[Coral-List] Fwd: ICRS 2016 Meeting Sessions:37 - THE IMPACTS OF DREDGING AND COASTAL MODIFICATION ON CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEMS

[William Precht]

Dear coral-listers,

*FINAL *Call for abstracts!  Due Friday, January 15th.

I would like to draw your attention to the following session in the
Category - Impacts to Coral Reefs - Local Stressors at the 13th
International Coral Reef Symposium, which is being held 19-24 June 2016 in
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

SESSION 37 - THE IMPACTS OF DREDGING AND COASTAL MODIFICATION ON CORAL REEF
ECOSYSTEMS
https://www.sgmeet.com/icrs2016/sessionschedule.asp?SessionID=37


Session Overview:  In recent years dredging and port expansion projects
throughout the tropics and subtropics have created a conflict between ports,
environmentalists, regulators, dredging contractors, and the public.
Various reports from some recent projects show extreme impacts while others
show little or none. Which is the correct view? Are there BMPs that can be
employed to avoid and minimize impacts? When impacts do occur, are they
expected and reasonable? And finally, can these impacts be restored and/or
mitigated?

Using a number of case studies from around the globe, we will try to
highlight those factors that work and those that do not! The lessons
learned from earlier projects show that the best course of action is the
careful preparation and vetting of a preproject environmental assessment
that allows for an accurate description and quantification of all
anticipated impacts (both direct and indirect). This assessment should
detail all avoidance and minimization options as well as protective
measures to assure for environmental permit compliance. During
construction, quantitative monitoring of key biotic and abiotic parameters
need to be performed so that corrective adaptive management measures can be
employed midstream if BMPs are failing to perform as designed. It is
imperative that these monitoring programs carefully employ offsite controls
for comparison. Finally, to make the public whole for impacts to the
environment, there is a need for active restoration of any injured
resources and mitigation for those that are lost or displaced during
construction. These projects should aspire to return the degraded environment
to levels equivalent to their preproject baseline condition. Through all
project phases, open and transparent communication between all stakeholders
will be necessary to avoid and resolve conflicts between the various
groups, many with disparate goals and interests.

Dredging and dredging related activities such as dredge material placement
releases sediment into the water column. The suspended sediment
concentrations and associated changes in underwater light and subsequent
sediment deposition can have a significant effect on nearby benthic
communities. The environmental issues of dredging in sensitive tropical
marine environments has increased in prominence in recent years associated
with the need to widen and deepen channels to accommodate larger
Post-Panamax transport ships, and in the Caribbean, to accommodate newer,
larger cruise ships. Dredging is also a routine part of existing port
operations (maintenance dredging) and for new coastal and marine
infrastructure developments (capital dredging). In Australia, for example,
a recent resources boom has led to a demand for more and larger ports,
including several in the Great Barrie Reef World Heritage Area. The
proposed volumes (millions of cubic metres) are significant by global
standards. Dredging in sensitive marine environments (near coral reef
environments, near seagrass beds or mixed filter feeder assemblages) is
contentious and the challenge faced by regulators and policy makers is how
to minimize or eliminate any potential environmental damage. This symposium
is interested in research or scientific findings that can improve the
ability to predict and manage the environmental impacts of dredging. The
symposium will accept studies on: the short- and long-term ecological
effects of turbidity generation on sub-tropical /tropical organisms,
modelling techniques for plume prediction, new sensor techniques and
technologies (for measuring pressure fields) and new approaches for
management and mitigation.

ORGANIZERS

William F. Precht , Dial Cordy & Associates, Inc.
William.Precht at gmail.com
<William.Precht at gmail.com?cc=r.jones at aims.gov.au,WHHanson at gldd.com,deslarzes at creocean.fr>

Ross Jones , Australian Institute of Marine Science
r.jones at aims.gov.au
<r.jones at aims.gov.au?cc=William.Precht at gmail.com,WHHanson at gldd.com,deslarzes at creocean.fr>

William H. Hanson , Great Lakes Dredge & Dock LLC
WHHanson at gldd.com
<WHHanson at gldd.com?cc=William.Precht at gmail.com,r.jones at aims.gov.au,deslarzes at creocean.fr>

Ken J.C.P. Deslarzes , CREOCEAN ENVIRONMENT & OCEANOGRAPHIE
deslarzes at creocean.fr
<deslarzes at creocean.fr+?cc=William.Precht at gmail.com,r.jones at aims.gov.au,WHHanson at gldd.com>

If you know of anyone who might be interested who might not receive this
notice, please feel free to pass it along.

We are looking for a good mix of lesson-learned from various projects
spanning a wide geographic area.  This session is intented for scientists,
practitioners, regulators, and managers working to protect and preserve
coral reef ecosystems adjacent to dredging projects.

To submit an abstract please go to:

http://sgmeet.com/icrs2016/submission_overview.asp

See you in Honolulu.

Cheers,

William F. Precht for the Co-Organizers