International Year of the Salmon (IYS) Wrap-Up Symposium 2022

The International Year of the Salmon (IYS) Wrap-Up Symposium will be held October 4-6, 2022 in Vancouver, Canada. 2022 is the final year of the International Year of the Salmon.

The Symposium will be held over three days in the heart of majestic Vancouver, Canada during the splendor of Fall.

The International Year of the Salmon (IYS) Wrap-Up Symposium will be held in-person and provide an opportunity for salmon scientists, managers, and knowledge holders to build connections after an extended period of limited travel and virtual meetings.

The Wrap-Up Symposium theme will be ‘Salmon in a Rapidly Changing World: Synthesis of the International Year of the Salmon and a Roadmap to 2030.’

The International Year of the Salmon (IYS), a five-year initiative established in 2018 and governed by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO), has explored the conditions necessary for the resilience of salmon and people in a changing world.

The IYS is bringing together participants from academia, government, industry, NGOs and Indigenous organizations to consider the progress made by the IYS, and discuss the actions necessary to enable progress towards these conditions over the next decade.

The IYS Synthesis Symposium: ‘Salmon in a Rapidly Changing World: Synthesis of the International Year of the Salmon and a Roadmap to 2030’ is the culmination of over 13 workshops and symposia, three historic High Seas Expeditions and over 80 associated events across the North Atlantic and North Pacific basins.

The IYS Synthesis Symposium will have a strong focus on forward looking perspectives, with the ultimate goal of developing a Roadmap for the resilience of salmon and people through to 2030.

Presentations will be organized under five of the IYS themes:

Status of Salmon
Information Systems
Salmon in a Changing Salmosphere
New Frontiers
Human Dimensions

The synthesis papers and the presentations given during the Symposium will be used to identify critical knowledge or method gaps and potential solutions.

The Symposium will be hosted by The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (nasco.int) and The North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (npafc.org).

For more information, visit: yearofthesalmon.org

Canada Inuit Nunangat Arctic Region

Canada Arctic Region

In 2018, Canada announced the creation of a stand-alone Arctic Region inclusive of the four regions of Inuit Nunangat for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) and the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG).

According to DFO, the new region was created to address fishing, shipping, resource development, and other interests in light of the changing arctic climate.

The creation of the Arctic Region will be implemented in phases and has already begun with the hiring of new DFO Regional Director General, Gabriel Nirlungayuk and a new Assistant Commissioner of the Coast Guard.

They will both work with Inuit and all Indigenous peoples, as well as residents of the North to define the borders of the new Region and its activities.

The new Region will enable DFO and the Coast Guard to work more closely with Inuit and all Indigenous Leaders, Indigenous organizations, stakeholders and all residents of the Arctic on innovative approaches to program and service delivery.

There will be 7 Fisheries and Oceans Canada regions once the stand-alone Arctic region has been established. Currently, the agency has 6 administrative regions: Newfoundland and Labrador, Maritimes-Scotia Fundy, Gulf, Quebec, Central, and Arctic and Pacific.

The Canadian Coast Guard will have 4 operational regions once the stand-alone Arctic region is established. CCG currently has 3 operational regions: Western, Central and Arctic, and Atlantic.

There are four Inuit regions in Canada, Nunatsiavut (Labrador); Nunavik (Quebec); Nunavut; and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories. Known collectively as Inuit Nunangat, the region encompasses 35 percent of Canada’s landmass and 50 percent of its coastline.

Related Information

Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans

Canada Commercial Fishing

2016 Ocean Literacy Summit

Registration is now open for the 2016 Ocean Literacy Summit. Join scientists, informal and formal educators, students, and others at the Ocean Literacy Summit.

This year's Ocean Literacy Summit will take place November 3rd and 4th in Portland, Maine.

The 2016 Ocean Literacy Summit will focus on Ocean Literacy principle #3; The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate.

Events will include:

• a climate change workshop led by the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI);
• a keynote address by Dr. Andy Pershing, Chief Scientific Officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI);
• talks by scientists and educators, in a redesigned format that will enable participants to hear all presentations;
• an interactive Science an Education Fair to highlight hands-on activities and interpretive ideas on teaching ocean literacy;
• a panel on effective messaging, creative tools, tips and marketing;
• and numerous networking opportunities.

The New England Ocean Science Education Collaborative (NEOSEC) is a diverse networked collaboration of more than forty institutions from across New England, including aquariums, museums, universities, government entities and science and research centers.

NEOSEC’s mission and collective purpose are to leverage New England’s extraordinary assets, to engage the public in understanding the vital connections between people and the ocean.

For more information, visit: www.neosec.org

source: New England Ocean Science Education Collaborative

Gulf Coast Vulnerability Assessment (USFWS)

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) recently released its Gulf Coast Vulnerability Assessment (GCVA).

The report evaluates the effects of climate change, sea level rise, and urbanization on four Gulf Coast ecosystems and 11 species that depend on them.

The ecosystems are mangrove, oyster reef, tidal emergent marsh and barrier islands. The species are roseate spoonbill, blue crab, clapper rail, mottled duck, spotted seatrout, eastern oyster, American oystercatcher, red drum, black skimmer, Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, and Wilson’s plover.

The GCVA was initiated by four Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) that cover the Gulf of Mexico: Gulf Coast Prairie, Gulf Coastal Plains & Ozarks, South Atlantic, and Peninsular Florida.

To learn more about the GCVA visit: http://gulfcoastprairielcc.org/science/science-projects/gulf-coast-vulnerability-assessment/.

source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

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

Northeast Sea Surface Temperatures at Highest Level in 150 Years

Sea surface temperatures in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem during 2012 were the highest recorded in 150 years, according to the latest Ecosystem Advisory issued by NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC).

The high sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are the latest in a trend of above average temperature seen during the spring and summer seasons, and part of a pattern of elevated temperatures occurring in the Northwest Atlantic, but not seen elsewhere in the ocean basin over the past century.

The advisory reports on conditions in the second half of 2012.

Sea surface temperature for the Northeast Shelf Ecosystem reached a record high of 14 degrees Celsius (57.2°F) in 2012, exceeding the previous record high in 1951. Average SST has typically been lower than 12.4 C (54.3 F) over the past three decades.

Sea surface temperature in the region is based on both contemporary satellite remote-sensing data and long-term ship-board measurements, with historical SST conditions based on ship-board measurements dating back to 1854. The temperature increase in 2012 was the highest jump in temperature seen in the time series and one of only five times temperature has changed by more than 1 C (1.8 F).

The Northeast Shelf’s warm water thermal habitat was also at a record high level during 2012, while cold water habitat was at a record low level. Early winter mixing of the water column went to extreme depths, which will impact the spring 2013 plankton bloom. Mixing redistributes nutrients and affects stratification of the water column as the bloom develops.

Temperature is also affecting distributions of fish and shellfish on the Northeast Shelf. The advisory provides data on changes in distribution, or shifts in the center of the population, of seven key fishery species over time. The four southern species - black sea bass, summer flounder, longfin squid and butterfish - all showed a northeastward or upshelf shift. American lobster has shifted upshelf over time but at a slower rate than the southern species. Atlantic cod and haddock have shifted downshelf.

The Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) extends from the Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. The NEFSC has monitored this ecosystem with comprehensive sampling programs since1977. Prior to 1977, this ecosystem was monitored by the NEFSC through a series of separate, coordinated programs dating back decades.

Warming conditions on the Northeast Shelf in the spring of 2012 continued into September, with the most consistent warming conditions seen in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank. Temperatures cooled by October and were below average in the Middle Atlantic Bight in November, perhaps due to Superstorm Sandy, but had returned to above average conditions by December.

Ecosystem advisories have been issued twice a year by the NEFSC’s Ecosystem Assessment Program since 2006 as a way to routinely summarize overall conditions in the region. The reports show the effects of changing coastal and ocean temperatures on fisheries from Cape Hatteras to the Canadian border.

The advisories provide a snapshot of the ecosystem for the fishery management councils and also a broad range of stakeholders from fishermen to researchers.

The Spring 2013 Ecosystem Advisory is available online at http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/ecosys/advisory/current/advisory.html

source: NOAA Fisheries

2013 Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium

Sea Ice covering the Arctic Ocean melted away to a record low in 2012, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Alaska Sea Grant will convene Responses of Arctic Marine Ecosystems to Climate Change, the 28th Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium, in Anchorage, Alaska, March 26–29, 2013.

The event will bring scientists from around the world to share their research on how arctic marine ecosystems are responding to climate change.

Symposium topics will include:
* Observed and anticipated environmental changes in the Arctic.

* Lower trophic level productivity of arctic waters in a changing climate.

* Marine fish resources of the Arctic in a changing climate.

* Observed and anticipated responses of arctic birds and marine mammals to environmental changes in the Arctic.

* Effects of changing arctic marine ecosystems on humans.

* Understanding and managing arctic marine ecosystems in a time of change.

A complete description and agenda of the symposium can be found online at www.alaskaseagrant.org

The symposium is organized by Alaska Sea Grant, guided by steering committee members from NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, UAF School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, Pew Environment Group, U.S. Arctic Research Commission, Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, North Pacific Fishery Management Council, North Pacific Research Board, and the Institute of Marine Research in Norway.

source: Alaska Sea Grant

Ocean Acidification - Climate Change Research

Alaska Sea Grant recently announced the availability of new climate change-related publications.

"Ocean Acidification and Fisheries: Alaska's Challenge and Response" was authored by Marine Advisory agent Torie Baker. In the article the author describes how ocean acidification impacts Alaska’s seas and explores ocean acidification topics that Alaska researchers focus on and why.

Commercially important shellfish are a top research priority because of their economic value and because they are likely to suffer direct effects of reduced calcium carbonate availability.

Terry Johnson added three new climate adaptation fact sheets to the website Adapting to Climate Change in Coastal Alaska: Fisheries Effects, Harmful Algal Blooms, and Species Shifts.

The Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program project brings a marine-dependent community perspective to climate change adaptation issues by supplying adaption tools, fact sheets, and videos. The project is supported by the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP).

Each of the documents can be obtained at the Alaska Sea Grant bookstore.

source: Alaska Sea Grant

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Climate Change Strategy

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has released its Climate Change Strategy that describes expected impacts from our changing climate on fish and wildlife resources and their uses across Alaska. The document points to needed research, and identifies key strategies and initial actions the department intends to take in order to address anticipated impacts.

"The changing climate brings additional challenges to managing fish and wildlife and their uses. This strategy helps us define the challenges and identifies important steps we will be taking to prepare and adapt," said Doug Vincent-Lang, Special Assistant with the department.

source: Alaska Department of Fish and Game