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Projects

Ocean and Coastal Acidification Thresholds from Long Island Sound to the Nova Scotian Shelf

ocean acidification / By

How will nearshore and coastal ecosystems respond to ocean and coastal acidification in the Northeast? How will these changes affect human communities? An absence of actionable information and understanding of the dynamic nature of coastal acidification is a major challenge to Northeast seafood industry, resource managers, and coastal policymakers. This project will expand the existing Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System to develop actionable guidance for coastal water quality and marine resource managers through workshops and direct engagement. Workshops and focus groups will be held to determine information needs, decision scenarios, modeling priorities, and options for delivering actionable information for three specific users: (1) water quality managers and monitoring systems, (2) oyster growers, and (3) the wild harvest shellfishing industry. The research will focus on advancing ocean acidification detection and warning systems that take into account other environmental stressors in Northeast coastal waters.

Ocean and Coastal Acidification Thresholds from Long Island Sound to the Nova Scotian Shelf Read More »

Seagrass

Can meadows of underwater eelgrass help mitigate the harmful effects of Ocean Acidification on Eastern oysters?

ocean acidification / By

This modeling project will identify the threshold of acidification beyond which the economically important Eastern oyster is negatively impacted and will evaluate the potential benefit of seagrasses in protecting oysters and the ecosystem services they provide.

Can meadows of underwater eelgrass help mitigate the harmful effects of Ocean Acidification on Eastern oysters? Read More »

Research to inform adaptation decisions for Alaska’s Salmon Fisheries

ocean acidification / By

Alaska is expected to experience ocean acidification faster than any other United States coastal waters, primarily due to its colder water which absorbs more carbon dioxide than warmer waters. With seafood industry job incomes over $1.5 billion annually and a communities that rely on healthy oceans for subsistence, nutrition, and culture, increased ocean acidification is expected to have significant implications. Research on the potential impact to salmon has emerged as one of the top priorities, identified during a 2016 statewide workshop and stakeholder survey. Despite the economic importance of salmon, little research has been done on the effects of ocean acidification on salmon and the fishing industry and communities that depends on salmon. Acidification has been shown to impair coho salmon’s ability to smell and detect their prey. It has also been shown to reduce pink salmon growth rates. In addition, future ocean acidification is expected to affect salmon prey species, which is expected to affect Pacific salmon survival, abundance and productivity. This project will investigate the implication of ocean acidification thresholds and major ecosystem shifts in the Gulf of Alaska on salmon. Integrated human-ecological models will be developed to simulate management scenarios to assess the benefits of pre-emptive adaptation planning and policy making. The information from modeling these scenarios will help create decision tools for salmon managers.

Research to inform adaptation decisions for Alaska’s Salmon Fisheries Read More »

Low pH in Coastal Waters of the Gulf of Maine: A Data Synthesis-Driven Investigation of Probable Sources, Patterns and Processes Involved

OA News / By

Coastal Maine supports valuable lobster, clam, oyster and other shellfish industries that comprise >90% of Maine’s record $616M landed value last year. Earlier monitoring efforts in Maine and New Hampshire have documented periods of unusually acidic conditions in subsurface waters of Maine’s estuaries, which may be driven by episodic influxes of waters from the Gulf’s nutrient-rich, highly productive coastal current system. Sources of acidity to the estuaries also include the atmosphere, freshwater fluxes, and local eutrophication processes, all modulated by variability imparted by a number of processes.This project is a data synthesis effort to look at long-term trends in water quality data to identify the key drivers of acidification in this area. Extensive data sets dating back to the 1980s (including carbonate system, hydrography, oxygen, nutrients, and other environmental variables) will be assembled, subjected to QA/QC, and analyzed to assess acidification events in the context of landward, seaward and direct atmospheric sources, as may be related to processes operating on tidal to decadal timescales. Such analyses are requisite for any future vulnerability assessments of fishery-dependent communities in Maine and New Hampshire to the effects of coastal acidification.

Low pH in Coastal Waters of the Gulf of Maine: A Data Synthesis-Driven Investigation of Probable Sources, Patterns and Processes Involved Read More »

Vulnerability and Adaptation to Ocean Acidification Among Pacific Northwest Mussel and Oyster Stakeholders

OA News / By

Ocean acidification (OA) is already harming shellfish species in the Pacific Northwest, a global hotspot of OA. While OA poses a threat to regional communities, economies, and cultures that rely on shellfish, identified gaps remain in adaptive capacity and vulnerability of several stakeholders. This project will address these gaps by extending long-standing collaborative OA vulnerability research with shellfish growers to include other shellfish users (e.g. port towns, Native American tribes and shellfish sector employees). The project includes five objectives: 1) Map variations in shellfisheries’ exposure to OA and identify those that are most sensitive, 2) quantify production losses from OA and costs of investment in adaptation 3) Identify potential pathways for adaptation, 4) identify key technological, institutional, legislative, financial and cultural barriers to OA adaptation, 5) evaluate the cost of potential adaptation strategies, and develop behavioral models to predict the likelihood of users adopting specific adaptation strategies. The research is designed to identify key vulnerabilities, determine the cost of OA to Pacific Northwest shellfish stakeholders, and to model adaptation pathways for maximizing resilience to OA. The adaptation framework developed here will be replicable in other shellfisheries yet to experience OA impacts.
 

Vulnerability and Adaptation to Ocean Acidification Among Pacific Northwest Mussel and Oyster Stakeholders Read More »

MAPCO2 Buoys at NCRMP CLASS III Sites in US Coral Reefs

OA News / By

The long-term observations of carbonate chemistry at U.S.-affiliated coral reef sites are critical to understanding the impact of ocean acidification (OA) on coral ecosystems over time. This effort addresses NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) requirements for Monitoring of Ocean Chemistry by building and maintaining the coral reef portion of the OA monitoring network. This supports funding shortfalls associated with the NCRMP Class III MAPCO2 buoys at Cheeca Rocks and Kaneohoe Bay. Furthermore, this provides resources for the procurement of a new MAPCO2 buoy slated for deployment in Fagatele Bay, American Samoa in FY18, to establish the 2nd of three planned NCRMP Class III sites in the U.S. Pacific.

MAPCO2 Buoys at NCRMP CLASS III Sites in US Coral Reefs Read More »

Development of Ocean Acidification “pHyter” – Plankton Monitoring Tools & Curriculum

education & outreach / By

NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries of the West Coast Region (Olympic Coast, Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, Monterey Bay and Channel Islands) will partner with Flathead Valley Community College, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) and NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NFSC), to increase accessibility and understanding of tools and protocol for ocean acidification monitoring through citizen science and education programs.

Humans and the ocean are inextricably interconnected, with all humans relying on ocean ecosystem outputs such as oxygen, water and food.  Currently, ocean ecosystems are threatened by multiple global change stressors, including ocean acidification (OA).  The development of OA monitoring tools and education curriculum will be instrumental in providing the public with a better understanding of the process of OA and impacts of a more acidic environment to valuable ocean ecosystems.

NOAA’s West Coast Region (WCR) sanctuaries will work with external partner Dr. David Long, of Flathead Valley Community College, to pilot a field-based pH-measuring instrument called ”pHyter” with WCR sanctuaries’ OA education and outreach programs, including citizen science, teacher workshops and student field investigations. Dr. Long  and his students recently developed pHyter: a hand-held chemical indicator-based spectrophotometric pH- measuring device.  OAP funds will support the expansion of pHyter instrument capabilities to permit iPhone and android apps to interface and upload to the international GLOBE Program GIS database, increasing accessibility of pH data.

Development of Ocean Acidification “pHyter” – Plankton Monitoring Tools & Curriculum Read More »

A Strategy for Ocean and Coastal Acidification (OCA) Education and Citizen Science Monitoring in the Northeast

OA News / By

This project will cross-calibrate citizen science monitoring protocols for ocean acidification among independent organizations in the Northeast by developing a replicable citizen science monitoring training program. This will be accomplished by providing trainings and materials specific for volunteer and citizen science audiences through a series of regional workshops. The project team will (1) develop the first replicable citizen science monitoring program in accordance with recently developed EPA guidance document, Guidelines for Measuring Changes in Seawater pH and Associated Carbonate Chemistry in Coastal Environments of the Eastern United States, (2) provide in-person technical trainings and educational materials through an initial series of three regional workshops in Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut and (3) support the successful use of citizen science participation in research and management by building on the Northeast Coastal Acidification Network’s extensive capacity and stakeholder network.

A Strategy for Ocean and Coastal Acidification (OCA) Education and Citizen Science Monitoring in the Northeast Read More »

Local actions and solutions: communicating new perspectives from the frontlines of ocean acidification research

OA News / By

Ocean acidification science has evolved rapidly over the past decade. This research landscape has shifted in two important directions. First, the scale of investigation, once limited to global or open ocean scale observations, has broadened with focus on resolving local expression and impacts of OA. Second, research that was almost exclusively restricted to understanding and forecasting exposure and impacts is now complimented by studies on the local actions and solutions for OA mitigation and adaptation. These shifts have created new opportunities for a communications arena where the need for local, solutions-based messages have been identified as key barriers to engagement. At the same time, the lack of effective communications tools that make new research knowledge readily accessible to a range of audience groups has also been recognized as a priority area of need.
 
To address these gaps, we propose to develop a series of audience-specific videos that focuses on local actions and solutions that are underway in Oregon to address OA. By telling the stories of 1) a citizen science OA monitoring network, 2) efforts to breed a better (more OA-resistant) oyster, 3) shellfish hatcheries adapting to change, and 4) new benefits from seagrass beds in mitigating OA, we aim to broaden the OA narrative to include messages of positive actions. We will produce videos that are tailored for 3 groups of audiences (estimated numbers reached): high school students that will receive a new OA curriculum module (~200), aquarium visitors on the Oregon Coast (up to 150,000/yr), and engaged stakeholders visiting a new Oregon ocean story map site (~1000) and/or attend public forums on coastal issues (~400).  The project team comprises a partnership between Oregon Sea Grant, and representatives from academic research (Oregon State University) and environmental NGO’s (Surfrider Foundation).

Local actions and solutions: communicating new perspectives from the frontlines of ocean acidification research Read More »

Forecasts for Alaska Fisheries

Crab pots and fishing nets in Alaska's Dutch Harbor
Image credit: Michael Theberge

Understanding seasonal changes in ocean acidification in Alaskan waters and the potential impacts to the multi-billion-dollar fishery sector is a main priority. Through work funded by NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program, the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory developed a model capable of depicting past ocean chemistry conditions for the Bering Sea and is now testing the ability of this model to forecast future conditions. This model is being used to develop an ocean acidification indicator provided to fisheries managers in the annual NOAA Eastern Bering Sea Ecosystem Status Report.

ADAPTING TO OCEAN ACIDIFICATION

The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program (OAP) works to prepare society to adapt to the consequences of ocean acidification and conserve marine ecosystems as acidification occurs. Learn more about the human connections and adaptation strategies from these efforts.

Adaptation approaches fostered by the OAP include:

FORECASTING

Using models and research to understand the sensitivity of organisms and ecosystems to ocean acidification to make predictions about the future, allowing communities and industries to prepare

Closeup of oysters cupped in someone's hands

MANAGEMENT

Using these models and predictions as tools to facilitate management strategies that will protect marine resources and communities from future changes

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Developing innovative tools to help monitor ocean acidification and mitigate changing ocean chemistry locally

REDUCING OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

50 more ways to reduce your carbon footprint >

On the Road

Drive fuel-efficient vehicles or choose public transportation. Choose your bike or walk! Don't sit idle for more than 30 seconds. Keep your tires properly inflated.

With your Food Choices

Eat local- this helps cut down on production and transport! Reduce your meat and dairy. Compost to avoid food waste ending up in the landfill

With your Food Choices

Make energy-efficient choices for your appliances and lighting. Heat and cool efficiently! Change your air filters and program your thermostat, seal and insulate your home, and support clean energy sources

By Reducing Coastal Acidification

Reduce your use of fertilizers, Improve sewage treatment and run off, and Protect and restore coastal habitats

TAKE ACTION WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

You've taken the first step to learn more about ocean acidification - why not spread this knowledge to your community?

Every community has their unique culture, economy and ecology and what’s at stake from ocean acidification may be different depending on where you live.  As a community member, you can take a larger role in educating the public about ocean acidification. Creating awareness is the first step to taking action.  As communities gain traction, neighboring regions that share marine resources can build larger coalitions to address ocean acidification.  Here are some ideas to get started:

  1. Work with informal educators, such as aquarium outreach programs and local non-profits, to teach the public about ocean acidification. Visit our Education & Outreach page to find the newest tools!
  2. Participate in habitat restoration efforts to restore habitats that help mitigate the effects of coastal acidification
  3. Facilitate conversations with local businesses that might be affected by ocean acidification, building a plan for the future.
  4. Partner with local community efforts to mitigate the driver behind ocean acidification  – excess CO2 – such as community supported agriculture, bike & car shares and other public transportation options.
  5. Contact your regional Coastal Acidification Network (CAN) to learn how OA is affecting your region and more ideas about how you can get involved in your community
       More for Taking Community Action