OpenChannels Weekly Update Archives

For the week of 04 February 2019

Join us Tuesday, March 5 for a webinar on Sargassum Watch System warns of incoming seaweed with Chuanmin Hu of the University of South Florida.

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.

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar220

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 28 January 2019

Join us Thursday, February 14, 1 pm US EST/10 am US PST/6 pm UTC for a webinar on Case Studies in Climate Adaptation in MPAs with Sara Hutto of the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Susan Guiteras of the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Climate impacts are already being felt at coastal and marine protected areas, and some managers are moving beyond conducting vulnerability assessment to implementing climate adaptation actions to address climate stressors. These actions range from relatively small-scale efforts (e.g., restoring native oysters that protect shorelines) to major restoration and adaptation projects (e.g., returning tidal flow in wetlands and restoring natural barrier island geomorphology to increase resiliency to storm events). Speakers will present case studies from the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge.

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar219

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 14 January 2019

Join us Thursday, February 6, 1 pm US EST/10 am US PST/6 pm UTC for a webinar on Principles for Investment in Sustainable Wild-Caught Fisheries presented by Tim Fitzgerald of EDF.

Although billions of public and private dollars are invested in fisheries every year, more often than not, sustainability is neither the driver nor the intended outcome of those investment dollars. These Principles were created to help change that dynamic. Launched at the World Ocean Summit 2018, the Principles provide investors with certainty about the specific challenges and enabling conditions in wild-caught fisheries, while also generating confidence that building environmental and social sustainability into fisheries will yield a strong return on their investment. Since their release earlier this year, the Principles have garnered commitments from more than two dozen investors, project developers, philanthropies and conservation organizations, and we are eager to continue to grow this network of influential actors to help spur global sustainability for fisheries and fishing communities. The Principles cover everything from data-poor fisheries to human rights  and food security. They align with IFC Performance Standards and UN Principles of Responsible Investment and are designed to help advance at least five of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For more information, you can access the Principles here: http://www.fisheriesprinciples.org.

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar218

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 7 January 2019

Join us Thursday, January 31, 11 am US EST/8 am US PST/4 pm UTC for a webinar on Not all those who wander are lost – Fishers communities’ responses to shifts in the distribution and abundance of fish resources presented by Eva Papaioannou of the University of Dundee and Rebecca Selden of Rutgers University

Fish resources in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US are sensitive to the impacts of climate change, with marked shifts in species’ distribution already taking place. Fishing communities’ response strategies to change are frequently neglected within policy, compromising the effectiveness of management schemes. This presentation will describe: 1) how fishing communities in these regions are responding to changes in the abundance and distribution of major commercial species and 2) how key characteristics of the fisheries (e.g., species diversity, gear diversity, vessel mobility, quota and permitting systems, proximity to fishing grounds) and fishing communities shape their choice of response strategies (e.g., changes in fishing effort, port of landing, and target species). This presentation will draw from research on New England lobster fisheries and mid-Atlantic Bight trawl fisheries. Results from these types of studies are critical for the development of climate-ready fisheries management and community adaptation plans. 

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar217

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 31 December 2018

Join us Thursday, January 10, 1 pm US EST/10 am US PST/6 pm UTC for a webinar on Unmanned Systems (UxS): Transforming How We Study and Manage the Marine Environment.

Presented by: John McDonough of NOAA.

Unmanned Systems (UxS) are transforming how we study and manage the marine environment. This presentation will provide an overview of unmanned aerial systems, unmanned surface vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, buoyancy gliders, and remotely operated vehicles. Emphasis will be placed on their contributions to establishing and managing marine protected areas.

Webinar co-sponsored by the NOAA National MPA Center, MPA News, and the EBM Tools Network (co-coordinated by OCTO and NatureServe). 

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar216

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 December 2018

Join us Monday, January 7, 1pm EST / 10am PST / 6pm UTC for a webinar on Status and Trends of Coral Reefs of the Pacific.

The September 2018 report, Status and Trends of Coral Reefs of the Pacific, is the first of its kind for the Pacific and is the third in a series of Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network (GCRMN) reports dedicated to describing the status and trends of the world’s coral reefs. From nearly 20,000 surveys in 128 islands, this report reveals that Pacific reefs are changing, but local management actions can help to mitigate the effects of global change, at least in the near future. Join Serge Planes, one of the report’s authors and Director of Research at the French National Center of Scientifique Research, and the Director of France’s Laboratory of Excellence (LabEx) CORAIL, who will discuss the report, key findings, and what the results mean for improving the management of Pacific reefs.

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar213

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

Next week OCTO will not be sending you a weekly update.
Happy holidays and you can look forward to your next update (for the week of December 31st) in your inbox on Friday, January 5th.

For the week of 10 December 2018

Join us Join us Thursday, February 28 3 pm US EST/Noon US PST/8 pm UTC for a webinar on Learning from others: The new global conservation planning database with Jorge Álvarez-Romero, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University. 

Creating a new marine conservation or management plan? Learn what others have done in the past – build on their research and experiences and how they addressed challenges – using the new Conservation Planning Database. The database recently launched with 163 peer-reviewed papers on 155 marine systematic conservation planning exercises from around the world. The database will help planners find relevant conservation plans from all over the world including their local area, scientists study trends in conservation planning, and donors and NGOs identify regions where little conservation planning has been done. Join this webinar to learn more about the database, what it reveals about that current state of marine systematic conservation planning, how you can add to it, and how developers are planning to make it even more useful.

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar212

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 03 December 2018

Join us Thursday, January 31, 11 am US EST/8 am US PST/4 pm UTC for a webinar on Not all those who wander are lost – Fishers communities’ responses to shifts in the distribution and abundance of fish resources with Eva Papaioannou of the University of Dundee and Rebecca Selden of Rutgers University. 

Fish resources in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US are sensitive to the impacts of climate change, with marked shifts in species’ distribution already taking place. Fishing communities’ response strategies to change are frequently neglected within policy, compromising the effectiveness of management schemes. This presentation will describe: 1) how fishing communities in these regions are responding to changes in the abundance and distribution of major commercial species and 2) how key characteristics of the fisheries (e.g., species diversity, gear diversity, vessel mobility, quota and permitting systems, proximity to fishing grounds) and fishing communities shape their choice of response strategies (e.g., changes in fishing effort, port of landing, and target species). This presentation will draw from research on New England lobster fisheries and mid-Atlantic Bight trawl fisheries. Results from these types of studies are critical for the development of climate-ready fisheries management and community adaptation plans. 

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar211

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 26 November 2018

Join us Thursday, February 6, 1 pm US EST/10 am US PST/6 pm UTC for a webinar on Principles for Investment in Sustainable Wild-Caught Fisheries with Tim Fitzgerald of EDF. 

Although billions of public and private dollars are invested in fisheries every year, more often than not, sustainability is neither the driver nor the intended outcome of those investment dollars. These Principles were created to help change that dynamic. Launched at the World Ocean Summit 2018, the Principles provide investors with certainty about the specific challenges and enabling conditions in wild-caught fisheries, while also generating confidence that building environmental and social sustainability into fisheries will yield a strong return on their investment. Since their release earlier this year, the Principles have garnered commitments from more than two dozen investors, project developers, philanthropies and conservation organizations, and we are eager to continue to grow this network of influential actors to help spur global sustainability for fisheries and fishing communities. The Principles cover everything from data-poor fisheries to human rights  and food security. They align with IFC Performance Standards and UN Principles of Responsible Investment and are designed to help advance at least five of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For more information, you can access the Principles here: http://www.fisheriesprinciples.org.

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar210

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 November 2018

Join us Thursday, January 10, 1 pm US EST/10 am US PST/6 pm UTC for a webinar on Unmanned Systems (UxS): Transforming How We Study and Manage the Marine Environment with John McDonough of NOAA.

Unmanned Systems (UxS) are transforming how we study and manage the marine environment. This presentation will provide an overview of unmanned aerial systems, unmanned surface vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, buoyancy gliders, and remotely operated vehicles. Emphasis will be placed on their contributions to establishing and managing marine protected areas.

To register, visit: https://oct.to/Webinar209

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

P.S. We will be taking off the Weekly Update next week for U.S. Thanksgiving, but we will be back in your inbox starting November 30th! 

P.P.S SURVEY EXTENDED! For all you who haven't gotten the chance, the OCTO survey will now close November 30th. Please follow this link to get to the survey. Thank you very much.