Program Administration

Narragansett Bay science book now available

Science for Ecosystem-based Management: Narragansett Bay in the 21st Century is available from Amazon.com. The book represents a significant effort to gather the latest scientific information about Narragansett Bay, in particular on nutrient issues. Intended for scientists and nonscientists alike, the book presents a variety of viewpoints, such as disagreements on how nutrient reduction efforts will affect the bay’s living resources. It also addresses the impact of climate change on the bay, and calls for managing the bay not as one undifferentiated water body but as having distinct zones, such as the upper and lower bay and the East and West passages, that have different characteristics and issues.

Regional project supports ecosystem-based management for Gulf of Maine ecosystem

A growing awareness of the interconnectedness of ecosystem functions and human activities has prompted new management approaches to ensure wise use and sustainability of resources and services, such as food, clean air and water, recreation, waste disposal.  The term ecosystem-based management implies a renewed commitment to balancing human activities with protection and conservation, and recognition that some activities are not sustainable as they are currently practiced.  Two national reports by the U.S. Ocean Commission and the Pew Oceans Commission called for Regional Science Ocean Councils to coordinate science-based actions that support ecosystem-based management. 

This project, the “Regional Ocean Research Plan in Support of Ecosystem-Based Management for the Gulf of Maine Ecosystem,” which received a grant from the National Sea Grant Program, has convened a Northeast Regional Ocean Science Advisory Council. This council, led by the  Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant Program, in collaboration with Sea Grant programs in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is working to support policy decisions and ecosystem-based management for the Gulf of Maine ecosystem, which has been defined in this project to include the coastal New England states, New York, and Canada. 

The council is developing an ecosystem-based management plan based on priority management concerns identified during roundtable discussions by stakeholders including state and local government, industry, nongovernment organizations, academia, federal agencies, and other interested parties. The council, composed of Northeast Sea Grant directors, Canadian representation, and other appointees, is convening a series of workshops to develop specific recommendations to address the issues and will prepare a “Regional Ocean Science-based Implementation Plan” with specific goals and time lines to address the actions.  In addition, the council is striving to ensure long-term funding for regional needs.

As envisioned, the implementation plan will focus on the scientific and technical needs and translation of information for policy makers and managers as one component of the complex and challenging process that political leaders may use in adopting ecosystem-based management.

Regional council proposed to aid ecosystem-based management of New York Bight

A number of estuaries and embayments comprise the New York Bight, including Buzzard’s Bay, Narragansett Bay, Long Island Sound, New York Harbor, and the New Jersey shore. It also includes four National Estuarine Research Reserves and six National Estuary Programs. Each of these water bodies has its own bio-geographical characteristics; however, the unifying characteristic of the New York Bight region is that it can truly be called America’s “urban sea.” For instance, the region’s largest estuary, Long Island Sound, has a long history of settlement and human use, beginning with the sail-powered commerce of early European settlement in the 1600s and 1700s, extending through the Industrial Revolution and the “America’s Playground” period of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and finally through the suburbanization that is now occurring along most of the coast and immediate coastal watersheds.  A similar history could be detailed for virtually all of the smaller estuaries and bays of this region.

The water quality problems caused by unchecked point source pollution from urban centers are improving under the many management initiatives of the Clean Water Act.  However, additional problems have arisen as the result of changing land use throughout the region’s watersheds, particularly the direct and indirect impacts of suburban development on the health of the streams, rivers, and coastal areas flowing into the bight.  And, because these environmental issues are largely driven by land use, additional complications arise with respect to the difficulties of ecosystem/watershed management in a land use decision-making framework that is political and fractionated. 

In response to a call for proposals from the National Sea Grant College Program, the purpose of this proposal is to establish a Regional Ocean Science Council to develop a research plan in support of ecosystem-based management that coordinates and integrates regional research activities within the New York Bight.  The Northeast Sea Grant College Program directors (from Maine to New Jersey, to assure continuity with the process initiated for the Gulf of Maine and Southern New England) will determine the process for appointing members to the council. The council will identify management goals for the New York Bight, analyze what data and information are available, and create a “Regional Ocean Science and Information Plan” that identifies data, information, research, monitoring, and technologies needed to address ecosystem-based management, along with priorities, a timeline for accomplishing goals, and costs.  Sea Grant staff would create an outreach plan for technology transfer of research and monitoring data and information through training sessions.

Changes at Rhode Island Sea Grant

The last three months have seen a number of important changes to our Sea Grant Program. We now have two Program Administration offices in the Coastal Institute Building on the URI Bay Campus, with the former Communications Program office merged seamlessly into Program Administration.

Among our important staff changes is that Malia Schwartz has taken on a new role as Rhode Island Sea Grant’s Assistant Director for Research & Development. Malia will be working closely with me and Alan Desbonnet, Sea Grant’s Assistant Director, in developing and enhancing Rhode Island Sea Grant’s research, evaluation, and education portfolios through fund-raising and other strategic activities. She will also play a leading role as a catalyst for innovative mechanisms of proposal development and fund-raising to broaden the Rhode Island Sea Grant funding portfolio. And Malia will also have a pivotal role in developing new, and enhancing existing, relationships with our university partners and with outside funders, particularly philanthropic organizations, individuals, and foundations. Malia has moved to Program Administration’s first-floor office (Room 129, Coastal Institute), but her contact information (phone, e-mail) remains unchanged.

Monica Allard Cox has arrived back to work from maternity leave to become the new leader of Rhode Island Sea Grant’s Communications Program. Monica will be working closely with Alan Desbonnet and will be responsible for overseeing Rhode Island Sea Grant’s diverse communications portfolio, as well as charting new directions in future programming. Finally, Jean Gallo, our Publications Manager, has moved to our first-floor office, where she continues to oversee all publication sales and distribution as well as assisting in working on our new databases. Jean’s contact information (phone, e-mail) remains unchanged. Heather Rhodes, our Fiscal Officer, has moved into Program Administration’s terrace-level office (Room 34, Coastal Institute), but her contact information (phone, e-mail) remains unchanged.