[Coral-List] MPA Manager's Retreat
Jim Hendee
Jim.Hendee at noaa.gov
Wed Jun 21 12:55:39 EDT 2006
Greetings!
The proposed Caribbean MPA Managers meeting, originally scheduled
for August 7 - 11, 2006 in La Parguera, Puerto Rico (see below) was
found to be popular, but also at financial odds with the managers,
mainly due to other meetings held for them in a similar time frame when
only one or two meetings might be affordable in one year. Thus, we have
worked closely with the organizers of the 59th annual Gulf and Caribbean
Fisheries Institute conference, and will make our presentation and seek
input from the managers at that meeting, to be held from 6 Nov 2006
through 11 November 2006 in Belize City, Belize. We will give a
presentation, have a special booth to show all the new features
highlighted in the originally circulated message, and work closely with
other presenters in the Caribbean Connectivity portion of the meeting,
to underscore our goal of providing near real-time integrated data for
MPA decision support. Please visit this URL for information on
registering for the conference:
http://www.gcfi.org/Conferences/59th/Belize59.htm
I apologize to those of you who went through the effort of
registering for the La Parguera meeting. I still hope that we will get
a chance to meet with you in the near future and discuss ways in which
the Integrated Coral Observing Network (ICON) stations and online
software might work for you in MPA decision support. Please drop me a
line if you wish to know more.
Sincerely yours,
Jim Hendee
----------------------------------------------------
James C. Hendee, Ph.D.
Coral Health and Monitoring Program
Ocean Chemistry Division
Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce
4301 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, FL 33149-1026
Voice: (305) 361-4396
Fax: (305) 361-4447
Email: jim.hendee at noaa.gov
Web: http://www.coral.noaa.gov
--- In campam at yahoogroups.com, "Jim Hendee" <jim.hendee at ...> wrote:
Greetings!
This message is an invitation to Caribbean MPA managers to meet with
selected data suppliers and information systems engineers to help design
a next generation Web-based tool to aid in management and research,
based on the integration of near real-time and other data. The meeting
will be held at La Parguera, Puerto Rico, August 7-11, 2006, at the
Parador Villa Parguera near Phosphorescent Bay.
NOAA has committed to integrating ocean data from a variety of sources
under a project called the Integrated Ocean Observing System. NOAA's
Coral Reef Conservation Program has also committed to integrating coral
data from a variety of sources for the benefit of coral reef researchers
and Marine Protected Area (MPA) managers, especially under the aegis of
the Coral Reef Ecosystem Integrated Observing System program. NOAA
Research and the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
(AOML) are participating in this venture by providing Web-based software
to integrate various near real-time data sources, and by providing an
inference engine (artificial intelligence tool) to provide ecosystem
forecasts for MPA decision support under a program called the Integrated
Coral Observing Network (ICON).
~~ What We Hope To Accomplish ~~
We hope to eventually be able to provide decision support for selected
questions an MPA manager might have, such as:
* Is increased weekend user activity negatively affecting water
quality (turbidity, chlorophyll, nitrogen, wind/waves, for example)?
* Can I detect a pollution event?
* If there is an oil spill, can it be detected automatically and
what direction will it travel?
* When will selected fish/corals spawn (and where will they go)?
* When will selected fish/invertebrates migrate?
* Can I detect large ship intrusion into my MPA in time to stop a
disaster on the reefs?
* Can I detect large rainfall events, and how will these affect
local run-off into my MPA?
* How can I detect large-scale change in my reef systems?
* When are conditions conducive to coral disease and/or bleaching?
* When are conditions conducive to increased algal growth?
* Can I detect significant harmful algal blooms in time to prevent
fishing contaminated species?
* Can I detect unauthorized access into my MPA?
* How can I broadcast underwater live events (such as coral spawning
or bleaching) and other outreach events to the public?
* How can I see trends in environmental parameters through time, and
can I receive notice when things change?
After the meeting, a document will be prepared which summarizes the
Caribbean MPA Managers' requirements for data and research support, as
well as questions such as these. This document will be used to guide the
ICON team and colleagues in developing the software, but also in
providing guidance to other software developers and researchers of all
relevant disciplines.
~~ Attendance and Support ~~
Through NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program, and the Caribbean Coral
Reef Institute, funds are being provided to support rooms for about 20
managers or their designates; however, there will be room for about 80
additional attendees in the conference hall. All attendees must provide
their own air fare.
The priority on selecting attendees will be for managers from as many
representative Caribbean MPAs as possible; however, a few special guests
who are data suppliers will also be in attendance. The selection of
attendees will be made by the Program Managers and will be based mainly
on location and who first registered; however, you will have a chance to
apply for attendance based on special considerations.
A Web Page describing more about the project, as well as details and the
form for registering can be found at:
http://www.coral.noaa.gov/mpa/retreat/
All 20 officially invited attendees will be asked to give a 20 minute
presentation describing their coral reef MPA, but concentrating
especially on what their data, research and socioeconomic needs are. It
doesn't matter if particular data streams are currently available or
not: part of the purpose of the meeting is to determine which research
data sources need to be gained for effective management. In turn, the
ICON team will meet with the invitees as necessary for follow-up on how
we can help.
The period for selection of the representative attendees will closed May
1, 2006. An announcement will be made shortly thereafter as to the
supported and non-supported attendees. Non-supported attendees may
continue to apply so long as the 100 slots are not filled.
~~ The New La Parguera Marine Reserve ICON/CREWS Station ~~
The La Parguera Marine Reserve is the site of the latest CREWS station,
which is a data supplier to the ICON program. The University of Puerto
Rico's Department of Marine Science at the Magueyes Island Marine
Laboratory, and the Caribbean Coral Reef Institute (CCRI), are
collaborating with AOML to maintain and operate this station. We
anticipate being able to provide some support for attendees to visit the
station and the laboratory. Here are some links for more information:
* http://www.coral.noaa.gov/crw/crw_data_lppr1_Web_12.html (CREWS
Data Report)
* http://lppr1-log.blogspot.com/ (temporary station maintenance page)
* http://www.coral.noaa.gov/noaa/icon/crews-install.pdf (CREWS
station installation description)
* http://cima.uprm.edu/magueyes.html (Magueyes Island Marine Laboratory)
*
http://www.cop.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coralreefs/current/ccri-factsheet-cr.html
(Caribbean Coral Reef Institute)
Thank you for your attention and support!
Sincerely yours,
The Program Managers
Jim Hendee, NOAA/AOML
Richard Appledoorn, UPRM/CCRI
Brian Keller, FKNMS
--- End forwarded message ---
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