OpenChannels Weekly Update Archives

For the week of 19 August 2019

Please join us Wednesday, September 25 at 1 pm US EDT/10 am US PDT/5 pm UTC for a webinar on We’ve Got Chemistry! Leveraging Partnerships and the Ocean Acidification Information Exchange to Advance Ocean Acidification and MPA Science with Julianna Mullen of NERACOOS and the OAInfoExchange.org, Jenny Waddell of Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, and Francis Chan of Oregon State University.

[Please note that this webinar will last 1.5 hours.]

Description: Marine protected areas (MPAs), sanctuaries, and reserves offer refuge to a wide variety of marine species, but can they also protect vulnerable organisms from the effects of ocean acidification (OA) and other climate-related stressors? Increasingly, OA scientists and MPA managers are working together to explore questions of adaptability in marine protected areas to explore this question and sharing their ideas on a dynamic new online platform called the OA Information Exchange (OAIE). In this webinar, we will: 1) provide an orientation to the OAIE to the MPA community and other new users, 2) describe how innovative collaborations between researchers and volunteer scientists are advancing both OA and MPA science in the Oregon Marine Reserves, and 3) provide examples of efforts to document changing ocean conditions and understand potential impacts of ecosystem change in Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, including how the development of a sentinel site for ocean acidification on the Olympic Coast supports OA coordination and collaboration in Washington. [Please note that this webinar will last 1.5 hours.]

Co-sponsors: NOAA National MPA Center and the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program with OCTO (MPA News, OpenChannels, EBM Tools Network)

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar250

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars.

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
    – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team

For the week of 12 August 2019

Please join us Thursday, October 31, 1 pm US EDT/10 am PDT/5 pm UTC for a webinar on EcoCast: A dynamic ocean management tool to reduce bycatch and support sustainable fisheries with Elliott Hazen and Heather Welch of NOAA and the University of California Santa Cruz.

Description: Dynamic ocean management (DOM) is emerging as a solution to the challenge of spatially managing species and human activities that are dynamic in space and time. DOM strategies use real-time data on environmental conditions to design management boundaries that rapidly adjust in response to the shifting nature of the ocean and its biodiversity. This webinar introduces the fisheries sustainability tool EcoCast and explores the process of building, validating, operationalizing, maintaining, and forecasting with a dynamic ocean management tool. Join this webinar to learn about some of the challenges, solutions, and considerations of applied dynamic ocean management.

Co-sponsors: OCTO (OpenChannels, The Skimmer, MPA News) and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe)

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar249

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars.

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
    – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team

For the week of 05 August 2019

Please join us Tuesday, September 17 at 1 pm US EDT/10 am US PDT/5 pm UTC for a webinar on New Opportunities for Reducing Coastal Risk with Natural Defenses with Mike Beck of the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Description: This webinar will provide an overview of new research on how natural defenses can reduce coastal risk. Key new findings include: 1) the global costs of storms would double if the top 1 m of coral reefs is lost, 2) coral reefs provide $1.8 billion in annual flood protection benefits to the US alone, and 3) globally, if mangroves are lost, 39% more people would be affected by floods and property damage would increase by US$82 billion. This webinar will also show which countries (and hotspots in countries) have the most to gain in flood protection from reef conservation. We will wrap up by describing our work with the insurance industry and FEMA to show how valuation of risk reduction benefits can be used to finance reef and wetland conservation and restoration at scale. [Please note: This webinar significantly updates a May 2018 EBM Tools Network/OCTO webinar with new results and opportunities for implementation in policy and practice.

Co-sponsors: OCTO (OpenChannels, The Skimmer, MPA News) and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe)

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar248

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars.

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
    – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team

For the week of 29 July 2019

Please join us Wednesday, September 4th at 10am US EST/ 7am PST/ 2pm UTC for a webinar on Designing and Managing MPAs for Sharks and Rays with Andy Cornish of WWF.

Description: Overfishing is a major threat to the world’s 1,200+ species of sharks and rays, and many elasmobranch populations are in decline. Spatial protection in combination with other forms of management is a potent but underutilized tool for protecting them. WWF and James Cook University recently produced A Practical Guide to the Effective Design and Management of MPAs for Sharks and Rays following an extensive review of the effectiveness of existing MPAs for sharks and elasmobranch movement studies. The guide covers the use of spatial protection in coastal and offshore fisheries to reduce fisheries mortality of sharks to sustainable levels and to recover depleted populations. It is targeted at fisheries managers, academics, and NGOs alike. Dr Andy Cornish, leader of WWF’s global shark program and co-author of the MPA guide, will introduce the tool and interactive case studies as well as a companion guide, the Rapid Assessment Toolkit for Sharks and Rays.

Co-sponsors: OCTO (OpenChannels, The Skimmer, MPA News) and the EBM Tools Network

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar247

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars.

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
    – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team

For the week of 22 July 2019

Please join us Thursday, August 1, for a webinar on Management and evolution give hope to coral reefs facing the effects of climate change with Madhavi Colton of the Coral Reef Alliance and Tim Walsworth of Utah State University.

Description: A new study just published in Nature Climate Change shows that management that takes evolution and adaptation into account can help rescue coral reefs from the effects of climate change. The results indicate that managing reefs to facilitate evolution today and in the future can enhance their prospects for long-term survival. Key to successful evolution is management that improves local conditions for reefs by effectively reducing local stressors, such as overfishing and water pollution. Contrary to approaches that are popular today, such as focusing protection on reefs in cooler water, the study shows that protecting diverse reef habitat types across a spectrum of ocean conditions is key to helping corals adapt to climate change. This means creating managed area networks that contain a diversity of coral types and habitats and that effectively reduce local stressors. You can read the paper online at https://go.nature.com/2J0e8XU or download it at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0518-5.

Co-sponsors: OCTO (OpenChannels, The Skimmer, MPA News) and the EBM Tools Network

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar246

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars.

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
    – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team

For the week of 15 July 2019

Please join us Tuesday, August 27 for a webinar on Sargassum Watch System warns of incoming seaweed with Chuanmin Hu of the University of South Florida.

Description: The Sargassum Watch System (SaWS) uses satellite data and numerical models to detect and track pelagic Sargassum in near-real time. Sargassum is a pelagic seaweed that floats on the ocean surface and is abundant in the Intra-Americas Sea, the Atlantic, and along the coast of Europe. In the ocean, it provides an important habitat for many marine animals. On shore, it serves as fertilizer for sand dunes and biomass for food and fuel. Excessive amounts of Sargassum on beaches in populated areas can cause problems, however. Sargassum decomposition on beaches smells bad, attracts insects, smothers turtle nesting sites, and causes fish kills, in addition to diminishing tourism. Annual Sargassum inundation events are currently occurring annually along the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean coasts. SaWS monitors Sargassum distribution and abundance in the ocean to aid the study of ocean ecology, help fisheries management, and forecast Sargassum beaching events

Co-sponsors: OCTO (OpenChannels, The Skimmer, MPA News) and the EBM Tools Network

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar245

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars.

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
    – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team

For the week of 08 July 2019

Please join us Thursday, August 22, 2019 at 1 pm US EDT/10 am US PDT/5 pm UTC for a webinar on New technologies to revolutionize sustainable fishing in the digital age: EDF’s Smart Boat Initiative with Katie Westfall and Rod Fujita of EDF.

Description: Pioneering technologies and new platforms can turn fishing vessels into "smart boats" and redefine fishing and how we manage fisheries – leading to greater efficiency, profitability, and sustainability. This webinar will explore EDF’s vision for revolutionizing sustainable fishing in the digital age, share experiences from testing technologies on the water, and provide a glimpse into the Smart Boat Initiative’s next steps. The webinar will also offer a deeper dive into some of the resources and tools available to fisheries practitioners as part of the Smart Boat Initiative. EDF is excited to share updates and information on this exciting new initiative, and we look forward to hearing from participants about how they are using technology to solve sustainability challenges in their own fisheries.

Co-sponsors: OCTO (OpenChannels, The Skimmer, MPA News) and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe)

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar244

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars.

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
    – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team

For the week of 01 July 2019

Please join us Thursday, August 1, 1 pm US EDT/10 am US PDT/5 pm UTC for a webinar on Management and evolution give hope to coral reefs facing the effects of climate change with Madhavi Colton of the Coral Reef Alliance and Tim Walsworth of Utah State University.

Description: A new study just published in Nature Climate Change shows that management that takes evolution and adaptation into account can help rescue coral reefs from the effects of climate change. The results indicate that managing reefs to facilitate evolution today and in the future can enhance their prospects for long-term survival. Key to successful evolution is management that improves local conditions for reefs by effectively reducing local stressors, such as overfishing and water pollution. Contrary to approaches that are popular today, such as focusing protection on reefs in cooler water, the study shows that protecting diverse reef habitat types across a spectrum of ocean conditions is key to helping corals adapt to climate change. This means creating managed area networks that contain a diversity of coral types and habitats and that effectively reduce local stressors. You can read the paper online at https://go.nature.com/2J0e8XU or download it at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0518-5.

Co-sponsors: OCTO (OpenChannels, The Skimmer, MPA News) and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe)

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar243

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars.

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
    – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team

For the week of 24 June 2019

Please join us for a webinar on Financing Coral Reef Conservation and Management with Tourism-Related Tools with David Meyers of the Conservation Finance Alliance.

This webinar will be offered at two different times:

• Viewing 1: Wednesday, July 17, Noon US EDT/9 am US PDT/4 pm UTC
• Viewing 2: Wednesday, July 17, 9 pm US EDT/6 pm US PDT (Thursday, July 18, 9 am Australian WST/11 am Australian EST/1 am UTC)

Coral reefs provide enormous economic value to humanity, and their value for recreation is one of the easiest to capture financially. This webinar will explore the range of existing and emerging tools that protected areas and site managers can use to capture funds from tourism for conservation and management. Specifically the webinar will discuss the use of: 1) entry, activity, and special use fees; 2) commercial concessions; 3) departure taxes; 4) partnerships with hotels; and 5) voluntary donations. This webinar is sponsored by the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI), an informal partnership which strives to preserve coral reefs and related ecosystems around the world, as part of its collaboration with the Conservation Finance Alliance for promoting innovative financing for coral reef conservation.

Co-sponsors: OCTO (OpenChannels, The Skimmer, MPA News), the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe), and the Reef Resilience Network.

To register, visit:

• Viewing 1: https://oct.to/Webinar241
• Viewing 2: https://oct.to/Webinar242

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars.

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
          – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team

For the week of 17 June 2019 

Please Join us Tuesday, July 2, 2 pm US EDT/11 am US PDT/6 pm UTC for a webinar on A Toolkit for Managing Cultural Resources in Marine Protected Areaswith Trisha Kehau Watson of the Cultural Heritage Resource Working Group (CHRWG), Lauren Wenzel of the NOAA MPA Center and CHRWG, and Joe Schumacker of the Quinault Department of Fisheries and CHRWG.

What are cultural resources anyway? Often MPA managers are experts in natural resources management, and lack background in managing cultural resources. The Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee (MPAFAC) developed an on-line toolkit to address this need. Covering topics such as spanning legal authorities, a cultural landscape approach, planning for climate change and natural disasters, engaging stakeholders, and underwater archeology, the group’s Cultural Resources Toolkit provides invaluable insight and strategies for marine and coastal managers and MPA visitors alike. In this webinar, the Cultural Resources Working Group of the MPAFAC provide an overview of the enhanced Toolkit and discuss its role in connecting people to their heritage in special coastal places throughout the US and elsewhere. The MPAFAC provides recommendations to the US Departments of Commerce (NOAA) and Interior for the effective design, establishment, and adaptive management of US MPAs. Learn more here.

Co-sponsors: NOAA National MPA Center, OCTO (MPA News, OpenChannels), and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe).

To register, visit: https://oct.to/webinar240

If you would like to check out other upcoming OCTO sponsored webinars, you can find a complete list at https://oct.to/Webinars. 

Thank you for being part of the OpenChannels Community,
          – Allie Brown, Raye Evrard, and the rest of the OpenChannels Team