2017 North Carolina Coastal Conference

2017 North Carolina Coastal Conference
April 4 - 5, 2017
McKimmon Center
Raleigh, NC

North Carolina Sea Grant will host North Carolina’s Coastal Conference, April 4 - 5, 2017, at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The 2017 Coastal Conference will energize partnerships to develop solutions that can benefit the state’s coastal communities, economies, and ecosystems.

“Many communities from central North Carolina to the coast found their resilience tested in 2016,” notes Susan White, executive director of North Carolina Sea Grant and the Water Resources Research Institute of the University of North Carolina system. “They continue to need information and resources to respond to, recover from and anticipate both urgent and long-term coastal challenges.”

Coastal Conference sessions will include:

weather, storms and climate;

community and ecosystem health;

fisheries and aquaculture; and

planning and economics.

Experts from the fields of economics, transportation, energy, environment, industry, and health will lead interdisciplinary sessions designed to bring together diverse perspectives.

The program includes a networking reception on April 4 at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences’ Nature Research Center in Raleigh.

Registration and other details are available at ncseagrant.ncsu.edu/nc-coastal-conference.

source: North Carolina Sea Grant

2017 Maine - New Hampshire Beaches Conference

The Beaches Conference 2017 (Maine - New Hampshire)
July 14, 2017
Wells High School, Wells, ME
seagrant.umaine.edu/maine-beaches-conference

The Beaches Conference 2017 will be held July 14, 2017 at Wells High School in Wells, Maine. Participant registration will begin in May.

The Beaches Conference works to provide continuing opportunities for exchange of the most current information among beach and coastal stakeholders with diverse interests, and to present the findings from Maine and New Hampshire beach monitoring programs.

Conference Themes:

Management approaches in our coastal habitats
Implementing successful projects in beach communities
Preparing for and adapting to our future
The nature, and culture of our beaches
Monitoring, research, and emerging issues on the coast
Respecting stakeholder needs and values
Coastal development and regulation

The Beaches Conference Steering Committee includes:
Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Kennebec Estuary Land Trust
Maine Coastal Program
Maine Department of Environmental Protection
Maine Geological Survey
Maine Healthy Beach Volunteers
Maine Sea Grant
New Hampshire Sea Grant
Rockingham Planning Commission
Southern Maine Planning and Development Commission
Town of Damariscotta
Town of Kennebunkport
University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Walsh Engineering
Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve


For more information, visit: seagrant.umaine.edu/maine-beaches-conference


source: Maine Sea Grant

2016 Shape of the Coast

The 2016 Shape of the Coast is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 12, at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill. This event is part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Law Festival of Legal Learning.

The coastal session is co-sponsored by the N.C. Coastal Resources Law, Planning and Policy Center; North Carolina Sea Grant; and the UNC Chapel Hill’s School of Law.

The program for the State of the Coast will include updates from the N.C. Coastal Resources Commission, the legislature and the court.

"This year’s program includes a set of timely and robust coastal law topics. Participants will learn how attorneys can most effectively work with scientists as expert witnesses, and about recent and ongoing litigation related to our public trust beaches," notes Lisa Schiavinato, center co-director and Sea Grant coastal law, policy and community development specialist.

"Whether you’re an attorney, business owner, scientist, regulator or policymaker, you’ll have a chance to learn about coastal law issues that are relevant to you as a professional."

To register, visit www.law.unc.edu/cle/festival.

source: North Carolina Sea Grant

Mississippi Red Tides 2015

Along the Mississippi Coast, unusual red tides (harmful algae blooms) are affecting commercial fishing, outdoor recreation, and other activities.

In December, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), through its Beach Monitoring Program, issued a preemptive closure for all beach segments along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

In addition, officials with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) closed oyster reefs. The decision was made as a precautionary measure due to the proximity of potentially harmful algae blooms in the Mississippi Sound.

The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources has information for the public about harmful algal blooms, or red tide, on its website, dmr.ms.gov.

source: Mississippi Department of Marine Resources

El Niño and La Niña Pacific Coast Effects

The projected upsurge of severe El Niño and La Niña events will cause an increase in storm events leading to extreme coastal flooding and erosion in populated regions across the Pacific Ocean, according to a multi-agency study published recently in Nature Geoscience.

“This study significantly advances the scientific knowledge of the impacts of El Niño and La Niña,” said Patrick Barnard, USGS coastal geologist and the lead author of the study. “Understanding the effects of severe storms fueled by El Niño or La Niña helps coastal managers prepare communities for the expected erosion and flooding associated with this climate cycle.”

New research data, from 48 beaches across three continents and five countries bordering the Pacific Ocean, suggest the predicted increase will exacerbate coastal erosion irrespective of sea level rise affecting the region.

Researchers from 13 different institutions, including the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales and the University of Waikato (New Zealand) analyzed coastal data from across the Pacific Ocean basin from 1979 to 2012.

The published paper, “Coastal vulnerability across the Pacific dominated by El Niño/Southern Oscillation” is available online.

source: U.S. Geological Survey

2015 National Estuaries Day

National Estuaries Day will be held on Saturday, September 26, 2015.

In celebration of National Estuaries Day, beach clean-ups, hikes, canoe and kayak trips, cruises, workshops, and other special events are organized by Restore America's Estuaries member organizations, NOAA’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System, and EPA’s National Estuary Program.

National Estuaries Day began in 1988 to promote the importance of estuaries and the need to protect them. National Estuaries Day is held annually the last Saturday of September.

Maine Shore and Harbor Planning Grants

The Maine Coastal Program, part of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF), recently announced awards to nine coastal municipalities. The awards will provide support for harbor management, waterfront infrastructure planning and design, and public access.

Funding for the grants comes from DACF’s federal coastal management award from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and from Maine’s Submerged Lands Program. Each grantee will provide a minimum of 25% in matching funds or services.

Grants were awarded as follows:

1. Bath – Guilford Lot Cooperative Fishing Pier: $10,000 for design and engineering services to develop a vacant lot along the Kennebec River into a cooperative fishing pier.

2. Brunswick – Brunswick Public Mooring Field Opportunities: $15,900 to assess options for creating a town mooring field for non- residents.

3. Cranberry Isles – Islesford Town Dock Repairs: $30,000 for engineering and design to repair and extend the Islesford Town Dock.

4. Cumberland – Payson Pier Replacement Project: $20,906 for engineering and design of a new pier.

5. Frenchboro – Waterfront Management Plan: $20,000 to develop a plan for managing municipal waterfront resources.

6. Ogunquit – Replacement of Existing Pedestrian Bridge: $20,000 for design and engineering of a new pedestrian bridge to provide safer access to Ogunquit Beach.

7. Portland – East End Beach Non-Motorized Boating Facility: $22,500 to design new floats and dockage for non-motorized watercraft activity on East End Beach.

8. Sedgwick – Benjamin River Harbor Design and Engineering: $15,000 for engineering of improvements or a replacement for the existing pier, as well as conceptual design of the entire municipal facility.

9. Wells – Who Owns the Beach? Access and Ownership Research: $8,900 to evaluate the applicability of local historical deeds and possible implications on public access in the community.

More information on the grant program can be found at http://www.maine.gov/dacf/mcp/grants/shore-and-harbor-planning-grants.html.

New NOAA Habitat Focus Areas

NOAA has chosen areas of Guam and Hawaii as the next Habitat Focus Areas under NOAA’s Habitat Blueprint program.
     

Manell-Geus, Guam

Located at the southern tip of Guam, the Manell-Geus watershed contains extensive seagrass beds and coral reefs that support the local village’s strong fishing tradition.

The seagrass beds and patch reefs in Cocos Lagoon also provide important forage and resting habitat for sea turtles.

West Hawaii

The west side of the Big Island is known for white sandy beaches and coral reefs that make it a popular tourist destination. The region is home to several threatened and endangered species as well as species of concern that are important to Hawaii’s economy, culture, and environment.

The South Kohala district is one of the fastest growing areas on the Big Island and development is on the rise. Land uses range from military, residential, and commercial sites to resort areas and very popular beaches. There are a variety of historical sites including archeological sites, traditional fishing areas, gathering sites, and Hawaiian fish ponds.

For more information, visit: http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/habitatblueprint/pacificislands.html

source: habitat.noaa.gov

Delaware Seashore State Park Fishing Access

Public access for surf and jetty fishing will be improved at Delaware Seashore State Park for the 2014 fishing season. $10 million worth of major upgrades, replacements and enhancements along the south and north sides of the Indian River Inlet.

Upon completion, anglers will find a number of improvements, including:

Indian River Inlet - South Side
new south inlet Day-Use parking lot and entrance

additional parking for anglers

outdoor pavilions

promenade along the Indian River Inlet

renovated bathhouses

new scenic beach access

94 family camping sites

new RV sites with full hook-ups)

DART Bus stop



Indian River Inlet - North Side

enhanced fishing access along the inlet

direct access to the beach

north inlet Day-Use parking lot

over 200 visitor parking spaces

outdoor pavilions

RV campground and amenities

80-space full hook-up family campground

playground

For more information, visit: www.destateparks.com

New Water-Quality Test May Reduce Beach Closures

A new rapid water-quality test provides accurate same day results of bacteria levels, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The new test could help reduce un-neccessary beach closures in both saltwater and freshwater environments. Beach closures not only impact recreational users in the summertime, but they also create huge losses for the local economy.

Due to a variety of waterborne illnesses, beaches have been at the forefront of recent research on human health risk.

The new rapid water-quality test, developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will help managers across the country determine whether beaches are safe for swimming in order to keep the public from getting sick.

Previous tests could not provide same-day results, so managers had to decide whether to close a beach based on findings from the day before.

The new rapid test, called quantitative polymerase chain reaction for enterococci, is recommended by the EPA, but it is not a requirement. The test has been included in the 2012 EPA guidelines for safe levels of indicator bacteria, including: Escherichia coli (E. coli) and enterococci.

source: U.S. Geological Survey

New England and Mid-Atlantic Beach Erosion

An assessment of coastal change over the past 150 years has found 68 percent of beaches in the New England and Mid-Atlantic region are eroding, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey report.

Scientists studied more than 650 miles of the New England and Mid-Atlantic coasts and found the average rate of coastal change was -1.6 feet per year.  Of those beaches eroding, the most extreme case exceeded 60 feet per year.

The past 25 to 30 years saw a small reduction in the percentage of beaches eroding – dropping to 60 percent, possibly as a result of beach restoration activities such as adding sand to beaches.

Beaches change in response to a variety of factors, including changes in the amount of available sand, storms, sea-level rise and human activities.  How much a beach is eroding or prograding in any given location is due to some combination of these factors, which vary from place to place.

The Mid-Atlantic coast from Long Island, N.Y. to the Virginia-North Carolina border is eroding at higher average rates than the New England coast.  The difference in the type of coastline, with sandy areas being more vulnerable to erosion than areas with a greater concentration of rocky coasts, was the primary factor.

The researchers found that, although coastal change is highly variable, the majority of the coast is eroding throughout both regions, indicating erosion hazards are widespread.

The researchers used historical data sources such as maps and aerial photographs, as well as modern data like lidar, or “light detection and ranging,” to measure shoreline change at more than 21,000 locations.

This analysis of past and present trends of shoreline movement is designed to allow for future repeatable analyses of shoreline movement, coastal erosion, and land loss. The results of the study provide a baseline for coastal change information that can be used to inform a wide variety of coastal management decisions, Hapke said.

The report, titled "National Assessment of Shoreline Change:  Historical Shoreline Change along the New England and Mid-Atlantic Coasts," is the fifth report produced as part of the USGS’s National Assessment of Shoreline Change project. An accompanying report that provides the geographic information system (GIS) data used to conduct the coastal change analysis is being released simultaneously.

source: USGS