measured up to one month after a single extreme event. Additionally, shallow shoals of the lower York River Estuary, where most oyster reefs are located, exhibit fewer days with Ω < 1 and recover faster after a high discharge event compared to other locations within the estuary.
Fei Da, Ph.D. candidate from Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). His dissertation research focuses on using numerical models and observations to examine the impact of local human activities and global climate change on the Chesapeake Bay carbonate system. He received a B.S. in oceanography from Nanjing University, China and an M.S. in marine science from VIMS, with a focus on atmospheric nitrogen deposition and hypoxia in the Chesapeake Bay.

Wild-n-wacky or Bred-n-butter: Are Larvae from Selectively-bred Aquaculture Broodstock More Resilient to Climate Change than those from Wild Eastern Oysters,Crassostrea virginica?

Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) provide ecosystem (e.g. 3-D reef structures) and economic (e.g. aquaculture) services to the Chesapeake Bay and other coastal areas. Oyster aquaculture is a growing industry, and the need for traits such as fast growth and disease resistance led to the development of multiple generations of selectively-bred and refined broodstock lines. Development and preservation of selected broodstock could affect various physiological processes in offspring that could potentially result in different responses to stress compared to their wild counterparts. As environmental conditions within the Chesapeake Bay continue to shift warmer and more acidic – which are individually and simultaneously known to decrease shell and tissue growth, decrease energy stores, change metabolic pathways and affect development – responses to these conditions may differ between selectively-bred and wild oysters, potentially affecting their success in the future. Because larval oysters are considered the most vulnerable and sensitive life stage and therefore are already a bottleneck to the success of wild oyster populations and aquaculture production, my study exposed larvae from wild oysters and selectively-bred broodstock to four treatments composed of two temperature and two acidic conditions that represent average ambient and current extreme states in the mesohaline region of the Chesapeake Bay. Growth, biomass, cellular stress, and survival were measured throughout showing that larvae from wild oysters may be more resilient to warming and acidifying waters than those from selectively-bred oysters.

Annie Schatz, Ph.D candidate at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary. She works with Dr. Emily Rivest to study the potential physiological impacts of climate change on the early-life stages of marine invertebrate species. Her research focuses on effects from multiple environmental stressors, ocean acidification, how environmental history may impact performance of later life stages and shellfish aquaculture. Annie received her B.S. from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA where she studied how the respiration rates of two populations of Acorn barnacles differed across a range of temperatures.

Laboratory to Classroom Translation: A Case Study of OA and American Lobsters

Building collaborative relationships between scientists and educators is an important step in improving climate change education. By providing real-world data and hands-on experiences, scientists can assist students in connecting marine processes with changes in marine and human communities. A recent project focused on understanding effects of ocean acidification on American lobsters is a strong case study for extended collaboration between scientists and educators. Three main tools were used to develop educational materials: an internship to provide hands-on research experience for science teachers, multimedia content for sharing information about the project, and the Virginia Scientist Educator Alliance (VASEA) to provide training for lesson plan design. Together, these project components can serve as a roadmap for scientists and educators looking to improve ocean acidification education.

Abbey Sisti, PhD candidate at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. She has a B.S. and M.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Alabama. Her research focuses on understanding marine invertebrate responses to climate change conditions. Abbey is interested in translating climate change science to educational and policy contexts.

Oct
1
Sun
University of Delaware- Coast Day 2023
Oct 1 @ 11:00 am – 3:00 pm